Colorado Cattle Industry Sues to delay Wolf Reintroduction

Colorado Cattle Industry Sues to delay Wolf Reintroduction

By Dave Shaffer

We are currently less than 3 weeks from the December 31, 2023 statutory mandate for Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) to begin releasing wolves in Colorado, a deadline required by the state’s Gray Wolf Introduction Initiative which was narrowly approved by voters in 2020.

Under the state’s reintroduction plan, up to 10 wolves are scheduled to be brought to Colorado from Oregon and released in Summit, Eagle or Grand counties by the end of the year.

 … but not so fast!!

On Monday, the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association and Gunnison County Stockgrowers’ Association sued CPW and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and are seeking a court order to delay the reintroduction of gray wolves into Colorado.  Their lawsuit alleges the two agencies violated the National Environmental Policy Act by not conducting an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement on the “environmental consequences of reintroducing gray wolves to Colorado.” 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services did perform an environmental review in part on what is called the 10(j) rule, which would permit the killing of wolves in Colorado under certain scenarios — particularly in the defense of livestock. However, the lawsuit alleges that the review doesn’t satisfy federal environmental law and failed to grasp the consequences of wolf reintroduction.

The lawsuit seeks a declaratory judgment that the federal and state wildlife agencies violated the law by renewing an Endangered Species Act agreement without preparing an environmental impact statement on the reintroduction of gray wolves and a court order to delay reintroduction until it is complete.

Ike Eastman had the great pleasure of having long time friend Baker Levitt on the podcast. Baker has some great insights on the progression of building a business from the ground up. Baker has a long history of being apart of some great business stories including Kill Kliff. So sit down, break out your note pad and take some notes entrepreneurs!