Proposition 114 emerged in a narrow victory Thursday, with Colorado voters giving the green light for the reintroduction of gray wolves.
The measure asked voters if gray wolves should be restored in the state through reintroduction on designated lands west of the Continental Divide. Colorado’s Parks and Wildlife Commission would be in charge of holding statewide hearings and creating a plan by the end of 2023 to manage the wolves, including compensation to landowners for loss of livestock.
Tallies with the Colorado Secretary of State’s election reporting site on Friday showed 3,027,890 votes cast on the measure, with 50.55 percent, or 1,530,679 votes in favor, and 49.45 percent, or 1,497,211 against.
Voters in Chaffee County were decidedly against the measure, with 56.01 percent, or 7,401 voters saying no. There were 5,812 voters, or 43.99 percent, who voted for the proposition.
“Gray wolves are the ecological engines of the northern hemisphere.” said Rob Edward, president of the Rocky Mountain Wolf Action Fund in support of the proposition. “Since the 1940s, when Colorado’s last wolf was killed, our ecosystem has suffered, knocked out of balance. Without wolves keeping them alert and moving around, elk and deer strip away vital streamside vegetation, leading to erosion and the disruption of habitat, threatening beavers, songbirds, and even native trout.”
Those in favor of reintroduction also point to the Oct. 29 move by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, who announced that the gray wolf population in the U.S. had recovered sufficiently for federal delisting from the Endangered Species Act. Gray wolves were originally listed in 1978. Bernhardt’s delisting now places wolf management in the hands of the states – and supporters say that is another reason why the reintroduction in Colorado is important.
Those against the measure, however, continue to argue that the reintroduction of wolves will bring a burden to ranchers and species that cannot endure more predation. Moreover, they say, wolves are already making their way through Wyoming into northern Colorado.
“We remain skeptical that you can introduce wolves into Colorado and not create significant problems,” said Shawn Martini, vice president of advocacy for the Colorado Farm Bureau. “Not only to our way of life here in the state, which is based on outdoor recreations, but also on livestock production in the western part of the state and to the ecosystem. Colorado is home to a number of endangered species that could be potentially be preyed upon by an apex predator like the Canadian gray wolf.”
In some other rural counties, the feelings against reintroduction were even stronger than those in Chaffee County. Voters in Montrose County, for example, were 76.29 percent against the proposition.
Non-Front Range counties that said yes to reintroduction included San Miguel, La Plata, Summit, Pitkin and San Juan.
Urban voters showed up largely in favor of reintroduction. In Boulder County, for example, voters so far said yes/no by 67.88 to 32.12 percent.
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