Colorado’s gray wolves are moving their way south to the New Mexico state line. The latest activity map released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife shows even further movement into the San Luis Valley. GPS collar data shows movement in Alamosa, Conejos and Costilla counties.
“No sightings that I am aware of,” CPW southwest public information officer John Livingstone told Alamosa Citizen when asked if there had been any reported wolf sightings in the Valley. “One [wolf] has covered 3,500 miles around the state now and lit up a few watersheds on the Rio Grande and Rio Blanco. No wolves have established any territory consistently down here. We’ve had one that has spent time between Saguache and the headwaters of the Rio Grande, which has lit up some of our watersheds on the map the last few months.”
CPW says that this data doesn’t represent current wolf locations, but their movements through watersheds over the course of a month. “A highlighted watershed indicates that at least one wolf location was within that watershed during the month. It does not mean that wolves are present throughout the watershed or occupied the entire watershed,” CPW said.
Interstate memorandums of understandings between Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona have provisions for the capture and transfer of animals back into Colorado. Thus far, CPW noted, that hasn’t been implemented.
There is no such agreement with Wyoming. Three Colorado Gray Wolves were killed in Wyoming. Details are sparse about the causes of death as Wyoming state law prevents sharing details with Colorado wildlife officials.
Gray wolves are also moving through Southern Ute tribal areas. There is also an MOU between the tribal government and CPW which addresses the potential impacts of wolves within the tribe’s reservation and the Brunot Treaty Area in Southwestern Colorado.
Summit Daily News reported that a series of livestock associations questioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service if the reintroduction of 15 wolves from British Columbia, Canada, violated the Endangered Species Act.
GNL Concepts LLC, Colorado Outfitters Association, Colorado Wool Growers Association, Gunnison County Stockgrowers Association, Southwest Colorado Livestock Association, Colorado Conservation Alliance, Colorado Mule Deer Association and Colorado Independent Cattle Growers Association, in their letter, focused on Section 9 of the ESA. Section 9 states that it is unlawful to import endangered species into, or export endangered species out of, the United States.
CPW, in response to the livestock associations, said that gray wolves are not listed as endangered species in the Northern Rocky Mountains or listed as at-risk or endangered in Canada.
“With respect to sourcing gray wolves from western Canada, it’s important to remember that, like gray wolves in the delisted population in the Northern Rocky Mountains, gray wolves in Canada are not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act,” CPW Statewide Public Information Officer Luke Perkins told Summit Daily. “The provisions of the U.S. Endangered Species Act do not apply to these unlisted populations.”
CPW said it will include a minimum wolf population count in its annual biological report.
“We get reports of sightings from time to time but most often they are large coyotes. We always encourage people with potential sightings to report them to our wolf sighting form on the CPW website. We can get more info that way and see how that aligns with collar data, etc. of course, sightings with photos always help, too,” said Livingstone.
