DENVER (KDVR) — The Western Slope County Board of Commissioners is set to consider a proposed ordinance that would ban the reintroduction of gray wolves into the county.
Montrose County Commissioners at their regular meeting on October 15 introduced the ordinance titled “Non-native species lawwould prohibit “the introduction, transportation, release, support, facilitation or creation of habitat” for non-native animal species within unincorporated portions of the county.
The ordinance was read for the first time at the meeting, and commissioners will consider adopting it on a second reading.
According to A Press release from the countythe ordinance explicitly covers the state’s “Canadian gray wolf subspecies.” Reintroduced to the Colorado high country After voters approved the return of wolves to Colorado.
“We respect wildlife, but we also have a duty to protect our way of life, our economy and our property rights,” Commissioner Sean Bond, who presented the ordinance to the board at the Oct. 15 meeting, said in a news release. “This ordinance is about local control, responsible stewardship, and common sense.”
The decree states that no entity will be able to:
- Introducing, releasing, transporting, relocating or permitting the introduction of any non-native animal species into Montrose County.
- Create, construct or designate any habitat, corridor, buffer zone, release area or
A contract is attached for such types. - intentionally facilitating, harboring, supporting or tolerating the presence of such species,
Regardless of land ownership or agency jurisdiction. - Claim an exemption from this law based on federal or state authority without the express written consent of the Board of County Commissioners of Montrose County.
“This ordinance reflects the proactive duty of the Board of County Commissioners to defend its citizens, landowners, producers, and lawful wildlife management practices from external threats posed by radical environmental policy, federal overreach, and forced rewilding efforts,” the ordinance states.
The ordinance contains an enforcement provision that allows the Montrose County Sheriff’s Office to “conduct enforcement, monitoring and removal operations as necessary.”
It would make the introduction of non-native species a minor offense that comes with a $1,000 fine per incident, subject to injunctive relief. It also makes it a separate violation for each day after a prohibited type is introduced that the responsible party does not cause the type to be removed.
The ordinance claims that the state or any other entity “involved in the introduction of wolves bears full responsibility for any livestock depredation, property loss, or land value decline resulting from the presence of non-native species.”
Colorado began bringing gray wolves from the northern Rockies into the state after voters in 2023 approved Proposition 114, which directs the state to reintroduce the species to the state.
This is where the non-native aspect comes from, Montrose County says in its press release, as Colorado’s “native subspecies, the southern Rocky Mountain wolf, was extirpated before the mid-20th century and is now considered extinct.”
the The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists gray wolves As endangered at the species level, not subspecies anymore, throughout the contiguous United States. CPW also says Colorado is part of Native range of the species.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife began trapping 10 wolves in 2023 in Oregon, then captured 15 wolves in January from British Columbia, Canada. The releases occurred in Grand, Summit, Eagle and Pitkin counties, according to CPW.
The agency said this is the second season of three to five seasons for release.