A pair of ranchers’ organizations in Colorado is suing to pause a voter-approved initiative to repopulate portions of the state with gray wolves, including some brought in from Oregon.

The Colorado Cattlemen’s Association and Gunnison County Stockgrowers Association have filed a complaint in U.S. District Court against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

The groups say their concerns about looming wolf-livestock conflicts were not sufficiently resolved as the state Parks and Wildlife Commission developed its wolf management plan, which is subject to National Environmental Policy Act requirements. The suit seeks more environmental reviews before the wolves are released.

“Impacts of wolf reintroduction, as would any other action of this magnitude, need to be properly reviewed to avoid unintended negative consequences to the natural environment, wildlife, and people of the impacted communities,” said Andy Spann, a fifth-generation rancher and the Gunnison County organization’s president.

“GCSA put forth our concerns throughout the public process,” he said. “We believe that much of our input, and that of many others across Western Colorado, was diminished by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission. We regret that a course of litigation on this and other issues seems to be the only recourse left to have these concerned legitimately addressed.”

Related:Oregon is sending gray wolves to Colorado

Wolves were reintroduced in the northern Rocky Mountains in the 1990s and solitary wolves have entered Colorado since at least 2014, and a resident group was confirmed there in early 2020. That year, voters in the state narrowly passed Proposition 114, giving state officials until the end of this year to reintroduce and manage gray wolves in designated areas.

The state board approved the final Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan in May, clearing the way for biologists to introduce gray wolves to the Western Slope area by the voter-approved deadline of Dec. 31.

Oregon will provide assistance, including location information, as Colorado biologists capture the wolves, test and treat for diseases, collar them and crate them.

Negative effects

Opponents, including the CCA and GCSA, have argued the proposition will have negative effects on ranchers and that wolves should be left to naturally repopulate the region. In public comments on the wolf management plan, the two organizations’ members detailed their concerns about the scope of impacts associated with the release of the apex predators.

The organizations say they want to highlight the risks to livestock and the potential economic repercussions for the agriculture sector should the wolves be distributed without proper safeguards.

Related:Colorado works to prevent wildlife-livestock conflicts

The litigation comes as Colorado’s departments of Agriculture and Parks and Wildlife recently signed an agreement to collaborate on work to prevent wildlife and livestock conflicts. Meanwhile, Colorado State University has set up a Wolf Conflict Reduction Fund, which has facilitated deployment of trail cameras in an area with wolves in northern Colorado and a knowledge-exchange program with Montana ranchers.

In early December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized the designation of an experimental population of gray wolves in Colorado under a provision of the Endangered Species Act, allowing the reintroduced wolves to be managed by hazing, removal or relocation by state officials.