Red states often have to suffer the consequences of terrible decisions made by blue states.
This is especially true when it comes to the moves that affect nature.
Now, Wyoming hunters are standing guard against this ecological disaster in Colorado.
In the 2020 Election, voters in Colorado narrowly approved a ballot measure spearheaded by radical environmental activists to reintroduce the gray wolf to the state west of the continental divide.
The measure won by large margins in the state’s populated urban counties, while the rural areas that would actually deal with the wolves overwhelmingly opposed it.
Colorado farmers and ranchers were concerned that wolves could prey on livestock.
Hunters were opposed to the forced reintroduction of an apex predator that impacted the state’s deer and elk populations.
Dubbed “ballot box biology,” the passage meant that state wildlife officials would reintroduce the gray wolf to Colorado, which hadn’t been seen in the state in 80 years.
Colorado wolves moving closer to Wyoming border
10 wolves were outfitted with GPS collars when they were released by wildlife officials in a remote area of the Rocky Mountains in December 2023.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife released a map of gray wolf movement in the state, which included Moffat County in the very northwestern corner.
Moffat County borders Wyoming, where hunting wolves is legal year-round.
Moffat County sheep rancher Jorgiea Raftopoulos found wolf tracks near her property in mid-February.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials confirmed Raftopoulos’ sighting with GPS to reveal that the wolves were a little more than 40 miles from the state line with Wyoming.
Colorado resident John Michael Williams, who runs the Colorado Wolf Tracker Facebook page, told Cowboy State Daily that it could be less than two months before the wolves enter Wyoming.
“If I had a crystal ball, what do I think? I think that sometime within the next four to six weeks, we’ll have one cross, or maybe a couple cross over,” Williams said. “And I think we’ll see some of them getting shot.”
Wyoming ranchers stand guard against wolves
Previously, Wyoming ranchers vowed to use any means necessary to protect their livestock if the Colorado wolves entered the state.
“On the positive side, if any of those wolves cross over into Wyoming, they’re no longer protected. They’re classified as predators, and they can be removed,” Wyoming sheep rancher Jim Magagna said.
Over 85% of Wyoming is designated as a predator zone where wolves can be shot on sight.
In Colorado, the wolves are considered a “state endangered animal” that is protected, whereas Wyoming treats them like a nuisance.
Wyoming ranchers can shoot or trap wolves year-round without a license or a bag limit.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife said that they had no plans to recapture wolves that entered Wyoming.
“If our released wolves go north into Wyoming, they will do what they do, and there is no plan to recapture those wolves,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s species conservation program manager Eric Odell said.
One wolf that has crossed over into Wyoming has been killed already last year.
Wyoming ranchers have to defend their property from the misguided efforts of urban voters in Colorado to reintroduce wolves.
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