Gray wolves are secretly shipped across the US-Canada border and released into the mountains of Colorado.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife is declining to reveal where wolves imported from British Columbia are being released to protect the predators and the personnel responsible for transporting and releasing them.
The operation began on January 10 by flying at least 15 gray wolves from British Columbia to Colorado.
Officials confirmed the wolves arrived at the Eagle County Airport, but declined to reveal their final release location. This despite previously sharing a video from an earlier December 2023 release.
A petition to delay reintroductions by farmers concerned about stock losses has already been rejected.
Wolves in Colorado are federally protected and may not be hunted or killed.
Now, residents of three counties — Garfield, Eagle or Pitkin — are on edge.
Garfield County Commissioner Perry Will has addressed growing community concerns about the lack of transparency surrounding the release, which is part of the state’s wolf recovery plan.
Wolves are shipped from British Columbia and released in the mountains of Colorado (a previous wolf release in December 2023)

For the first time in a century, a pack of gray wolves was spotted in a U.S. National Park, officials said. A still shows a wolf from another pack in Northern California
“People are more upset about being so secretive about it than they are about the presence of the wolves,” Will said Cowboy stands daily.
“Some are even disgusted by it,” he added.
The predators could be released in three provinces, but local officials say they have been left in the dark.
“Due to the complexity of the operation and to ensure the safety of our staff and animals, CPW will not be sharing any details regarding the release of wolves while the operation is underway,” Gonzales told Dailymail.com.
Colorado rancher Howard Cooper, a member of the Colorado Conservation Alliance, said he struggles to understand why the governor’s office and CPW can’t be more transparent about the release program.
Some residents also expressed concerns about proper disease screening given the rapid timeline.
However, the CPW insists that the wolves are thoroughly investigated.
“Wolves will be examined and treated for possible diseases and infections at the source site,” the CPW said in an attempt to reassure locals.
The agency plans to continue releases for another five years, with a goal of establishing 10 to 15 wolves per year on Colorado’s Western Slope.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife have released five endangered gray wolves onto public lands in Grand County as part of the state’s reintroduction plan

Colorado rancher Howard Cooper, a member of the Colorado Conservation Alliance, expressed concern about proper disease screening given the rapid timeline

Garfield County Commissioner Perry Will expressed growing community concerns about the lack of transparency
“We remain committed to working with all parties as we continue to implement the law as passed by voters,” said CPW Director Jeff Davis.
“We’ve been working all year to prepare to get more wolves on the landscape with an enhanced Conflict Minimization Program, the addition of new staff to work with producers, strengthened partnerships and guidelines for producers when it comes to chronic depredation and deadly management considerations. .’
Northwest Region Public Information Officer Rachael Gonzales said adding British Columbia wolves to the existing population in Colorado will increase the chances of mating, breeding and pack formation.
“Established wolf packs defend territories, which will allow CPW to monitor patterns within a territory and improve the agency’s ability to work with producers on active behavior and coexistence strategies to best protect livestock,” Gonzales added .
British Columbia has between 5,300 and 11,600 wolves.
Officials note that they specifically choose wolves from areas that do not overlap with livestock, to avoid introducing predators already involved in livestock conflicts.
CPW Wolf Conservation Program Manager Eric Odell emphasized the benefits of reintroducing the creatures.
“This new source population of gray wolves will provide additional genetic diversity to Colorado’s wolf population,” he said in a statement.

Northwest Region Public Information Officer Rachael Gonzales wrote, “Adding British Columbia wolves to the existing Colorado population will increase the likelihood of mating, breeding and pack formation.”

“We were told there were places in Eagle County that would be suitable for the releases, but we haven’t been told anything since,” Eagle County Commissioner Jeanne McQueeney told Cowboy State Daily.
He said a future public news conference will provide more details about the location and the number of wolves they plan to release.
All residents know is that the wolves will be released at select locations in Garfield, Eagle or Pitkin counties.
This is despite the fact that a majority of residents in both Garfield and Eagle opposed wolf reintroduction when Colorado passed a law in 2020 by the narrowest margin: 50.91 percent to 49.09 percent.
“We were told there were places in Eagle County that would be suitable for the releases, but we haven’t been told anything since,” Eagle County Commissioner Jeanne McQueeney told Cowboy State Daily.
There is also concern about Colorado wolves moving north toward the Wyoming state line, where they could be “shot on sight.”

Colorado Parks and Wildlife aims to ‘restore and manage’ a population in the state ‘using the best scientific data available’
‘If I had a crystal ball, what would I think? I think sometime within the next four to six weeks we’ll have one intersection, or maybe a few,” Colorado resident John Michael Williams told the newspaper. Cowboy stands daily.
“And we’ll see some of them get shot.”
The first wolves were released in December 2023 at an undisclosed location in Grand County during an invitation-only event.
Among them were two young females and two young males, as well as an adult male.
The CPW collected genetic material – tissue and blood samples – before fitting each animal with a GPS satellite collar for tracking.
The wolves also received vaccines and were treated for parasites.
Wolves will travel up to 140 miles from where they are released, according to the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan. That’s why they were released anyway. 60 of the state lines of Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, and the sovereign tribal lands of southwestern Colorado.
But these states aren’t the only ones that can potentially expect wolf sightings.
In November, a small pack of gray wolves was spotted in Lassen Volcanic National Park for the first time in almost 100 years.
It was believed that wolves in the area were in danger of extinction.
The pack, a mother, a father and their two pups, was detected by a camera trap just south of the vast expanse in Northern California, the US Forest Service said.
“Historic day for Colorado and for the first time ever today we released five wolves, three males and two females, in Grand County,” the US Forest Service said of the rare sighting.
‘The wolves were captured in Oregon, where our veterinarians and biologists evaluated them and collected genetic material (tissue and blood samples) before each was fitted with a GPS collar to track them. The wolves were given vaccines, then placed in crates and flown to Colorado to be released into the wild.”