Wildlife officials in Colorado this week reintroduced five gray wolves into the Rocky Mountains area as part of a plan that has come under fire from ranchers who were unable to block its implementation, The Hill reported.
Colorado voters in 2020 approved a ballot initiative that eventually became a state statute in 2022 vacating a Trump administration rule that removed gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act, placed them back under the authority of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and directed Colorado Parks and Wildlife to devise a plan to reintroduce them into the environment.
The release comes after a judge last Friday rejected a motion brought by two ranching groups that attempted to block the plan: the Gunnison County Stockgrowers' Association and the Colorado Cattlemen's Association.
The ranching groups claimed that releasing the wolves would be harmful to their livestock and the local economy. However, the judge ruled that approving the ranchers' motion "would be contrary to the public interest," since a majority of voters approved the 2020 ballot initiative.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, joined state wildlife officials Monday in announcing the successful release of the wolves, which included two juvenile males, two juvenile females, and one adult male.
"The return of wolves fulfills the will of voters," Polis said in a statement. "What followed were three years of comprehensive listening and work by Colorado Parks and Wildlife to draft a plan to restore and manage wolves.
"Today, history was made in Colorado. For the first time since the 1940s, the howl of wolves will officially return to western Colorado."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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