I watched the video of the five wolves released onto Grand County on repeat and my response was surprisingly visceral. It was breathtaking. I’ve covered this wreck since the beginning, and there hasn’t been a day I haven’t thought about it, read about it, talked about it, or written about it. Breathtaking sounds like the wrong word, but it was — much in the same way a slap across the face or a punch to the stomach is breathtaking.

I was struck by the size of the animals, but also by the panic they must have been feeling.

In my mind, I pictured a handful of wildlife biologists driving to a remote location and releasing the wolves quietly and respectfully. What we saw was a photo op with Gov. Jared Polis and a crowd of laughing and chatting and applauding onlookers. It looked like a backyard party for the cool kids. It was bizarre. Perhaps it was the celebratory environment that took my breath away. The combination of the slow-motion video and the pool report for media has all the makings of the 90s-era margarine ad featuring a certain square jawed hunk. “Through circular holes in the crates poked the wolves’ fur, their bodies rising and falling with their breath. None made a sound.

The group walked a few hundred feet to a clearing of yellow grass surrounded by pinyon, spruce and aspen trees. Tire divots of a dirt road led up through the clearing, turning left into the trees.”

Gag me with a spoon.

I’m sad for the wildlife and livestock, the ranchers and hunters in this state and those surrounding us, and those who believe in actual wildlife management. I’m sad for the CPW boots-on-the-ground staff who have dedicated their lives to best practices and on this day, stood back as the Governor literally released wolves onto the landscape.

How frustrating it must be for these professionals to be told what to do — what they know is a bad idea — by people with no idea and no skin in the game.

The perception of excluding agriculture is, indeed, real. I expected CPW to let neighboring livestock producers know they would be releasing the wolves nearby, even without giving location specifics. They didn’t. Of course, dozens of wolf fans were given the invite but I’m guessing none of them run cattle in the area. According to Steamboat Radio, local media and representatives of that district, Senator Dylan Roberts and Representative Julie McCluskie, were not invited to the release, and were informed of the release after it had happened. George Santos can claim better optics than CPW leadership at this point.

And all the while, more ballot box Biology is bearing down on us in the form of a mountain lion and bobcat hunting ban and Polis’ next goals of wolverine introduction and prairie dog conservation. It’s crushing. In comparison to the pressure of the governor’s agenda, the emails I receive from wolf advocates feel like warm Christmas greetings.

Shortly after the theatrical video was posted by CPW, I received a text from a friend in the mainstream media.

“Are you on the CPW Zoom?”

“On wolves? What meeting?”

I dashed off an email to Travis Duncan, the media guy at CPW. I don’t expect a response because responding to media frankly isn’t his style. The leaders of Colorado Cattlemen’s Association and Colorado Livestock Association were as surprised to hear about the meeting as I was. I’ve had numerous conversations with ranchers in the area and across the border in Wyoming who feel they have been lied to.

Perhaps the most significant lie is the one about the source wolves. The assurance was made that wolves from packs that were known for livestock depredation would be excluded. Two wolves, 2302-OR, a juvenile female, black color, 68 lbs., Five Points Pack and 2303-OR, a juvenile male, gray color, 76 lbs. Five Points Pack, should have been excluded if CPW had been serious about working with livestock producers. The Five Point Pack in Oregon, according to ODFW Livestock Depredation Investigations, injured one calf and killed another in separate depredations in July of 2023; killed a cow on December 5, 2022; and injured a 900-pound yearling heifer on July 17, 2022.

On July 21, OFW authorized the killing of up to four wolves from the Five Points Pack after two attacks on livestock within a week, which were the second and third depredations in the area within 8 months. USDA employees killed two adult females, one adult male, and a yearling female from the problem pack by August 4. This, dear voters, is not keeping the other end of the deal.

Rachel Gabel is a longtime agriculture writer and the assistant editor of The Fence Post Magazine.

RACHEL GABEL

Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff watch as wolf 2302-OR is released in Grand County.

courtesy of Colorado Parks and Wildlife