Colorado officials are working to relocate a pack of wolves in the state after the animals repeatedly attacked livestock.

“Colorado Parks and Wildlife, with technical support from federal partners, and as provided for in the 10(j) experimental population rule issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), have begun an operation to capture and relocate wolves from the depredating Copper Creek wolf pack,” Colorado Parks & Wildlife said in a press release on Wednesday.

The announcement follows just a week after state officials celebrated the birth of three pups from the Copper Creek pack, which was established after 10 wolves were released in December despite strong opposition from livestock groups. The pack now includes at least two adults.

The attempt to capture the wolves contradicts the state’s wolf management plan. The 2023 document advises against relocations, stating they “have little technical merit” and could cause problems in other areas if the animals continue preying on livestock.

In a statement, CPW Director Jeff Davis said, “the decision to capture and relocate the Copper Creek pack was made with the careful consideration of multiple factors and feedback from many different stakeholders.”

“Our options in this unique case were very limited, and this action is by no means a precedent for how CPW will resolve wolf-livestock conflict moving forward. The ultimate goal of the operation is to relocate the pack to another location while we assess our best options for them to continue to contribute to the successful restoration of wolves in Colorado,” Davis added.

Ranching groups pushed for the wolf pack to be culled, while wildlife advocates argued that more preventive measures, such as electric fencing, should have been used to deter livestock attacks more effectively.

In other states, wolves are routinely hunted by wildlife officials in response to attacks against livestock.

However, last week, CPW spokesperson Travis Duncan said that Colorado sought to capture the wolves instead of killing them because “it’s too early in the process” to reintroduce them.

“We don’t have enough wolves on the landscape to lethally remove” the pack, Duncan said.

State officials did not reveal the location of the capture efforts but confirmed that the operation was being conducted in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Michael Saul with Defenders of Wildlife said that the capture operations are a “big setback” for reintroducing the wolves.

“There are lots of ranchers using existing tools who are living with wolves and not having this problem,” Saul said.

This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.

The property tax reform bill at the center of state officials’ deal with conservative activists to pull back a pair of ballot initiatives advanced on schedule Tuesday, clearing a key hearing before the full Colorado House of Representatives.

The measure now needs a final House vote on Wednesday. Should it clear that, it will then face a marathon of votes in the Senate as lawmakers aim to end the special session before Labor Day.

House Bill 1001 builds upon years of tweaks to property tax policy in the state following voters’ repeal of the residential tax-stabilizing Gallagher Amendment in 2020. If it becomes law, fiscal analysts say it will cut statewide property tax collections by about $254 million, on top of the $1.3 billion cut approved by lawmakers last spring.

For most property owners, the new reductions would cut less than $100 from their tax bills, though the amount depends on local mill levies and the property’s value, among other changes to tax policy.

The true stakes, however, lie in a pair of ballot initiatives that, if passed by voters in November, would force even deeper cuts to property tax collections. The conservative proponents of initiatives 50 and 108, led by Advance Colorado, have repeatedly declared that they will yank the measures — characterized by opponents as “catastrophic” and “draconian” — if the bill becomes law.

So far, it has gone through relatively minor changes as lawmakers seek to protect the terms of the deal, even as the terms continue to rankle many legislators. Those who are critical feel they’ve been called to rubber-stamp a preordained outcome.

State Rep. Cathy Kipp, a Fort Collins Democrat who said she hasn’t made up her mind on the bill, characterized it as picking between cutting revenues for local services now or being forced to consider much heavier cuts if the ballot initiatives pass.

“This a really hard position for us legislators to be in,” Kipp said. “Do we take a little bit of harm now — or risk a lot of harm later?”

The bill had faced stiff opposition from fire districts, and Democratic lawmakers lined up to voice support for firefighters Tuesday. The property tax-funded fire departments have struggled to keep up with rising costs, and further cuts would hurt service, a slew of chiefs testified Monday.

Garry Briese, executive director of the Colorado State Fire Chiefs, said Tuesday afternoon that they were close to reaching a deal with legislative leaders to prioritize sustainable funding for the fire districts in some way in the future. That would be short of the chiefs’ hopes for a carve-out from funding cuts altogether, but it would get them closer to their long-term goals, he said.

“We’re now involved in developing these solutions, instead of reacting to imposed solutions,” Briese said.

Others challenges linger. Some House Democrats reiterated their frustrations Tuesday the state hadn’t done enough to insulate tenants from rent increases and that the deal didn’t target relief to lower-income property owners.

The House also passed a proposed ballot measure Tuesday that, if approved later by the state’s voters, would require local voter approval of any future statewide property tax changes passed through ballot measures.

Democrats have supported it as a way to undercut the potential for future property tax wars, but Republicans have sharply opposed the bill, suggesting it would blow up the deal now on the table. The measure would need one Senate Republican to back it to reach the supermajority threshold for a ballot referral, giving it difficult odds to passage.

Tuesday’s passage of the main tax relief measure sets up a final, recorded vote Wednesday that will give a full picture of Democratic and Republican support, which was clouded somewhat by Tuesday’s procedural tallies that included voice and bundled votes.

Bills rarely die if they reach the final floor vote, and even progressive skeptics of the deal said the measure was likely to clear the chamber Wednesday. Rep. Matt Soper, a Delta Republican, said he supported Advance Colorado’s ballot initiatives, but he’s decided to back the property tax deal.

Still, several Democratic legislators said they remained undecided, even as they acknowledged the risk of the ballot measures passing. And Rep. Scott Bottoms, a Colorado Springs Republican, said he welcomed anything that would blow up the deal and keep the measures on the ballot.

Asked about the bill’s chances of passing the House, Speaker Julie McCluskie said late Tuesday afternoon that she was confident.

Should that happen, the bill will then move to the Senate. If lawmakers wants to finish the special session by Thursday at the earliest, the bill will need to first pass a Senate committee and then an initial vote before the full Senate by the end of Wednesday.

That would set up a final vote — and, potentially, final negotiations with the House — for Thursday.

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Originally Published: August 28, 2024 at 6:00 a.m.

Colorado’s only wolf pack produced by released wolves is being removed from its Grand County location.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife along with technical support from federal partners have begun an operation to capture and relocate wolves from the Copper Creek pack, the state wildlife agency announced in a Tuesday night news release.

The pack consists of two parents from among 10 wolves captured in Oregon and released in Colorado in late December of 2023 and at least three wolf pups the pair had this spring. “The decision to capture and relocate the Copper Creek pack was made with the careful consideration of multiple factors and feedback from many different stakeholders,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis stated in the news release. “Our options in this unique case were very limited, and this action is by no means a precedent for how CPW will resolve wolf-livestock conflict moving forward. The ultimate goal of the operation is to relocate the pack to another location while we assess our best options for them to continue to contribute to the successful restoration of wolves in Colorado.”

The option to remove the wolves is allowed under the federal 10(j) rule issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which designates Colorado’s released wolves as an experimental population.

The parents of the pack have largely been responsible for 16 confirmed wolf depredations of cattle and sheep near the pack’s den and rendezvous sites in Grand County since April 2, according to area ranchers.

The Middle Park Stockgrowers Association, which represents Grand County ranchers, has repeatedly asked the state wildlife agency to remove at least the parents of the pack over the past several months, and later the pups as well. The latest request from the association and other stockgrowers groups was sent to Gov. Jared Polis and Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis on Aug. 15.

The agency has repeatedly refused the request, citing the need to grow the state’s wolf population in accordance to the state’s wolf recovery plan before finally relenting to ranchers’ pressure Tuesday.

That state’s recovery plan calls for releasing 30 to 50 wolves over the next three to five years with a goal of a minimum of 150 to 200 wolves.

“Colorado Parks and Wildlife is committed to fulfilling the will of Colorado voters to successfully restore the gray wolf population while meeting the needs of Colorado communities,” the release read. “As we have throughout the implementation of the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan, CPW is working with wildlife biologists, federal partners and producers to develop solutions that will reduce the risk of additional wolf depredations.”

Tim Ritschard, a Grand County rancher and president of the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association, said the association is pleased with the decision.

“If a wolf wanders in and kills a cow or calf, that’s tolerable, “Ritschard told the Coloradoan on Tuesday night. “When they set up camp and repeatedly depredate on livestock that’s where the problem is.

“I’m glad the feds stepped in and took action before a rancher or local Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff had to. Hopefully CPW can learn from this and prevent something similar happening in the future.”

The Coloradoan reached out to pro wolf groups for comment. Those messages were not immediately returned.

Ritschard questioned what the state wildlife agency will do with the wolves.

That was not detailed in the agency’s news release.

“For the safety of these animals and staff, CPW will not be sharing the location of the pack members or operation,” the agency’s news release read. “CPW will provide more information and details at the conclusion of the operation.”

The news of the pack removal comes days after the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission was told by Colorado Parks and Wildlife the next planned wolf release would occur in the the same general area as the first releases in Grand and Summit counties.

Reid DeWalt, Colorado Parks and Wildlife assistant director, told the commissioners at their Friday meeting in Colorado Springs that the next release will take place in the northern zone.

The northern zone roughly encompasses from Glenwood Springs on the west, Kremmling on the north, Vail on the east and Aspen on the south. The area includes Interstate 70 running through the middle.

First, though, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has to secure wolves for its next release planned for late this year or early next year. Something which has been difficult to do.

That sourcing was made more difficult after the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington notified Colorado Parks and Wildlife in a June letter that it was rescinding an earlier agreement to send 15 wolves to Colorado later this year and in early 2025.