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Some of Colorado’s released wolves wandered into Moffat County, per GPS collar data

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Some of Colorado’s released wolves wandered into Moffat County, per GPS collar data


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Two months after their release, two of Colorado’s reintroduced wolves have reached Moffat County, the farthest reported location from initial release sites in Grand and Summit counties.

Collar data showed the two wolves “have made some broad movements in the last week and indicates some wolves have recently moved from western Routt County into eastern Moffat County,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson Rachel Gonzales wrote in an email sent to the Coloradoan on Saturday.

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There have been few confirmed sightings of the 10 wolves released in late December. Photos and videos on social media have shown wolves around the Kremmling area, which is near where some of the wolves were released.

The wolves seen in eastern Moffat County would be approximately 70 miles northwest of their release sites. One of those release sites was near the Radium State Wildlife area southwest of Kremmling.

Wolves widely wander and can travel 30 miles or more per day. Craig, the Moffat County seat, is located near the eastern edge of the county.

Moffat County residents have strongly opposed the state’s wolf reintroduction, with 83% of its voters opposing Proposition 114, the narrowly passed ballot measure that mandated wolves be reintroduced west of the Continental Divide starting in 2023.

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The county was home to a wolfpack in 2020 but that pack disappeared a year later, with some of its wolves legally killed just across the border in Wyoming.

The recent GPS tracking locations would put the wolves around 30 miles from the Wyoming border.

All 10 of Colorado’s released wolves captured in Oregon are fitted with GPS collars, as are the only two known remaining members of the North Park pack, whose parents naturally migrated into Colorado and gave birth to the state’s first pups in 80 years.

More: Do wolves fix ecosystems? CSU study debunks claims about Yellowstone reintroduction

Gonzales pointed out in the email that location points are at most collected every four hours and data is downloaded every 16 hours.

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“Wolves can and do move substantial distances between the four hours that points are collected, and the terrain and weather can impact when points are received,” she wrote. “This data gives us an informed perspective of where wolves have been, but not where they are, and certainly not where they are going.”

Colorado Parks and Wildlife was widely criticized for a lack of transparency and communication regarding the wolf releases that took place Dec. 18-22.

To address some of the criticism, the agency released a map to help show general areas where wolves have been in the previous month and pledged to update that map monthly.

Another criticism centered on five of the 10 released wolves coming from packs in Oregon with recent livestock depredations.

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None of Colorado’s released wolves had depredated on livestock a month after their release. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has not indicated any depredations between then and now.

“CPW continues to work with livestock producers to provide conflict-mitigation techniques, and will continue to conduct outreach/education in areas that are likely to have wolves,” Gonzales wrote.

Gonzales said the wildlife agency receives hundreds of reports of wolf sightings per year. She said the agency cannot validate every informal sighting but that staff reviews all credible reports submitted through its wolf sighting form.

She said the agency continues to encourage anyone who sees a wolf or wolf tracks to submit a report.

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Man found dead in Colorado’s Black Canyon of the Gunnison

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Man found dead in Colorado’s Black Canyon of the Gunnison


A deceased male was found at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park on the morning of March 24, according to the Montrose County Sheriff’s Office. Upon arriving at the scene around 8:40 a.m., deputies talked with possible witnesses and determined that a deceased male was located in the canyon. The man’s body was below […]



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Driver dies days after head-on collision in Colorado Springs; surviving driver may have been involved in a race, police say

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Driver dies days after head-on collision in Colorado Springs; surviving driver may have been involved in a race, police say


COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – One person is dead after unwittingly getting in the middle of a car race over the weekend.

Police say the victim was traveling westbound on Briargate Boulevard near Lexington Drive when an eastbound car slammed into them head-on.

“Preliminary information indicated that the eastbound vehicle had been engaged in a speed contest with another vehicle prior to the collision,” the Colorado Springs Police Department wrote in a blotter post on the crash.

Both drivers were taken to the hospital with serious injuries, but at the time they were transported, the injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

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“It was later reported that the driver of the westbound vehicle died as a result of complications related to surgery stemming from the crash,” police said.

CSPD’s Major Crash Team is investigating the head-on collision. Speed is suspected as a factor in the crash.

There’s currently no word on whether the surviving driver will face charges.



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Biological sex and transgender rights for youth at the center of Colorado ballot measures

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Biological sex and transgender rights for youth at the center of Colorado ballot measures


COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – Colorado voters will be asked in November whether or not state laws should change on how youth sports are organized and who is allowed to have certain surgeries in the state.

Protect Kids Colorado (PKC) is an organization that worked to get initiatives 109 and 110 on the ballot. Kevin Lundberg, a republican and former Colorado State Senator and State Representative, serves on the organization’s Board of Directors.

According to it’s website, PKC “is a grassroots, We the People movement to educate, unify, and mobilize … any concerned citizen to protect kids from becoming victims of a dangerous and false ideology.”

Several LGBTQ+ advocates in Colorado oppose the initiatives, including One Colorado. On Instagram, the organization called the measures “dangerous” and “anti-trans.”

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Initiative 109 asks voters to make a new state law, requiring students compete on sports teams aligned with their biological sex, starting in kindergarten and lasting through higher education. There would be an exception for females to join male teams if there is no female team available. Schools and athletic associations would have to designate teams as male, female or coeducational.

Initiative 110 seeks to prohibit biological sex-altering surgery on minors. Doctors would not be allowed to provide such procedures, and public insurance companies, including Medicaid reimbursement, would not be allowed to pay for them.

Leaders with Inside Out Youth Services (IOYS), an LGBTQ+ advocacy group based in Colorado Springs, say these measures would harm young people.

“The message that this would send to our young people is that they matter less than their peers,” said Ollie Glessner with IOYS. “It would send the message that they don’t exist, their identities don’t exist and aren’t worth protecting.”

Erin Lee, Executive Director for PKC, says the measures secure protections that previous state legislative proposals have sought to secure but failed.

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“These are not right versus left issues, these are just right versus wrong issues. And so we wanted to give the people a way to still put these common sense safeguards in place for children,” Lee said.

Similar proposals are being considered by congress within the SAVE Act.

The election is November 3.



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