Another lawsuit filed against Colorado Parks and Wildlife over wolf re-introduction
Lawsuits come as state faces voter-approved deadline by year's end re-introduce wolves

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The same day a federal court in Denver heard arguments from a group of ranchers seeking to halt the re-introduction of wolves in Colorado, another separate federal lawsuit was filed with the same goal.
While the lawsuits have different focuses, the core argument of both is that there haven’t been enough in-depth studies of the impacts of wolf re-introduction in Colorado. They both cite requirements under the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act as arguments against the process.
The lawsuits both come as the state has only about two weeks to re-introduce wolves before the voter-approved deadline. The defendants in the cases — the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife — have called at least one of the lawsuits a “last ditch” effort to delay that process.
The new lawsuit, filed by the Colorado Conservation Alliance on Thursday, focuses on concerns about how the gray wolves, which are set to be introduced in Colorado before the end of the year, could interact with Mexican wolves, which exist in Arizona and New Mexico. The lawsuit includes several other hypothetical concerns as well, including the possible spread of diseases and the impacts of many wolves eventually settling in the state.
“There are significant environmental considerations that have not been addressed by defendants pertaining to wolf introduction in Colorado,” according to the lawsuit.

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While the initial lawsuit, filed on Monday by the Gunnison County Stockgrowers’ and the Colorado Cattlemen’s associations, asked for an immediate, temporary restraining order to halt the re-introduction, a similar ask has not yet been made in the latest lawsuit. That may give the state beyond its set timeline — which could be as early as Monday — to respond.
In the “prayer for relief,” attorneys representing the Colorado Conservation Alliance ask for a “preliminary and permanent injunction” prohibiting the state from re-introducing gray wolves pending “full and complete compliance with NEPA”
The lawsuit contained several declarations from people supporting the filing, including residents of the Western Slope, ranchers, and scientists.
In a hearing on Thursday, lawyers for the state called the filing by the Gunnison County Stockgrowers’ and the Colorado Cattlemen’s associations an “11th-hour” attempt to delay a process that has been underway for years. Under Proposition 114, which was approved in 2020 by a narrow margin of 57,000 votes, wolves are required to be reintroduced in the state before the end of this year.
As of 1 p.m. on Friday, Judge Regina Rodriguez had not yet announced a decision in that case but was expected to do so sometime before the end of the day.
Ranchers across the Western Slope have protested the 2020 decision by voters, citing concerns over their livestock being killed and their way of life irreparably damaged. In response, the state has created a fund to provide $15,000 for any livestock killed by wolves. The federal government also issued a 10(j) ruling, changing the way wolves are classified in Colorado and allowing ranchers to kill the animals if they attack their livestock.
