The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Looking out for ranchers and Gunnison Sage Grouse
[ By Katherine Nettles ]
Although Gunnison County commissioners opposed the ballot measure last year directing state wildlife managers to bring gray wolves back to Colorado’s western mountains by 2024, Proposition 114 ultimately passed and now commissioners are considering how to participate in the inevitable process to represent local ranchers and to make sure the reintroduction goes as well as possible. Gunnison County Commissioner chairperson Jonathan Houck put his name in the hat for a Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) wolf reintroduction commission, and was recently named a member of the technical arm for that working group.
CPW is directing the restoration and management of gray wolves in western Colorado by December 31, 2023. CPW has formed a commission to approach the planning and implementation process, which includes components of both a stakeholder group and a technical working group.
The stakeholder group will represent a range of interests across geographical regions, demographics and backgrounds to work toward consensus on conservation objectives and management strategies, according to CPW. Any consensus achieved by the stakeholder group will receive priority consideration by the Parks and Wildlife Commission, but the group is not a decision making body in itself.
CPW has also formed a technical group, of which Houck is now a member. This includes members of governmental agencies and scientists to provide insight and/or expertise on “wolf reintroduction, wolf management, conflict minimization, depredation compensation and other relevant topics,” according to the CPW’s call for applicants. The application period closed on March 31, 2021.
Houck said during the June 15 county commissioner meeting that he was excited to join the group. He said his experience with the Gunnison Sage Grouse strategic committee lent itself to what he will be doing with the wolf reintroduction commission.
“What I was asked to do and agreed to do,” said Houck, “is participate in the technical working group based on some of the work I did putting together the county Gunnison Sage Grouse committee where we worked collaboratively past political and geographical boundaries on habitat.” He said participation would come from a few different places.
One aspect Houck identified is the wolf reintroduction, and “Understanding what will be on the table for the ranching community if they are suffering losses to predation,” he said. “That was one that the Gunnison County stock growers definitely have a strong interest in.”
But Houck said he believes another important aspect is how it will affect long-standing efforts to protect and restore Gunnison Sage Grouse habitat.
“We have a long, long history of working for Gunnison Sage Grouse restoration and species conservation. And not making the leap that wolf reintroduction means sage grouse [population] goes down, but when you put any type of predator in place on the landscape it starts to reshuffle how all wildlife interacts with each other. So I want to make sure there are some discussions…how do all the pieces biologically fit together and how do we make sure we aren’t losing gains?” he said.
Houck then stepped away from the rest of the commissioners’ meeting to join in one of the first wolf reintroduction meetings on Tuesday. Going forward, he said most wolf reintroduction commission meetings will happen on Wednesdays and won’t interfere with the regular Tuesday morning commissioner meetings.
“I’m actually pretty excited about it. I think it’s going to be interesting,” said Houck. He referred to lessons learned from nearby states that have gone through this process, such as Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Northern Minnesota.
Meanwhile, on Monday, June 14, a litter of gray wolf pups was spotted in Colorado for the first time in about 80 years since the species was eradicated in the 1940s. CPW is monitoring the litter, located north of Denver.
CPW is hosting 13 in-person regional open houses regarding the gray wolf planning and restoration process, and also taking public comments at wolfcomments@state.co.us.
