Did Colorado violate federal law with wolf reintroduction? One politician says ‘1,000%’

A Colorado candidate for governor is accusing the state of violating the Endangered Species Act in its efforts to reintroduce wolves, a claim denied by wildlife officials and current Governor Jared Polis’ office.

Greg Lopez, a former Colorado congressman and Republican running for governor, told the Coloradoan that Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s permit under its memorandum of agreement from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service doesn’t allow for the capture of wolves in Canada, meaning the state’s actions in January 2025 to capture wolves were in violation of the Endangered Species Act.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife intends to return to British Columbia to capture wolves for this winter’s release despite the claim.

Documents Lopez provided to the Coloradoan show Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s federal 10(j) rule permit allows wolves to be captured only in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, eastern Oregon and eastern Washington, where wolves are delisted from the Endangered Species Act. Canada and Alaska are not listed.

Exceptions for capture of wolves may be granted by the federal government, but Colorado never filed an amended permit to include capturing wolves in Canada in the Federal Register, Lopez claims.

“I can tell you I’m a thousand percent sure they have violated the ESA,” Lopez told the Coloradoan.

Lopez said he approached Matt Hogan, the regional director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Mountain Prairie Region in Lakewood, with a cease-and-desist letter regarding this year’s capture.

The letter was not addressed, Lopez said, and on Oct. 21 he sent a letter to Hogan and Brian Nesvick, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, requesting a written response within 21 days to address his assertion of the federal agency and Colorado Parks and Wildlife being in violation of the ESA.

The letter was signed by several Colorado ranching and outfitter groups.

“They have gone rogue,” Lopez said of the two wildlife agencies. “But they are starting to understand, starting to reevaluate how to fix this and how to get out of the box they are in.”

Lopez said Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could amend the permit to add Canada and Alaska but that would require a record in the Federal Register, which he said usually takes six months.

The Coloradoan previously confirmed Colorado Parks and Wildlife Director Jeff Davis had conversations with Alaska officials regarding capturing wolves for release this winter. But the Coloradoan was recently told by sources familiar with the talks who could not speak on the record that option is no longer on the table.

“Ranchers, outfitters and representatives from counties have been asking for a pause on releasing more wolves so we can all figure this out,” Lopez said. “But every time governmental agencies have ignored this reasonable request. This allows for that pause.”

Colorado Parks and Wildlife, governor’s office argue the Endangered Species Act does not apply

The Coloradoan sent email questions regarding Lopez’s accusations of an ESA violation to Davis and Colorado Parks and Wildlife agency spokesperson Luke Perkins on Oct. 22.

Perkins responded, stating the agency, “Has complied with all applicable federal and state laws. This includes last year’s translocation efforts. CPW is currently evaluating recent USFWS communication regarding available sources for gray wolves from the delisted Northern Rocky Mountain population areas.”

Perkins noted in regards to sourcing gray wolves for capture and translocation from western Canada, that, “Like gray wolves in the delisted population in the Northern Rocky Mountains, gray wolves in Canada are not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The provisions of the U.S. Endangered Species Act does not apply to these unlisted populations.”

Perkins stated Colorado Parks and Wildlife recently signed a memorandum of understanding contract with British Columbia’s Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, which allows for translocating 10 to 15 wolves this winter.

Perkins said the contract was based on consultations with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and signed before the recent guidance from the federal wildlife agency was received.

Shelby Wieman, spokesperson for Gov. Jared Polis, responded to a Coloradoan email Oct. 22, echoing Perkins’ comments about the ESA not applying to wolves captured and translocated in Canada.

“There was no violation of any law or regulation in securing these wolves and releasing them in Colorado, and any indication otherwise is false,” Wieman stated. “CPW has informed the governor and his staff that CPW has not violated any permits or agreements with regards to securing wolves from British Columbia last year.”

The Coloradoan sent an email Oct. 22 to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesperson Tina Shaw, but received an automatic response saying that due to the government shutdown she is out of the office and not authorized to work.

Lopez’s letter comes days after Montrose County commissioners voted 2 to 1 to approve an ordinance to prohibit bringing “non-native species” into the county in an effort aimed at thwarting the reintroduction of wolves into the far western county.

The legality of that ordinance is in question in regards to state and federal laws.

Montrose County has had wolves from Colorado’s two previous releases wander into the county.

Colorado’s struggles securing wolves for its reintroduction program

Colorado’s wolf recovery plan calls for reintroducing 10 to 15 wolves each year for three to five years with a minimum goal of 150 to 200 wolves.

Davis estimates the state is currently home to around 40 wolves. He told the Coloradoan previously that after the state’s third release this winter, “I think it’s pause, monitor and manage.”

But securing sources for those wolves have been much more problematic than envisioned when the wolf plan was finalized in May of 2023.

Colorado struggled securing 10 wolves from Oregon in December of 2023, after Wyoming, Montana and Idaho refused to be sources.

In 2024, Colorado had an agreement to secure 10 to 15 wolves from the Colville Tribe in Washington before it rescinded the agreement, citing concern’s Colorado’s Southern Ute Indian Tribe expressed over the state’s wolf recovery plan.

That’s when Colorado turned to British Columbia to bring 15 wolves that were released in Pitkin and Eagle counties in January of 2025.

Last year, Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced its agreement to capture wolves in British Columbia on Sept. 13. Before the Oct. 22, 2025, email response to the Coloradoan, the state wildlife agency had not made it publicly known it had signed a new agreement with British Columbia.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Could this federal violation claim halt Colorado wolf reintroduction?