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Colorado’s new wolf pack — including pups — to be captured and relocated after livestock depredations

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Colorado’s new wolf pack — including pups — to be captured and relocated after livestock depredations


Colorado wildlife officials are relocating two reintroduced wolves and their pups after a series of livestock depredations — a setback for the historic and controversial reintroduction program launched late last year.

The pack of wolves, called the Copper Creek pack, will be captured from the wild in Grand County, Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced Tuesday night. The agency did not disclose where the pack will be moved to, citing the need to protect the wolves and CPW staff.

“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,” CPW Director Jeff Davis said in a statement. ”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.”

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The relocation announcement comes less than 10 days after the wildlife agency announced proof of at least three pups born this spring and shared a video showing the pups playing in a puddle. The pups are the first born to wolves released in December as part of a voter-mandated reintroduction of the predator species extirpated from Colorado nearly a century ago.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife release wolf 2302-OR, one of five gray wolves captured in Oregon in an initial batch in late December, onto public land in Grand County, Colorado, on Monday, Dec. 18, 2023. (Photo provided by Colorado Parks and Wildlife)

Agency leaders will provide more information about the relocation after the targeted wolves are captured, according to the statement.

The agency’s statement about the relocation raises more questions than it answers, said Michael Saul, director of the Rockies and Plains Program at Defenders of Wildlife, which advocated for the reintroduction. Saul wanted to know whether CPW will keep the pack together during the capture and relocation effort, where they will be taken and where they will be released back into the wild — if at all.

“This reintroduction is in its tenuous, early stages and I just don’t understand how it makes sense to give up on the one reproducing pack we have,” he said.

The Copper Creek pack’s wolves, including the known pups, are among at least a dozen of the animals now roaming Colorado’s mountains. Eight other adults were released in December after their capture and relocation from Oregon, and a pair of Wyoming-based wolves naturally migrated into the state earlier. One of the relocated wolves was found dead in the spring.

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Colorado voters in 2020 narrowly voted in favor of the reintroduction program, fueled primarily by voters along the urban Front Range. Many ranchers have opposed the effort and have said the return of wolves threatens their livelihoods and ways of life.

Colorado is the first state to reintroduce the apex predator.

Since the reintroduction, wolves have killed or injured at least nine sheep and 15 head of cattle, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s list of confirmed depredations. Most of those depredations were caused by the paired wolves in Middle Park, which formed the Copper Creek pack, said Reid DeWalt, CPW’s assistant director for the agency’s Aquatic, Terrestrial and Natural Resources branch, on Friday during a Parks and Wildlife Commission meeting.

“We have had a few other depredations from the other wolves, but nothing to the level we’ve seen in Middle Park,” he said.

Ranchers in Middle Park repeatedly have asked the agency to take action to stop the wolf depredations, but the agency until now has declined to intervene beyond providing more nonlethal deterrent resources. The Middle Park Stockgrowers in the spring requested a permit that would allow ranchers to kill depredating wolves, but the permit was denied.

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DeWalt offered an update on the wolf reintroduction effort during the commission meeting but did not mention the possibility of relocating the wolves. Davis, CPW’s director, also did not mention the relocation during his update to the commission.

The agency still plans to release more wolves this winter, DeWalt said Friday. CPW has not yet found a state or government willing to supply wolves after a Washington tribe reversed its agreement to provide the canines.

But DeWalt said staff members were confident they’d be able to find another source. The agency plans to release the next batch of wolves in the same northern zone they used late last year so that they’ll increase the wolf population in the area, DeWalt said.

The agency has hired five predator damage conflict specialists. Their job is to focus primarily on wolf issues, but they will also work on predations with bears and mountain lions, DeWalt said.

The five specialists and other CPW staff attended a two-week training in Oregon and Idaho to learn about wolf management and how to deter depredations, he said.

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Denver, CO

Colorado weather: Record heat returns to Denver, northern part of state

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Colorado weather: Record heat returns to Denver, northern part of state


Two more days of record-breaking heat are forecast for northern Colorado this week, including in the Denver area, according to the National Weather Service.

Earlier forecasts from the weather service projected 90-degree temperatures in Denver on Wednesday, which would have marked the city’s first of the year and earliest on record. The expected temperature high has since dropped to 88 degrees, which would still break daily and monthly heat records, according to the weather service.

NWS Tuesday forecasts:

  • 64 degrees in Dillion, breaking the 63-degree record for March 24.
  • 75 degrees in Evergreen, breaking the 71-degree daily record.
  • 81 degrees in Denver, breaking the 76-degree daily record.
  • 83 degrees at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, breaking the 76-degree daily record.
  • 83 degrees in Boulder, breaking the 76-degree daily record.
  • 84 degrees at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, breaking the 80-degree daily record.

NWS Wednesday forecasts:

  • 69 degrees in Dillion, breaking the 62-degree record for March 24.
  • 80 degrees in Evergreen, breaking the 75-degree daily record.
  • 88 degrees in Denver, breaking the 75-degree daily record and the 86-degree March heat record. Denver has broken or tied the March heat record three times so far this month, according to the weather service.
  • 89 degrees at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, breaking the 76-degree daily record.
  • 87 degrees in Boulder, breaking the 78-degree daily record.
  • 89 degrees at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, breaking the 79-degree daily record.



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Married couple stars on stage at Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ “Dracula, a Comedy of Terrors”

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Married couple stars on stage at Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ “Dracula, a Comedy of Terrors”


The Denver Center for the Performing Arts is celebrating more than 100 performances of its hit comedy “Dracula, a Comedy of Terrors.” The show, which puts a funny twist on the classic tale of Dracula, is filled with comedy and romance, and that romance can be seen both onstage and off.

“It is a great date night. It is fast, it is fun,” said Marco Alberto Robinson, the actor who portrays Dracula on stage.

Adriane and Marco Robinson

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“People leave with a smile on their face, it is a good time,” said Adriane Leigh Robinson, an actress who plays multiple characters during the show.

The duo not only finds romance on stage in the production, but off stage, they are already in love.

“We are just best buddies,” Marco Robinson said.

“We are married,” Adriane Robinson said as she laughed.

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The duo has lived in Denver for years and has enjoyed helping bring Dracula to life at the Garner Galleria.

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“Dracula is a cult classic about a blood thirsty monster. But this is different, because he is not only blood thirsty, he is spicy,” Adriane Robinson said.

The other cast members of the production told CBS News Colorado they are confident both Robinsons are capable of starring on Broadway in New York. However, both said they have found a purpose and belonging in Denver and at the DCPA.

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“We have found a super tight and loving community that we don’t ever want to leave,” Adriane Robinson said.

Both have been in many productions at the DCPA, but added Dracula has given them an opportunity to explore a side of their relationship that they’ve never had before.

“It’s the easiest (to be romantic interests on and off stage),” Adriane Robinson said.

“It is super easy. We can come up with something at home and bring it in. It is nice to not be passing ships,” Marco Robinson said.

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Both said they have an appreciation for the surrounding arts community in Colorado, and have loved being on the same funny production in Dracula, a Comedy of Terrors.

“We are putting roots down here, and regional theatre is super important. And, the Denver Center is doing some of the best of it,” Marco Robinson said.

Dracula, a Comedy of Terrors, plays at the DCPA through May 10. For more information on tickets, visit their website.

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Traffic, parking and transportation at Burnham Yard are focal points around Denver Broncos stadium plans

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Traffic, parking and transportation at Burnham Yard are focal points around Denver Broncos stadium plans


As the Denver Broncos design a new stadium for Burnham Yard, one of the most critical elements — with some of the highest potential for backlash from neighbors and the team’s fans — will be the plan for getting people to and from the site.

Questions about parking, traffic management, transit access and accessibility have emerged as major concerns for neighbors of the future stadium during early community meetings in west Denver organized by the city and the team.

“It is probably the No. 1 topic that we’re hearing,” said Troy Halouska, the vice president of the La Alma Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association.

Lindsey Noble, a resident of the neighborhood, said in an interview with The Denver Post that she and her neighbors were “pretty concerned about traffic and parking” from the events the new stadium would host — which the team has said would go well beyond Broncos home games.

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“They (the Broncos) are creating these problems, and some of the solutions I have heard have to do with altering our neighborhood or changing streets,” she said. “These aren’t things we want.”

The Broncos are still early in the process of laying out plans for the abandoned rail yard as the team aims to build a stadium by 2031. The team has already released some transportation-related details, including proposed changes to street crossings with the Regional Transportation District’s light rail tracks, potential parking options for events, and plans for connections to existing pedestrian and bike infrastructure.

The team plans to build more than just a stadium, though. Alongside their home field, the Broncos want to create a mixed-use entertainment district that uses the space year-round. Like other modern stadiums, it would have restaurants, open space and, potentially, hotels or apartments outside the venue.

Burnham Yard can be seen through the windows of an RTD light rail train as a passenger sits in their seat on Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Denver. (Photo by Timothy Hurst/The Denver Post)

Officials with the Broncos say they have heard the worries from nearby residents about the massive development’s potential impact on their neighborhoods. They say they’re looking for ways to integrate the site into the community — without flooding nearby streets with thousands of cars and people.

Generally, the team plans to address those concerns by designing the site in such a way that eventgoers are guided in through the north and south ends of the site, rather than being routed through the mostly residential neighborhood to the east.

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The site itself, once the rail yard is cleared, will be nestled between two rail corridors — freight lines to the west and RTD’s light rail tracks to the east. Entities connected to the Broncos have been buying up properties beyond the banana-shaped rail yard for the stadium and surrounding district.

A passenger crosses the tracks at the RTD 10th/Osage Rail Station with the north end of Burnham Yard visible in the background on Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Denver. (Photo by Timothy Hurst/The Denver Post)
A passenger crosses the tracks at the RTD 10th/Osage Station with the north end of Burnham Yard visible in the background on Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Denver. (Photo by Timothy Hurst/The Denver Post)

A bit farther to the west of the site is Interstate 25, and the north and south boundaries are generally West 13th Avenue and West Sixth Avenue. An early conceptual plan the team submitted to the city shows how its designers plan to connect local streets through the site. One new street would connect West Eighth Avenue to Osage Street, for instance, incorporating city plans to lower part of Eighth’s current viaduct.

Josh Brooks, a principal at Sasaki, the architecture firm designing the site’s master plan, said during a community meeting in February that the team plans to design the area so that noise and visual impacts are pushed as far from the residential neighborhood as possible.

“Our intention is to ensure this is an integrated community, a mixed-use development that really serves as an extension of the city and becomes part of the shared memory of the community,” Brooks said.

One of the things that most attracted the team to Burnham Yard was its connectivity with other areas. Located near I-25, Sixth and Eighth avenues, an RTD station, walking paths and planned bike lanes, the site won’t need massive changes to help bring in visitors.

But that doesn’t mean the team won’t have plenty of work to do on that front.

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DENVER, CO - FEBRUARY 12: The large crowd gathers in a gymnasium for a community meeting hosted by the Denver Broncos at La Alma Recreation Center to share preliminary concepts for the proposed new stadium and mixed-use community at Burnham Yard Denver on February 12, 2026. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
A large crowd gathers in a gymnasium for a community meeting hosted by the Denver Broncos at the La Alma Recreation Center to share preliminary concepts for the proposed new stadium and mixed-use community at Burnham Yard in Denver on Feb. 12, 2026. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)

During the February community information meeting at the La Alma Recreation Center, the Broncos conducted a quick survey of attendees to ask what their top concerns were. The most-selected item was “traffic congestion during games/events,” followed closely by “impacts to housing expenses.”

The design for the site will focus on connecting existing roads and pedestrian paths and easing those neighborhood concerns, Brooks said.

The Broncos will work with the city in the coming months to develop a small-area plan, which will set out the design for the expanse surrounding the stadium site. While the stadium itself will be privately financed, the team has said, the city and state could be on the hook for infrastructure improvements nearby.

The city already plans to pay for improvements to two major road connections, the nearby Sixth and Eighth avenue viaducts, as part of bond projects passed by voters last fall.

Train crossings and transit access

One advantage of the Burnham Yard site is that it already has an RTD rail station next to it, making transit access easier. But the 10th and Osage station is accessible only from the east, with Burnham Yard west of the tracks. So it would need to be reconstructed to allow pedestrian access from both directions.

Working together with RTD, the Broncos are proposing changes to several light rail crossings. At 13th Avenue, the team has suggested a bridge for trains to pass over the street, with a place for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians to cross beneath.

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EVERYDAY ACCESS: A map included in the Denver Broncos' large development review pre-application filed with Denver's planning department in November 2025 shows a conceptual plan for transportation access to the Burnham Yard stadium neighborhood. Orange lines identify planned vehicle routes. Dotted orange lines are shared streets and dashed blue lines show existing freight and light rail lines. (Courtesy Denver Department of Community Planning and Development)
EVERYDAY ACCESS: A map included in the Denver Broncos’ large development review pre-application filed with Denver’s planning department in November 2025 shows a conceptual plan for transportation access to the Burnham Yard stadium neighborhood. Orange lines identify planned vehicle routes. Dotted orange lines are shared streets and dashed blue lines show existing freight and light rail lines. (Courtesy Denver Department of Community Planning and Development)

At 12th and 9th avenues, team officials are proposing a separated-grade crossing for cyclists and pedestrians to also pass underneath the light rail tracks.

Eleventh, 10th and 8th avenues would have at-grade crossings. Halouska, with the La Alma Lincoln Park Association, said residents would like as few at-grade crossings as possible to prevent collisions or other safety hazards.

Besides concerns about transit crossings, Noble expressed worry that there also might not be enough light rail cars on a game day to transfer everyone who arrives and departs that way.

A spokesperson for RTD said there was no one available to discuss the transit agency’s plans for the area.

“RTD is regularly meeting with the project team and other partners to provide feedback and ask questions about their proposed stadium plans. Specific information about any proposed changes to RTD’s services or operations is not yet available,” RTD’s Pauline Haberman said.

What about parking?

Other concerns about the plan center on where those who drive to the stadium will park.

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Halouska said even when his group tries to host meetings about other topics, parking is the concern its leaders hear about the most from the neighborhood.

“The Broncos have said themselves they really want this area to be activated 300 days a year, and so folks in the neighborhood are very concerned about what kind of impact that will have on parking,” he said. “We really need more details from the team and the city.”

A map included in the Denver Broncos' large development review pre-application with Denver's planning department in November 2025 shows a conceptual plan for handling game and event day access to a new stadium in Burnham Yard. Streets with solid blue lines would be the primary access routes, while dashed blue lines are for limited access routes. Streets with red lines would be closed around events. Potential parking is shaded yellow. (Courtesy Denver Department of Community Planning and Development)
EVENT DAYS: A map included in the Denver Broncos’ large development review pre-application filed with Denver’s planning department in November 2025 shows a conceptual plan for handling game and event day access to a new stadium in Burnham Yard. Streets with solid blue lines would be the primary access routes, while dashed blue lines are for limited access routes. Streets with red lines would be closed around events. Potential parking is shaded yellow. (Courtesy Denver Department of Community Planning and Development)

Team officials have said they plan to provide the same amount of parking at the new site as Empower Field has — which is roughly 7,000 spots. But instead of a stadium surrounded by surface parking, officials are proposing making use of parking structures and shared parking systems.

Noble said the on-site parking spots could make a big difference in the impact to the neighborhood.

The city could also add resident-only parking permit rules for the surrounding streets, much like a longstanding system in the Jefferson Park neighborhood around Empower Field.

A spokesperson for the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure said the same system is possible for Burnham Yard, but it’s too early to know specifics of how it would work.

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“We won’t begin designing anything until we understand how the site will work, where impacts could occur, and there’s a focused conversation on (residential parking permits),” Nancy Kuhn wrote in an email.

Halouska said that could help, but only if the parking permits are regularly enforced.

“Having the permits is a fine idea — though it does cost money to get a permit — but if it’s not enforced, then it’s kind of pointless,” Halouska said.

Bike and pedestrian access

It won’t just be public transportation and cars getting people to events or the new development. The Broncos also plan to build connections to surrounding bike and pedestrian infrastructure, like the South Platte River Trail and the bike lane along 13th Avenue, Brooks said.



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