CPW secures source population of 15 gray wolves from Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation

Travis Duncan
Public Information Supervisor
720-595-8294 / [email protected] CPW plans for these wolves to be captured on tribal lands in eastern Washington during the capture season from December 2024 – March 2025.

DENVER – In an agreement announced today between Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, the tribes will be a source for up to 15 wolves for the Colorado gray wolf reintroduction effort. CPW plans for these wolves to be captured on tribal lands during the capture season from December 2024 – March 2025. The agreement between the state of Colorado and the state of Oregon to allow for the translocation of ten wolves this season has been successfully completed. 

“We are grateful to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation for working with our agency on this critical next step in reintroducing gray wolves in the state,” said CPW Director Jeff Davis. “This agreement helps CPW to continue to meet our unanimously adopted Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan goal of translocating 10-15 gray wolves per capture season for a total of 30-50 wolves.”

"The Colville Tribes is very pleased to partner with Colorado Parks and Wildlife to restore the wolf population in Colorado,” said Chairman of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation Jarred-Michael Erickson. “The Colville people strongly believe in preserving our environment, including its fish and animals. We are thrilled that our restoration efforts on our own lands have progressed far enough that we can share some of these magnificent creatures with the citizens of Colorado."

Tribal representatives will provide guidance to CPW on target packs, avoiding packs with known active chronic depredation behavior.

Between December 18 - 22, 2023, Colorado Parks and Wildlife fulfilled their statutory responsibility and successfully released 10 gray wolves onto public land in Summit and Grand counties. CPW will not capture and release more wolves in the current capture season, which runs until mid-March 2024. The next releases will not occur until the December 2024 - March 2025 capture season. Although the agency could release up to five more wolves this capture season according to its Wolf Restoration and Management Plan, the additional time will allow the agency to assess the releases in December and let CPW staff adjust to any increased workload of having wolves on the ground in Colorado, as well as allow time for the additional resources for CPW and the Colorado Department of Agriculture to support ranchers proposed in the Governor’s budget to become effective July 1.

“After an incredibly successful first release of wolves from Oregon last month, our focus will be on refining our internal processes, continuing the work we’re already doing to bolster our staff expertise and honing our notification structure so the public is well informed regarding release efforts, while also balancing the need for the safety and security of staff and gray wolves,” Davis said.
  
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