From ColoradoPolitics.com
Colorado ranchers and producers are looking to recover losses they say have been caused by the wolf reintroduction program, submitting nearly $600,000 in claims.
Meeting the year-end deadline, three producers submitted six claims, totaling $582,000. That would more than bankrupt the state’s wolf depredation compensation fund, which received $350,000 in the 2024-25 budget. Over three years, the wolf reintroduction program has cost the state more than $5.1 million.
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Could wolves be back on Colorado’s ballot in 2026?
From PostIndependent.com:
In 2026, Colorado voters could be asked to recall the law that brought wolves back to the state one year ago.
Colorado Advocates for Smart Wolf Policy filed a draft proposition on Jan. 3 to pull back wolf reintroduction with the Colorado Legislative Council, the first step in a long process to put the matter back in front of voters.
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$20,000 reward offered after third endangered gray wolf killed in Washington state
From KUOW.org:
A conservation group is teaming up with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to offer a $20,000 reward for help catching the person or people responsible for the deaths of three gray wolves in Washington state.
The Center for Biological Diversity announced Monday that it is doubling the federal agency’s $10,000 reward for information leading to arrests and convictions in three separate killings of the endangered wolves.
“I’m so saddened by the illegal killings of yet more Washington wolves,” said Amaroq Weiss, senior wolf advocate at the nonprofit, in a statement. “These beautiful animals didn’t deserve to die this way, and whoever killed them should face the full force of the law.”
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Feds say Mexican gray wolf recovery is on track, but advocates see ‘significant setbacks’
From AZCentral.com:
A five-year evaluation of the binational Mexican gray wolf recovery program reveals a stark contrast between the recovery programs in the United States and Mexico. Federal officials lauded the U.S. program for surpassing recovery goals, but wolf advocacy groups are decrying the report for downplaying the status of wolves in Mexico.
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More than $130k in rewards offered to catch wolf poachers in Oregon
From KOIN.com:
Police and Oregon wildlife officials are offering rewards totaling over $130,000 for information leading to an arrest or citation in various wolf poaching incidents throughout the state over the last two years.
Wolf poaching has been a growing concern, especially since gray wolves are protected under the Endangered Species Act in the western two-thirds of Oregon.
According to an April report from the Oregon Wolf Conservation and Management, the state’s wolf population did not grow at all in 2023. This marked the first year of zero annual growth in 16 years.
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Sweden doles out wolf hunting licenses to manage once-endangered population
From Straight Arrow News:
Sweden’s once-endangered wolf population is making a comeback, stirring debate over how best to manage the species. While conservationists are celebrating the population’s growth, the Swedish government is calling for it to be halved.
On Thursday, Jan. 2, the government issued a license to hunt, allowing hunters to kill up to 30 wolves across five territories to reduce the population, which currently stands at 375. This move aligns with the European Commission’s goal to loosen protections for wolves across the continent.
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Fish and Wildlife offers $10K reward in illegal killing of protected Eastern WA gray wolf
From tri-cityherald.com:
For the second time in less than a month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is offering a $10,000 reward for information related to the illegal killing of a gray wolf in the region. The federal service, along with the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, are seeking information about the killing of a federally endangered adult male gray wolf in Klickitat County, which neighbors Benton County. They’re offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest, criminal conviction or civil penalty.
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The year of the wolves
From WyoFile.com:
Thirty years ago this month, gray wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho. Today, the people who made it happen remember the mayhem and magic of one of the 20th century’s most controversial acts of ecosystem management.
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More Than $65,000 Offered for Information About Illegal Killing of Gray Wolf in Colorado
From Center for Biological Diversity:
GRAND COUNTY, Colo.— The Center for Biological Diversity, conservation partners and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are offering rewards totaling more than $65,000 for information leading to arrests and convictions in the 2024 shooting death of a wolf in Colorado. The reward follows the Service’s announcement today that a necropsy confirmed a gunshot wound killed the father of the Copper Creek pack, who died after he was captured in early September.
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Grand County wolf was shot, say federal authorities who are looking for its killer
From ColoradoSun.com:
A wolf that died after it was captured by wildlife officials as part of a pack had been shot, and now federal authorities are looking for the culprit.
The wolf was one of the original 10 wolves reintroduced to Colorado and the adult male of the Copper Creek pack, which was captured Aug. 30 after repeatedly feeding on livestock in Grand County.
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Colorado ranchers seek $581,000 to cover losses caused by wolves, a tab the state can’t afford
From ColoradoPolitics.com
Colorado ranchers and producers are looking to recover losses they say have been caused by the wolf reintroduction program, submitting nearly $600,000 in claims.
Meeting the year-end deadline, three producers submitted six claims, totaling $582,000. That would more than bankrupt the state’s wolf depredation compensation fund, which received $350,000 in the 2024-25 budget. Over three years, the wolf reintroduction program has cost the state more than $5.1 million.
Click here for the full story.