Colorado‘s Outrageously Expensive Wolf Re-introduction Program

This is what happens when you let Ballot Box Biology dictate how you manage your state’s wildlife. As you’ll recall, Colorado’s wolf reintroduction program was authorized by Proposition 114 which barely passed on Nov. 3, 2020, by the smallest of margins, 50.91% to 49.09%. Colorado’s Parks and Wildlife’s (CPW) professional wildlife managers and biologists did not ask to have wolves introduced to Colorado, it was forced upon them by voters, primarily from the urban areas of Denver and Boulder. The fact that Colorado hand tied our trained wildlife professionals and allowed uninformed voters to dictate our state’s wildlife management policies has had disastrous and expensive results.

The Curtain Is Pulled Back

As reported in “The Denver Gazette”, CPW spent more than $3 million on the state’s wolf reintroduction program in one year, which is more than three times as much as what voters were told it would cost during the ballot debate in 2020. Back then, budget analysts estimated that implementing the reintroduction program would cost approximately $800,000 annually, starting in fiscal year 2023-2024. The actual expenses from July 2024 to May 2025, as CPW reported to a legislative committee, were $3 million. An outrageous cost overrun.

As detailed in the “Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan”, the restoration of wolves is a multi-year effort, with intentions to release 10-15 wolves per year for 3-5 years. The program had a deadline to begin re-introduction no-later-than the end of 2023. This deadline was almost missed as no neighboring states would provide any wolves to Colorado. At the last-minute Oregon agreed to provide 10 wolves to begin this project. Now, according to CPW’s “2024-2025 Colorado Gray Wolf Annual Report”, by the end 2024, the total number of wolves present in Colorado was 15 with 15 more being translocated from British Columbia in January 2025, bringing the total to 30. Of these 30 wolves, in 2024 there were four reported wolf mortalities and by my count there’s already been 5 more in 2025, bringing the total number of wolf mortalities to nine out of the 30 reintroduced and paid for by the state. The “cost per wolf” just keeps getting higher and higher. 

The Conflict Grows

Additionally, these wolves often cause conflict with our ranchers and this must be managed. CPW has been forced to hire Wildlife Damage Specialists to supplement existing
field staff with a primary responsibility to assist in depredation investigation, site assessments, deployment of non-lethal tools and other important duties. According to CPW’s Gray Wolf Annual Report, between April 2024 and March 2025 there were a total of 275 requests for conflict minimization and a total of 214 requests for site assessments across 16 counties, resulting in materials (Fladry and other scare devices such as Foxlights, Critter Gitters, motion activated alarms, propane cannons, and airhorns) being deployed in 9 counties. All of these requests were managed and paid for by CPW.

And when these devices fail to deter wolves, there are actual depredation costs. In the 2024-2025 biological year, CPW staff confirmed 25 wolf depredations (16 cattle and 9 sheep), in 9 damage claims made by ranchers. The total compensation paid for direct losses was $44,143 including $31,552 for confirmed losses and $12,590 for missing animals. Additionally, CPW paid $348,881 compensation for missing cattle/sheep and production losses in 3 wolf damage claims, one involving 1,470 cattle. Several wolf damage claims for confirmed losses, missing animals, and production losses are still pending review and are not included in these figures. And in August/September 2024 the entire Copper Creek pack, a breeding pair and four of five pups, had to be relocated because of depredation issues. This was yet another cost created by this program.

A Waste Of Tax Dollars?

Is all of this a waste of taxpayer money? You’ll have to decide for yourself. Regardless, not all of this was anticipated, and Colorado’s wolf re-introduction program has certainly cost our taxpayers a great deal more than it was ever supposed to – and we’re not done paying for it yet.