WATCH: Colorado releases five gray wolves in Grand County

From Colorado Politics:

Wildlife experts on Monday released five gray wolves in Colorado’s Western Slope, the culmination of years of planning for a program that has stoked political tensions and is likely to lead to conflicts as the predators make the valleys, lakes and peaks of the north-central Rocky Mountains their new home.

Colorado officers released the wolves in Grand County after a last-ditch effort by cattlemen and livestock growers on Friday failed to persuade a federal judge to halt their reintroduction.

 

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Colorado releases first 5 wolves in reintroduction plan approved by voters to chagrin of ranchers

From Western Slope Now:

GRAND COUNTY, Colorado (AP) — Somewhere on a remote mountainside in Colorado’s Rockies, a latch flipped on a crate and a wolf bounded out, heading toward the tree line. Then it stopped short.

For a moment, the young female looked back at it’s audience of roughly 45 people who stared on in reverential silence. Then she disappeared into the forest.

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Idaho officials rescind approval of flawed plan to hunt wolves from helicopters

From Cache Valley Daily:

BOISE, ID – Under mounting pressure from wildlife conservation advocates, the Idaho Wolf Depredation Control Board here has rescinded plans to allow private contractors to hunt wolves shooting from helicopters.

That announcement was made on Dec. 14, with members of that panel admitting that they had failed to make “due diligence” prior to approving a proposal on Oct. 26 to spend more than $140,000 to hire a private contractor to use aerial gunning and other methods to kill wolves on private property and federal lands across much of Idaho’s wolf range.

 

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Colorado wolf releases may happen within days after federal judge rejects ranchers’ lawsuit

From The Colorado Sun:

A federal judge has denied a last-ditch effort by ranchers to block wolf reintroduction in Colorado.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife plans to begin capturing gray wolves in Oregon as soon as Sunday and could release the predators as soon as Monday following a decision by U.S. District Court Judge Regina Rodriguez on Friday.

 

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ODFW makes no changes to state’s Wolf Plan after 5-year review; two recent Crook County livestock kills reported

From KTVZ News:

MCMINNVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ) —The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission held a workshop on Thursday to discuss the department’s five-year review of the state Wolf Plan and consider next steps, deciding to focus on issues such as wolf-livestock conflicts but deciding no plan changes are needed at present.

 

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Fish and Wildlife Commission adopts new administrative rules on grizzly, wolf management

From the Helena Independent Record:

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted new administrative rules Thursday regarding grizzly bear and wolf management that have drawn criticism from environmental and conservation groups throughout the rulemaking process.

The adoption of the rules for both species marks key steps as the state updates its wolf management plan for the first time in two decades and prepares to manage grizzly bears in the event the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decides to delist them in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem — a decision currently under review.

 

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Tulare County wolf pack gets a name and is larger than originally believed

From Bakersfield:

A pack of gray wolves discovered in the Tulare County mountains last summer has been named — and is larger than scientists originally believed.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife on Thursday reported that the wolf pack will now be called the Yowlumni Pack. In a news release, the state agency said it was honored to partner with the Tule River Tribe to name the pack formally.

 

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Colorado wolf reintroduction to move forward as ranchers’ legal effort fails

From Phys.org:

The reintroduction of wolves in Colorado this month will proceed as planned after a federal judge on Friday 15 Dec. denied ranchers’ request to stop the state’s efforts to allow for further environmental analysis.

 

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Colorado wolf releases may happen within days after federal judge rejects ranchers’ lawsuit

From The Colorado Sun:

U.S. District Court Judge Regina Rodriguez agreed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife that the wolf reintroduction plan did not require additional federal review

 

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Federal judge rules against ranchers in Colorado wolf lawsuit

From the deseret.com:

Ranchers this week argued the federal government failed to do a sufficient review of the ramifications of the reintroduction of wolves in Colorado, with the case coming under review by a federal judge.

Judge Regina M. Rodriguez ruled late Friday evening against the ranchers, signaling reintroduction can begin in days on the western side of Colorado.

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