If gray wolf recovery in Colorado is to succeed this year, the wolves already in the state are on their own. Meaning that Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) will not be bringing new wolves from outside the state. The reintroduction of gray wolves in Colorado started with voter approval of Proposition 114 in 2020, and, according to Eric Odell, soon-to-retire wolf conservation program manager, the program has reached an “inflection point.” Odell and colleagues presented the annual Colorado Gray Wolf report to the CPW Commission on May 7. 

Odell cited the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s cease-and-desist letter from last fall, banning translocation of wolves from Canada to Colorado, and told the commission that the estimated timeline for wolf recovery in the state is now in flux. 

Fish and Wildlife Director Brian Nesvik said in an October 2025 letter that Canada was outside the parameters of the federal 10(j) rule. The rule went into effect in Colorado just before the first release of wolves in December 2023. On Dec. 18, 2025, Nesvik sent another letter, demanding all records of wolf reintroduction within 30 days, threatening federal takeover of the program. 

Full recovery of gray wolves in Colorado is a part of CPW’s Wolf Recovery and Management Plan and started with translocation of 10-15 wolves annually over three to five years. CPW brought 10 wolves from Oregon in December 2023 and 15 from British Columbia in January 2025. Phase One of recovery will be complete when a minimum count of 50 wolves are found anywhere in Colorado for four years straight. 

CPW’s minimum wolf count for biological year 2025-26 shows 32 wolves in four packs, including 14 pups born in April 2025 and 18 adults. The agency also counted seven collared, non-pack wolves and one non-collared, non-pack wolf. Dr. Brenna Cassidy, CPW wolf monitoring and data coordinator, said that the agency saw a high of 17 pups throughout the biological year. “Detecting uncollared pups can be very difficult,” she explained. “But our CPW biologists were very persistent in their efforts in a task that was brand new to many of them.”

Alternatives that could trigger a pause in translocation include a minimum of two packs raising two pups for two years. Recruitment, or the ability of pups to survive for a full year and become incorporated into a pack, is also a factor. But without new adult wolves introduced in the winter of 2025-26, things have shifted.  

Until future reintroductions resume, the success of the program depends on two things: adult survival and pup recruitment. “However, with even just one year of lower survival, high mortality or low recruitment, additional years of reintroduction may be necessary,” Odell explained. 

Cassidy cautioned that the numbers are not population estimates and are updated only once a year. “As soon as these counts are recorded and published, there is a chance that they are out-of-date since mortality and immigration from other states can occur at any time,” she said.

Cassidy’s wolf movement graphics showed that a lone wolf roams farther than wolves in packs.

In response to a question about genetics, Cassidy pointed out that Colorado’s imported wolves are from different areas, which can strengthen genetic diversity. She said that the agency only collects genetic material from collared wolves born in Colorado and that determining population diversity will take years.

“We are at a really interesting and tenuous time with this population,” she said, echoing Odell’s observations. “One year of successful reproduction is a positive step [toward] a self-sustaining population, but it is only one year. What the next years look like will depend on future successful reproduction and any potential future translocations.” 

Range riders

“Range riding proved to be one of the most effective tools, providing consistent human presence, improved livestock monitoring and timely carcass detection,” said Ethan Kohn, CPW wildlife damage specialist, citing non-lethal conflict management tools used in the King Mountain Pack’s territory last summer. “The King Mountain Pack has established territory in northern Eagle County and southern Routt County, near the ranching communities of Burns and Toponas,” he explained, adding that the area includes large-scale livestock operations and habitat for elk, mule deer and pronghorn, including critical winter range.

He explained that several forms of non-lethal tactics were used to keep wolves at bay. “The landscape, livestock numbers and grazing distribution all contribute to the complexity of effective conflict mitigation,” he said. “What we’re seeing on the ground is that conflict minimization can reduce risk, but it does not prevent all conflict. Even with fladry, range riding, night watch and consistent human presence, depredations are still occurring.” He added that challenges in Pitkin County included elk tearing down the fladry. 

Rae Nickerson, CPW’s new wolf conflict minimization manager, told commissioners that, in 2025, eight range riders covered eight counties. “We rode almost 15,000 miles for over 4,000 hours and served over 34 livestock producers,” she said.  

The program is growing. Fifteen new range riders are ready for the upcoming grazing season. “That’s a seven-rider increase from last year’s effort, and seven of those 15 riders are returning from last year, which is excellent,” she said. 

You can watch all CPW meeting archives on YouTube.