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Voter approval of Colorado wolf reintroduction means “paws on the ground” by late 2023 – from The Denver Post

Proposition 114 directs CPW to develop a plan and reintroduce an undetermined number of gray wolves, enough to ensure wolf survival, by the end of 2023 on former habitat in the state west of the Continental Divide. Proponents emphasized this means “paws on the ground” within three years.

Gray wolves gained a hard-fought path to “paws on the ground” in Colorado with the approval Thursday of a controversial reintroduction measure, the first time a state’s voters have forced their government to re-introduce an imperiled species.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials declined to discuss voters’ passage of Proposition 114 but issued a statement saying “the planning process for reintroduction will begin.”

The predominantly rural opposition led by elk hunters, farmers and cattle ranchers conceded defeat, lamenting “bad policy” driven by well-funded urban majorities along Colorado’s Front Range. Read More…