In the 1940s, the gray wolf was nearly eradicated from the Southern Rockies. The species naturally expanded into habitats in Colorado they occupied prior to its near extirpation from the conterminous United States. Wolves were reintroduced in the northern Rocky Mountains in the 1990s and since at least 2014, solitary wolves have entered Colorado. A resident group in northwestern Colorado was confirmed in early 2020. In June 2021, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) reported that the first litter of wolf pups had been born in the state since the 1940s. Voters narrowly approved a November 2020 ballot measure that directed the commission that oversees CPW to develop a plan to begin to reintroduce wolves by the end of 2023, somewhere on the Western Slope. The wolves are managed and designated as a non-game species, meaning they cannot be hunted, with compensation being offered for any livestock killed by the predators. Wolves were protected as they are listed as endangered under federal and state law. As part of the reintroduction effort, the federal government in 2023 granted Colorado the authority to manage and kill wolves in specific circumstances. Colorado wildlife officials released 10 gray wolves from Oregon into a remote forest in Grand and Summit counties in late December 2023 as Colorado became the first state where voters directed the reintroduction of gray wolves rather than the federal government. Another fifteen wolves were released in Eagle and Pitkin counties in January 2025.
Federal protection
Wolves once thrived here due to the availability of a number of big game species such as American bison, elk, and deer. Other prey for the wolves included a number of small game species like rabbits and rodents. Extirpation was caused by the decimation of the wolf's main prey species like bison, the expansion of agriculture, and extermination campaigns during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As wolves turned to the nontraditional food source of fenced in and relatively defenseless cattle, Colorado established a bounty for killing wolves in 1869. These efforts included state bounties, which, at times, offered upwards of $1,000 for wolf pelts—significant income for ranchers and trappers as settlers perceived wolves as threats to livestock and human safety. After the trapping and poisoning of wolves in Colorado in the 1930s, the last wild wolf in the state was shot in 1940s in Conejos County. In the 1960s and 1970s, national awareness of environmental issues and consequences led to the passage of laws designed to correct the mistakes of the past and help prevent similar mistakes in the future. Wolves in the United States were protected under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1978 as they were in danger of going extinct and needed protection to aid their recovery. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed the gray wolves' endangered species status at the beginning of January 2021, when more than 6,000 wolves inhabited nine states. After federal wolf protection ended, the states and tribes became responsible, once again, to manage the animal and regulate hunting. In Colorado wolves continue to be classified as a protected endangered species. Fines, jail time and a loss of hunting license privileges can result from violations. In February 2022, a judge ordered federal protections for gray wolves to be restored under the Federal Endangered Species Act, which returned management authority to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Natural recolonization Wolves have been dispersing from the northern Rocky Mountains since they were introduced there in the 1990s. A Wolf Working Group was formed in 2004 to create a management plan that provides policy for Colorado wildlife managers as they handle potential conflicts between the wolves, humans, and livestock. Their report recommended that any wolves that migrate to Colorado "should be allowed to live with no boundaries where they find habitat". They also decided against pursuing wolf reintroduction. They recommended using various types of technology for monitoring their movements (GPS animal tracking and Camera traps), along with a management plan that would provide flexibility for ranchers concerned about attacks on livestock, and deal with concerns that wolves might impact the population of other species like elk. The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission affirmed and supported the recommendations. When considering the issue of wolf reintroduction in 2016, the commission adopted a formal resolution opposing intentional release of wolves. Six gray wolves were photographed or killed in Colorado between 2004 and 2019. These animals are most likely from the natural dispersion of those reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park. Wildlife officials made a number of additional sightings in 2019. By 2021, some 3,000 wolves were inhabiting portions of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Northern California. A pack of six wolves was confirmed in Moffat County in northwestern Colorado in early 2020. Hunters likely killed three members of the pack within a few months just across the border in Wyoming where hunting wolves was legal. F1084 (originally mislabeled as M1084), from the Snake River Pack in Wyoming, wandered more than 350 miles (560 km) into Colorado before her tracking collar went dead. She formed a breeding pair with M2101, a four-year-old male weighing approximately 110 pounds (50 kg) who was collared in February 2021. Governor Jared Polis dubbed the animals "Jane" and "John", respectively, and welcomed the pair to Colorado. Collaring the wolf was the first opportunity for Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) to start the process of managing and tracking what's happening in Colorado since they gained authority over the species after the animals were removed from the endangered species list. Officials confirmed that they had six pups and were living in the state in June 2021, the first known litter in the state since the 1940s. One of the pups, a female, was fitted with a tracking collar in February 2022. The wolf was designated as F2202 using the first 2 digits to indicate the year and sequentially assigned the next 2 digits with an odd number for males and an even number for females. Physical evidence such as tracks and scat are also used by wildlife officers to track and observe wolves' movements and behaviors.
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