Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission approves motion to create adaptive management plan to reintroduce wolves

At its virtual meeting on January 14, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission provided CPW staff with direction to begin creating a robust, adaptive management plan to reintroduce wolves in Colorado with a 10-1 majority vote.

“We have direction from the voters of Colorado to develop a reintroduction and management plan for gray wolves as transparently and as expeditiously as possible,” said CPW Director Dan Prenzlow. “This authorizes us to move forward in a phased approach that will allow us to be both efficient and flexible as we enact the plan. We will introduce wolves in Colorado no later than Dec. 31, 2023.”

CPW Assistant Director for Aquatics, Terrestrial and Natural Resources Reid DeWalt presented a series of action items for the plan in his presentation to the Commission.

“Our first steps will be to begin a thorough stakeholder engagement process across Colorado to ensure robust participation and input while working to accomplish the needed steps for a successful reintroduction process,” DeWalt said. “The main objectives of our proposed outreach strategy are: gathering and sharing information to build public awareness and promote engagement across the state, designing and implementing an inclusive and transparent process to meet the requirements outlined in Proposition 114, collaborating with technical experts and diverse stakeholders to share knowledge and draft management and conservation strategies, and fostering commitment and collaboration toward plan implementation.”

In addition to public meetings across the state to collect input from the public on their questions and concerns regarding wolf reintroduction, both a Technical Working Group and a Stakeholder Working Group will be created to serve as advisory bodies to the Commission.

Before the majority vote to move forward with the proposed process to develop a wolf restoration and management plan, many Commissioners noted that they would like their vote to reflect the desire to enact the will of the voters on a flexible timeline if possible and where appropriate, while still performing the due diligence required of a robust stakeholder engagement process.

Next Steps: Conduct Education & Listening Tour

From February through May 2021, CPW will hold virtual meetings to share information with the public and stakeholders and to provide opportunities for public input on wolf conservation/management in Colorado.

For more information, please visit: https://cpw.state.co.us/learn/Pages/CON-Wolf-Management.aspx




Jeff
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