The Colorado State Open Thread is used to bring together people interested in our beautiful state, whether they’re interested in the people, politics, natural beauty, denizens, purple mountains majesty, fruited plains, history, future or any other part of it. The photo above is part of both our history and our future. It is a photo of a wolf and I find it captivating. It won’t be the only topic today, but it is the one I’d like to start out with.
The Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife just released 10 wolves into Grand and Summit counties in western Colorado, and immediately there were cries of outrage and broken promises. It didn’t help that DPW didn’t follow through on promises to inform the nearby ranches where and when they were going to release the wolves so that the ranchers could set out their traps and get their guns and sights zeroed in to quickly get rid of those wolves as soon as they left their cages. The ranchers were also upset that the new Oregon wolves apparently came from packs with a history of attacking livestock, though so far, there have been no reports that they have done so here in Colorado.
Colorado had plenty of problems getting these wolves, but they have apparently already secured wolves for next year (to be collected and transported at the end of the year) from a Native American tribe’s land in eastern Washington.
The Fort Collins Coloradoan had a lengthy article — www.coloradoan.com/… about the wolf reintroduction, about myths and downright falsehoods about wolves and their place in the ecosystem. The Coloradoan has a subscription required to read the article ($1 for six months electronic access), but here are a few selections:
How are the recently released wolves doing in Colorado?
Colorado Parks and Wildlife said as of the first month after the release, all the wolves are still alive and in Colorado and none had a reported livestock depredation. Some have stayed in the general area of the release sites, and some have moved northwest into south Routt County. One of the first photos of the released wolves by the public was taken about 5 miles from the first release site.
Will wolves kill a lot of cattle and sheep in Colorado?
Quick answer: This is mostly a myth. Considering the overall number of cattle and sheep where wolves are/will be present in Colorado, there will be minimal impact. But impacts can and have been significant to certain ranches in certain areas in Colorado and elsewhere.
Will wolves wipe out Colorado's deer and elk herds?
Quick answer: This is mostly a myth. Like in the livestock industry, wolves are unlikely to have a major impact on overall deer, elk and moose populations or hunting opportunities in Colorado at a statewide level, but populations may be impacted in certain areas.
What threat do wolves pose to people and their pets?
Quick answer: Wolves pose virtually no risk to humans but some risk to dogs.
Digging deeper: Since 1900, there have been no reported fatal human attacks by wolves in the lower 48 states and one fatal attack in Alaska in 2010. Since 2002, there has been one nonfatal wolf attack of a human in the lower 48 states, which happened in Minnesota in 2013.
Additional sources are the Warner College of Natural Resources (my graduate school at CSU) Center for Human-Carnivore Coexistence and the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Wolves in Colorado FAQ.
Moving on, in political news, the Colorado House Republicans just tried to have a “No Confidence” vote on their Minority party leader, Mike Lynch. I say “tried” because it didn’t pass because it was a tie vote, 9-9. They were short a member because she just gave birth over the weekend, but apparently they’re going to try again. The House Minority leader didn’t inspire confidence for not revealing to the other members, at least the Republicans, that he had an arrest for a DUI while also having a gun in his possession in 2022. As a good Republican, however, he’s running for the US House of Representatives seat for CD4. I wonder if this will help his candidacy.
In news about crime, the Ouray Plaindealer had all of its newspapers stolen from the racks around town the day it published the story of an underage girl being raped at the house of the police chief. They now have the papers back and an apology from the man who took them.
The theft was not connected in any way to the three defendants in the case, their families or the Ouray Police Department. The citation is a court summons and does not include an affidavit with details about the investigation, which was conducted by the Sheriff’s Office and the Ridgway Marshal’s Office. A law enforcement incident report will not be available until next week.
That’s enough from my desk tonight. If you’re interested in putting forward your thoughts and opinions I am going to have some vacations in March into April and also in October. I will need coverage for about a month each of those times. Please let me know if you’re interested. I have enjoyed what readers have posted during past absences; I look forward to more posts again. Until then, however, we all would love to hear what’s going on in your corner of our state down below in the comments. The floor is open.
