The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is requiring Colorado Parks and Wildlife to produce a detailed report of gray wolf management in the state by mid-January. If the state agency fails to do so, USFWS will terminate the agreement that gives Colorado the authority to manage its experimental wolf population. CPW plans to comply with the request within the 30-day deadline, and continue to coordinate with USFWS on wolf management in the state.
This request was detailed in a letter signed by USFWS director Brian Nesvik and delivered to the acting director of CPW. Though the letter was dated Dec. 18, it wasn’t publicized until the Coloradan covered it Saturday. (The agency’s previous director, Jeff Davis, resigned last month before he was fired amid the ongoing controversy of wolf management in the state.)
USFWS did not immediately responded to requests for comment on the letter, which has not been published to official channels as of press time. A CPW spokesman confirmed to Outdoor Life that the agency had received the letter and will submit the required paperwork in a timely manner.
The letter follows a similar letter Nesvik wrote in October, in which he ordered CPW to cease and desist plans to import additional gray wolves from Canada. The December letter reiterates that CPW violated the 10(j) rule outlined in 2023, when the USFWS established a nonessential experimental population under the Biden administration. CPW had only been approved to source gray wolves from specific states in the Lower 48.
“…at the request of CPW, the Biden Administration completed the Colorado gray wolf 10(j) rule allowing for the experimental introduction of wolves from Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and north-central Utah — not Canada or Alaska, into Colorado,” reads the letter. The Biden-era FWS subsequently delegated authority to CPW to implement the Rule … however, between January 12 and I8, 2025. CPW, with no notice or warning to its own citizens, released 15 wolves imported from Canada.”
The USFWS also appears to take issue with the recent relocation of a wolf “from a pack with a confirmed history of depredation,” though it’s not immediately clear if this is an outright violation of the agreement between the agencies.
The wolf in question was a yearling from the Copper Creek pack that wandered into New Mexico before being captured and released into Grand County. The Copper Creek wolves have proven particularly troublesome to livestock growers in Grand County. The pack was captured in 2024 and ultimately relocated to Pitkin County.
The CPW spokesman clarified what would happen in the event USFWS does ultimately terminate its agreement with the state.
“Removal of CPW as a designated agent would revoke the agency’s authority and flexibility to pursue management as outlined in the Memorandum of Agreement between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife and return lead management authority to USFWS as an endangered species for gray wolves in Colorado,” CPW public information officer Luke Perkins spokesman wrote in an email. “The consequences of a change from state to federal management would be that CPW will not administer any of the wolf management actions in the state authorized by the 10(j) rule, ranging from injurious, non-lethal hazing permits to lethal removal decisions. However, CPW has coordinated with USFWS throughout its gray wolf reintroduction effort, and has complied with guidance from USFWS as well as all applicable federal and state laws.”
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According to the letter, CPW has 30 calendar days (so, on or about Jan. 17) to provide a detailed report to USFWS about “all gray wolf conservation and management activities” from Dec. 12, 2023 until the present. Although CPW plans to comply, it’s not immediately clear how the USFWS will use the report to review the agency’s program.
“CPW values the partnership with USFWS in the wolf management context as well as in many other collaborative situations in which those joint efforts benefit Colorado’s citizens and their interests in our state’s wildlife and natural resources,” wrote Perkins. “CPW believes that it is advantageous for CPW to continue as the lead management agency for Colorado’s gray wolves … our leadership and staff will continue to closely coordinate on wolf management decisions with USFWS staff.”
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