Colorado Wolf Management

At the time of the reintroduction of the gray wolf to Yellowstone National Park and Idaho, in 1995-1996, there were no wolves left in Colorado. They had been managed by gun, trap, and poison. But wolves being wolves, by 2004 a female wolf had travelled into Colorado and was found dead by the side of I-70 hear Idaho Springs. Colorado Parks and Wildlife reports that from 2004 until 2021, an additional seven individual wolves were identified in the state, along with a pack of approximately six members and, most recently, a male-female pair that gave birth to six pups in 2021. At present, a single pack is known to reside in Colorado.

In consideration of the prospect of wolves moving into Colorado from the Northern Rockies, in 2004 the Colorado Division of Wildlife, now called Colorado Parks and Wildlife, produced findings and recommendations for the management of wolves migrating into Colorado.  There was no recommendation for reintroducing wolves to Colorado. In 2016, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission reaffirmed the 2004 findings and recommendations, again without endorsing the reintroduction of wolves to Colorado. By 2016, wolves from Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies had dispersed into Washington, Oregon, and California, but had failed to establish themselves in Colorado.

A state-wide ballot measure, Proposition 114, which directed Colorado Parks and Wildlife to reintroduce wolves to Colorado, was narrowly approved by voters at the November 2020 general election and is now law. In response to the enactment of Proposition 114, Colorado Parks and Wildlife prepared a Wolf Restoration and Management Plan, which was approved by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission in May 2023. The final plan occurred in December 2023, when 10 wolves were released into the state. An additional 15 wolves were released in January 2025. Colorado now has approximately 30 wolves in the wild.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife states the management objective as follows:

CPW will conserve and manage wolves in concert with the rest of our State’s native wildlife. Active management will be required to address conflicts between wolves, people, livestock, and other wildlife species. Conservation and management are not mutually exclusive concepts. Using a variety of management tools, our intention is to integrate and sustain wolves in suitable habitats within the complex biological, social, and economic landscapes of Colorado.