The Denver Post reports that lawmakers will consider a one‑year pause on Colorado’s wolf reintroduction program during the special session. The bill would redirect $254,000 set aside for transporting more wolves this winter to help fund a state program that lowers health‑insurance costs. Staffing, conflict‑mitigation, and rancher compensation would continue; the program’s budget would shrink from $2.1 million to $1.8 million for the year, and CPW could not use the remainder to ship in more wolves during the pause. Senator Dylan Roberts (D‑Dillon) co‑sponsors the bill and says, plainly, that investing in people’s health insurance beats importing more predators right now.
Context the article tees up: voters narrowly approved reintroduction in 2020; 10 wolves from Oregon arrived in December 2023, 15 from British Columbia in January 2025, and at least 30 wolves now roam in four packs. The price tag has blown past early estimates, hitting $3.5 million in FY 2024‑25, including hundreds of thousands paid to ranchers for killed livestock. Since April 2024, wolves have killed or injured 46 head of livestock and one working dog. Wolf‑advocacy groups call the pause a “flimsy pretext” that would set the population back; Roberts says it does not violate Prop 114 and gives time to improve conflict programs while the state wrestles a $783 million budget shortfall.
The Bullet Point Brief
- What the bill does: Pauses new wolf releases for one year, moves $254,000 from wolf transport to health‑insurance assistance, keeps CPW staff, mitigation, and rancher compensation intact.
- No new imports during the pause: CPW cannot use the remaining wolf money to bring in more animals, period; the program’s annual budget drops to $1.8 million from $2.1 million.
- Why now: Special session is about a $783 million General Fund gap; Roberts argues basic math and triage favor people’s healthcare over new wolves.
- Cost reality check: Initial estimates were about $800,000 a year; actual 2024‑25 costs landed at $3.5 million, including compensation for kills and indirect impacts.
- On the ground: At least 30 wolves, four packs, confirmed; 46 livestock and one dog killed or injured since April 2024; CPW pursuing lethal control on at least two problem wolves even as advocates push for more releases.
My Bottom Line
God bless Dylan Roberts. He is the Democrat on this bill being pragmatic for once, which is rarer than a Boulder Prius in a cattle drive. He represents mountain country; mountain country has ranchers; ranchers have calves; calves keep getting eaten. Roberts got on the right side of this one.
Here is the test for Democrats under the Gold Dome: will you back your ballot‑box biology now that the biology is eating people’s livelihoods. The money can go to wolves that kill calves or to people, actual voting constituents, to help with health insurance. Choose.
We will see who the Democrats choose. My bet: a lot of poetic speeches about “ecosystems” until somebody quietly remembers the price tag and the polling. But credit where it is due: Roberts brought a grown‑up bill. If the caucus has any sense left, they will pass the pause, tend to the budget, and stop treating rural Colorado like a petting zoo for urban guilt.
