While some of the wolves are part of Colorado’s four packs establishing territories in Pitkin, Jackson, Routt and Rio Blanco counties, others continue to search the landscape for mates and suitable food sources and habitat. 

Largely, however, wolf exploration of Colorado remains within similar northern counties in December, according to the latest wolf activity map shared by Colorado Parks and Wildlife on Dec. 23. 

The map — which shows the watersheds where the state’s collared gray wolves were located between Nov. 25 and Dec. 19 — shows that wolves continue to be most active in the northwest, while  also pushing into watersheds to the south and east. 

While the map continues to show activity in some Front Range area watersheds within Larimer, Denver, Boulder and Jefferson counties, the agency reported that “no wolves have crossed I-25 or spent time near urban centers.” 

If a watershed is highlighted, it means that at least one GPS point from one wolf was recorded in that watershed during the 30 days. GPS points are recorded every four hours or so. The latest map also shows activity in Routt, Rio Blanco, Eagle, Jackson, Larimer, Grand, Summit, Gilpin, Clear Creek, Park, Lake, Chaffee, Gunnison, Garfield, Saguache, Rio Grande and Conejos counties.   

While wolves have been exploring southern watersheds for months, Colorado saw its first wolf enter New Mexico and be returned by the southwestern state’s wildlife agency in December. Colorado has an agreement with Utah, New Mexico and Arizona in which any gray wolves from Colorado that enter these three states can be captured and returned to Parks and Wildlife. 

According to Parks and Wildlife, the male gray wolf was among those born to the Copper Creek pack in 2024 and dispersed from the pack in the fall. Dispersal is common for young wolves as they leave their birth pack, attempt to make it on their own and search for a mate. The animal was released in Grand County — a decision that sparked concerns from state and local elected officials as well as some wildlife advocates — in a location reportedly distanced from livestock and near to an unpaired female wolf as well as prey populations.  

The watershed map shows that there was wolf activity in Conejos County along the New Mexico state border. It also shows wolf activity brushing up against the Wyoming border. Parks and Wildlife does not have an agreement with its northern neighbor. Instead, wolves that enter Wyoming lose their protections as an endangered species and can be hunted in the vast majority of the state. Three of Colorado’s reintroduced wolves have died after going north. 

Colorado is nearly two years into its reintroduction of gray wolves, releasing a total of 25 wolves. Four packs had pups this year, but Parks and Wildlife has not released minimum counts of new wolf pups for all the packs. It says it will release the count in its annual wolf report, released each spring. Eleven wolf deaths have been confirmed. 
While the agency was looking to conduct its third year of wolf releases in the southwest this winter, Parks and Wildlife has yet to secure a source of wolves. The agency had planned to return to British Columbia; however, the federal government, under a new director, said it could no longer import the wolves from outside the country.

Across the nation, the opioid epidemic has wreaked havoc on the health and lives of far too many, and Colorado is no exception. According to Mental Health America, Colorado ranks fourth and seventh in the country for adults and youth with substance use disorders, respectively. That means thousands of our friends, neighbors and loved ones are living with addiction and can’t get the help they need. Overdose deaths in Colorado have risen sharply since 2019, largely due to the proliferation of fentanyl, with 1,603 deaths in 2024 alone, according to the state. 

It’s a public health crisis, and one we’re now at risk of making even worse. Last month, supporters turned in signatures to send Initiative #85 to the 2026 ballot, a measure that would increase criminal penalties for fentanyl crimes. We feel this threatens to drag us backward toward the failed policies and practices of the past rather than working toward a healthier future.

At the same time, state and federal funding for treatment and prevention is drying up. The recently passed federal spending bill HR1 will mean devastating changes to Medicaid, gutting the single most important source of funding for substance use treatment in the country. For the past several years, as more states have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid has emerged as the leading source of coverage for addiction treatment in the nation. 

A recent Brookings study found that nearly 90% of treatment for opioid addiction is paid for, at least in part, by Medicaid. These cuts will leave our already strained systems unable to meet the growing demand, particularly for low-income and disabled individuals who will have fewer treatment options and more barriers to care. 

Meanwhile, Colorado faced a $1.2 billion budget shortfall this year, and even more deficits are on the horizon for 2026. The state is stuck in a cycle of annual budget shortfalls of roughly $1 billion, making it increasingly difficult to cover existing programs and skyrocketing Medicaid costs. That means fewer resources to fill in federal funding gaps, a fraying behavioral health safety net, and an increasingly stressed population that is highly vulnerable to substance use and harm. 

Given this grim picture, it’s never been more critical to prioritize smart, effective policy to combat the overdose crisis. We should be focusing our scarce funding on evidence-based substance use prevention, treatment and recovery support, not costly, ineffective drug war criminalization policies that are historically discriminatory in their implementation and proven to fail. 

Mitigating and reversing the drug addiction crisis in Colorado and across the nation is complex and has to involve multiple strategies working in tandem to decrease supply and demand. While increasing criminal penalties related to drug addiction among individuals may seem like a tough-on-crime approach, it has not and will not resolve the drug addiction crisis nor dissolve the supply or the demand for illicit drugs.

Decades of data show that criminalizing substance users doesn’t reduce addiction or overdose. Recently, researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz found the following: “Intensified drug enforcement laws have little deterrent effect on substance use and may worsen health outcomes. Fear of being arrested fosters riskier substance use behaviors and increased overdose risk. Incarceration and the subsequent stigma experienced by people with substance use disorder work in tandem to create barriers for treatment access and worsen mental health, creating a structurally reinforced cycle of isolation.” 

The research is clear. Harsh penalties haven’t protected our communities from the dangers of fentanyl. They have only compounded harm and pushed people deeper into the shadows, making it harder to seek help, and saddling individuals with felony records that create lifelong barriers to employment, housing, and recovery. 

Policies like the proposed 2026 ballot measure to increase felony charges for drug possession are not just misguided — they cost taxpayer dollars. They further overburden law enforcement agencies, flood jails, courtrooms and prisons that are already beyond their capacity, and ultimately do nothing to address the core of the opioid epidemic.

Instead of doubling down on punishing people who use substances, we need to expand what works: prevention programs in schools and communities, access to harm reduction tools like naloxone, and a robust continuum of care that includes outpatient and residential treatment. We need more support for peer recovery professionals, more public education and more investment in what keeps people healthy, which includes housing, food security and opportunities for connection. We need to act together, with assertive intelligence, to disrupt the black market drug trafficking that is the enemy of the people.

The opioid crisis is a public health crisis and demands a public health response. Colorado has the knowledge, data and tools to build a more effective and compassionate system. But we cannot do it if we are bleeding out resources to punitive policies that fail the people they claim to help.

Let’s not go backward. Let’s invest in health and safety and give Coloradans a real chance at recovery.

Vincent Atchity, of Denver, is the president and CEO of Mental Health Colorado.

José Esquibel, of Jefferson County, is the former vice chair of the Colorado Substance Abuse Trend and Response Task Force.

The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy. Learn how to submit a column. Reach the opinion editor at opinion@coloradosun.com.

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At a kitchen table in Arvada, backpacks and homework papers take over. It’s a common sight for Carla Aguilar, but one she never expected to repeat.

“I thought I was all done raising kids, you know?” Aguilar said.

For more than a decade, Aguilar has been raising her two granddaughters, Ava and Athena. Ava, 12, was too shy to appear on camera, but 8-year-old Athena proudly showed how her grandmother helps her learn.

“She helps me read,” Athena said. “She taught me how to write correctly.”

Aguilar, 55, is disabled and lives on a fixed income. She says every day is a balancing act, and this time of year is challenging.

“Holidays are hard, so we’re kind of dealing with that right now,” she said.

Aguilar’s story is far from unique. According to the latest data from the American Society on Aging and the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 2 million grandparents nationwide are primary caregivers for their grandchildren. In Colorado, more than 36,000 families face the same reality, often with limited financial resources and little support.

“Most of these seniors are on fixed income, social security, disability, and you can’t really stretch that too far in Colorado these days,” said Steve Olguin, executive director of Bright Leaf, a nonprofit that helps older adults across the state.

Bright Leaf started as a small community group and now provides free home repairs, food assistance, and other essentials to seniors statewide. Its newest initiative, GrandCare Alliance, focuses on grandparents raising grandkids — offering help with school costs, activity fees, and holiday wish lists.

“We’re just trying to help out so it’s not as rough for them,” Olguin said.

For Aguilar, that support is a lifeline. She says her granddaughters are her world, and she’ll never stop fighting for them.

“They’re my heart, my soul, everything,” Aguilar said. “I will take care of them until my last breath.”

Bright Leaf is asking for the community’s help in supporting the GrandCare Alliance and its other services. Those who want more information on how to volunteer and donate can visit their website.