Ballot for Reintroduction of Wolves

[highpilgrim]

Except the mosquito...let's get rid of the mosquito.

The bats will be disappointed.

[cottonmountaineering]

i dont think many of us agree about the way government agencies allocate funds, im just saying this is a drop in the bucket from a budget standpoint. it's my view (as a hunter) that introducing wolves will indeed reduce the amount of big game, but it's probably necessary to reduce the amount of disease in big game populations/prevent overgrazing and will benefit us in the long run. Without predators elk will also just stagnate on land that they feel safe on https://www.bouldercounty.org/open-spac ... -elk-herd/

Fair enough, but it's the long run that concerns me most. Reason suggests that these creatures will not behave the same in Colorado as they do in the environment from which they'll be transplanted. Notable among many obvious differences is the fact that we don't have big, aggressive bears with which they're are accustomed to contending for prey. How will the lack of other big predators, less diverse prey resources, and proximity to humans change their behavior? Our bears have grown soft from many years of free meals campside. How will the sudden presence of such a predator affect their temperament (if not their population)?

We have the opportunity to vote against playing God in yet another way that is likely to bite us in the ass (no pun) down the road. Unfortunately since most of our voters prefer to look at the mountains from afar, this measure will pass. I just hope these fears are unfounded, or that implementation is a short-lived disaster, so that we don't pass the burden of yet another great stupidity on to future generations.

There's no certain answer to these questions as its quite complex, however data suggests that wolves (in the long run) do not negatively affect big game populations after re-introduction
https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-a ... ing-8-001/

as well, bears/coyotes/lions/wolves hunt in different ways, lions will often kill perfectly healthy animals as they are an ambush predator, bears often kill calves/fawns, wolves will often kill weak/dying animals, coyotes are rarely successful, often rely on deep snow. In my view we are missing the apex predator that controls disease (wolves)

[cottonmountaineering]

Maybe we should focus our energy and money on less fanciful conservation efforts like, as was mentioned many pages ago, putting an end to domestic sheep grazing in sensitive ecosystems and saving the bighorns before we extinct them and have to introduce another 'roided-up close-but-not-really species to replace them.

A friend and I were surprised to encounter 4 domestic sheep grazing in the bowl below Uneva's NW ridge a little over a month ago. I had to ask him if I was hallucinating, and he confirmed that I was not. No clue where they came from or how they got there, but they were definitely there. It was wild.

Back to the topic at hand, I voted no mostly because of many reasons listed above. We don't know the implications of introducing a large predator back into an area where they really don't have much competition... not to mention they would decimate local livestock and the state would be up to their necks in trying to reallocate funds to ranchers, etc.

Wolf reintroduction has already happened in multiple states, currently there is less than 1% predation rate of livestock in mountain states
https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-a ... ock-8-010/

As an apex predator, wolves by definition they dont have much competition

[disentangled]

if it were me mountain goats would be exterminated from colorado...

Agree! Mountain goats aren't native to Colorado.

there's a difference between "adapted" and "native". some adapted species are invasive. others are not.

[cottonmountaineering]

Cotton, do you think if re-introduced they would mostly avoid being shot by unhappy landowners? I don’t know enough about the topic to provide input

That situation is a little complex, I 100% believe ranchers don't want wolves on their land for monetary reasons, right now ranchers have plausible deniability to shoot everything that looks like a coyote because wolves are not "officially" here, even though they are endangered species in CO
https://defenders.org/newsroom/several- ... ikely-shot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTZRdz-wWgg

if the bill passes, it might deter ranchers from killing wolves in fear of legal repercussions, having a livestock reimbursement plan in place would help things

[Ptglhs]

Seems relevant

[cottonmountaineering]

if it were me mountain goats would be exterminated from colorado...

Agree! Mountain goats aren't native to Colorado.

there's a difference between "adapted" and "native". some adapted species are invasive. others are not.

mountain goats have pushed out bighorn sheep in a lot of territory, i'd rather have the native species

[Barnold41]

if the bill passes, it might deter ranchers from killing wolves in fear of legal repercussions, having a livestock reimbursement plan in place would help things

I disagree. Have you met ranchers out here? They are generally willing to shoot anything that messes with their money. Especially on remote parts of their land.

[cottonmountaineering]

if the bill passes, it might deter ranchers from killing wolves in fear of legal repercussions, having a livestock reimbursement plan in place would help things

I disagree. Have you met ranchers out here? They are generally willing to shoot anything that messes with their money. Especially on remote parts of their land.

did you read the first half of my reply?

[onebyone]

I think it has 50% chance at best of passing tbh.

Better odds than Amendment B though! lol

[cottonmountaineering]

I think it has 50% chance at best of passing tbh.

Better odds than Amendment B though! lol

i haven't seen any polling on prop 114, who knows

[disentangled]

Agree! Mountain goats aren't native to Colorado.

there's a difference between "adapted" and "native". some adapted species are invasive. others are not.

mountain goats have pushed out bighorn sheep in a lot of territory, i'd rather have the native species

it's an important distinction to make. not all non-native (adapted) species are invasive. dandelions are not native, and i see them all over the colorado mountains. it's a question of how humans try to control the environment, not whether a species is native.