Colorado lawmakers to consider suspending the reintroduction of gray wolves in the state

Since voters approved the reintroduction of gray wolves in Colorado in 2023, it's led to a firestorm of controversy. In addition to wolves killing livestock, the program itself has cost taxpayers $3.5 million -- nearly four times what voters were told it would cost.

 Democratic state Sen. Dylan Roberts says it's time to temporarily put the brakes on the program.

"Bringing in new wolves will only make those costs continue to grow because new wolves mean more resources needed for conflict minimization, more payments to ranchers for losing livestock," Roberts told CBS Colorado. 

Roberts -- whose district has been especially impacted by wolves -- is among a bipartisan group of lawmakers sponsoring a bill that would prevent the state from bringing any new wolves to Colorado for one year to give Colorado Parks and Wildlife time to work out some of the problems with reintroduction.

"And let some of the programs by CPW get in place to make the program successful in the long run," Roberts said. 

Ryan Sedgeley with the Endangered Species Coalition says the program is already successful.

"The program, altogether, is going well," Sedgeley asserted. "We seem to only ever hear about the negative things that are happening, but, if you look at it, we have wolves on the ground. We have pups this year."

Sedgely says the bill is about advancing a personal grievance and is an affront to voters. 

"It is a ultimately a delay tactic, where it seems like [Roberts] is just waiting to try get to a new governor to try to kill the program completely,: Sedgley said. "We see right through that and don't want see that happen."

Roberts denies trying to kill the program.

"I'm doing my job as a legislator," Roberts said. "This is not personal. This is based in very sound policy and financial consideration."

The bill would save the state about $264,000 that would go to help offset the cost of health insurance, especially in mountain communities like Roberts' district. There, rates on the state exchange are expected to rise by up to 38% when federal subsidies expire at the end of 2025.

Sedgeley supports more funding for health care, just not from the wolf program. He believes there are better places to look for that money. 

The office of Gov. Jared Polis says he also opposes suspending the program saying. In a statement, the governor's office said, "This backdoor effort to prevent the will of the voters to establish a self-sustaining wolf population in Colorado from being implemented won't save money; it just moves a small amount of money for wolf reintroduction to an unrelated issue without decreasing the deficit."

The bill is one of more than two dozen that will be debated during a special legislative session that starts Thursday, Aug 21. Most of the other bills address the state's budget shortfall by eliminating tax breaks for businesses. There are also several bills that repeal and replace a controversial artificial intelligence law that was passed in 2024.  

State Sen. Roberts says the bill accomplishes several goals.

"We can still honor the voters' desire but be responsible with our money and have an impact on human Coloradans who need help right now," Roberts said.