{"id":8301,"date":"2025-06-23T15:20:08","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T15:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/8301\/"},"modified":"2025-06-23T15:20:08","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T15:20:08","slug":"how-boebert-delisting-bill-would-affect-colorado-wolf-reintroduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/8301\/","title":{"rendered":"How Boebert delisting bill would affect Colorado wolf reintroduction"},"content":{"rendered":"

For decades, the question of how and whether gray wolves should be legally protected<\/a> has been debated through federal rulemakings, courts and now Congress \u2014 where a bill from one of Colorado\u2019s representatives is under consideration.<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert is leading a bill that would remove the gray wolf from the endangered species list and eliminate federal protections for the animal.<\/p>\n

The bill, if passed, would provide certainty, she said in an interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an issue that has been ping-ponged from administration to administration. \u2026 It\u2019s very important to get this finalized and codified into law to prevent frivolous lawsuits in the future and to protect our neighboring states,\u201d said Boebert, a Republican from the Fourth Congressional District.<\/p>\n

Boebert\u2019s bill continues its course through Congress as a federal judge deliberates on the future of gray wolves<\/a> in three other Western states. A federal district court judge on Wednesday heard arguments in a case in which wildlife advocates are lobbying for the species to be protected under the Endangered Species Act in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana \u2014 where the canines currently are not under federal protection.<\/p>\n

Hunters and government-sponsored predator extermination programs eliminated wolves from much of the West in the early 1900s, including Colorado. Since then, wildlife conservation groups have lobbied for efforts to return the species to its native range and to protect it from hunting once it returns.<\/p>\n

Colorado voters in 2020 voted 51% to 49% to bring the gray wolf back<\/a> to the state, mandating that Colorado Parks and Wildlife<\/a> reintroduce the species. The agency began the program in December 2023 and has since released 25 wolves.<\/p>\n

What would Boebert\u2019s bill do?<\/p>\n

The bill \u2014 named the Pet and Livestock Protection Act of 2025<\/a> \u2014 would require the Interior secretary to remove the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List<\/a>, weakening protections for the predator. Boebert is sponsoring the bill alongside Rep. Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin. The rest of Colorado\u2019s Republican House delegation \u2014 Reps. Jeff Crank, Gabe Evans and Jeff Hurd \u2014 have signed on as co-sponsors.<\/p>\n

Boebert introduced the bill in January, and in April it passed its first committee, House Natural Resources. The bill now needs to be scheduled for its next action.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do anticipate that (bill) being voted on and passed out of the House, and we will continue to keep pressure on the Senate to ensure it comes up in the Senate and is signed into law,\u201d Boebert said.<\/p>\n

Boebert ran a similar bill in 2024 that passed the House but failed after President Joe Biden\u2019s administration signaled it opposed the measure<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Republicans now control the House, the Senate and the presidency. Boebert said President Donald Trump was in favor of delisting the wolf in his first term, adding that she\u2019s had conversations with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who also supports delisting.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s behind Boebert\u2019s support for delisting?<\/p>\n

Boebert previously represented Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District, which covers much of the Western Slope \u2014 where the state\u2019s new wolves live. She won election in the 4th District in 2024 and now represents the Eastern Plains. There are no known wolves in the region, though a wolf that wandered from the Great Lakes died in a trap in Elbert County in 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The bill is not only for her district but for the agricultural community across the state, she said. Colorado\u2019s ranching community has largely opposed the reintroduction program, asserting that wolves have threatened and stressed their herds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is for our farmers and ranchers who are working hard to feed America and other parts of the world,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Hurd, her successor in the 3rd District, has also opposed Colorado\u2019s wolf reintroduction. During a June 13 committee hearing<\/a>, Hurd asked Burgum to remove gray wolves that were captured in Canada in January and released in the state as part of the reintroduction program.<\/p>\n

Hurd also asked the secretary to ban any future importations of wolves from other countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cVoters outside of my district have decided to bring Canadian wolves to Colorado,\u201d Hurd said. \u201cThose wolves have migrated into my district. They are leaving a trail of death and destruction<\/a> everywhere they roam.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"U.S.U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Republican from Colorado, speaks during a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing on cities\u2019 immigration policies on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, March 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
\nWhat are opponents\u2019 arguments against the bill?<\/p>\n

Wolf advocates have said the bill would threaten the apex predator\u2019s continued survival and eliminate the possibility of challenging the delisting in court. The bill\u2019s title is also misleading, according to the advocacy group Defenders of Wildlife. Weather kills more cattle than wolves, the group pointed out<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe denounce this bill in the strongest terms possible and are dismayed that our elected officials are playing political football with one of the country\u2019s most beloved animals,\u201d Ellen Richmond, a senior attorney at Defenders of Wildlife, said in a statement when the House committee heard the bill in April.<\/p>\n

How would the bill affect Colorado\u2019s reintroduction?<\/p>\n

The bill would have little effect in Colorado because the species is protected as endangered under state law \u2014 and state wildlife officials already have the authority to manage wolves inside its boundaries.<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s reintroduction program would continue with little change, Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman Travis Duncan said.<\/p>\n

If the species were delisted, it would remain illegal to hurt or kill gray wolves in Colorado, and substantial penalties for doing so would remain, Duncan said.<\/p>\n

Delisting gray wolves federally would render void the federal plan to work with Colorado to manage the state\u2019s wolves \u2014 called a 10(j) plan<\/a> \u2014\u00a0 but Colorado wildlife officials would continue to deal with the species the same.<\/p>\n

The primary change would be that CPW \u2014 not the federal Fish and Wildlife Service<\/a> \u2014 would investigate the circumstances of wolf deaths.<\/p>\n

\n

Colorado\u2019s historic wolf reintroduction faces barrage of challenges 1 year after first paws hit the ground<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

How would the bill affect wolves in other states?<\/p>\n

The bill would remove protections in all other states, unless there are similar state-level protections in place. States then could decide how they want to protect or manage the species, such as by allowing hunting or unregulated killing.<\/p>\n

Gray wolves are not federally protected in the Western states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming as well as parts of Washington and Oregon. The bill, if it passes, would not change wolves’ status in those areas.<\/p>\n

Montana and Idaho regulate wolf hunting, while Wyoming allows for unregulated killing<\/a> in one part of the state and requires a license in another.<\/p>\n

Trump’s first administration delisted the species in 2020<\/a> but a federal judge in 2022 restored protections. The Biden administration last year appealed the court’s decision<\/a> and it remains under consideration in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.<\/p>\n

How many gray wolves are there, anyway?<\/p>\n

About 3,000 gray wolves call the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Northwest home, according to the Wolf Conservation Center<\/a>. Another 4,700 live in the Great Lakes region, and Alaska is home to more than 7,000 wolves.<\/p>\n

Colorado, where some of the reintroduced wolves have died, is home to at least 21 adult wolves and an unknown number of pups from this year’s litters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter, The Spot.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For decades, the question of how and whether gray wolves should be legally protected has been debated through…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[9558,2906,9559,4439,9577,9560,9561,327,4788,69,9572,9562,9563,746,9564,454,9573,9565,9566,9567,1370,9568,9574,50,9575,80,5620,159,9569,9576,67,132,68,837,9570,9571],"class_list":{"0":"post-8301","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-3rd-congressional-district","9":"tag-agriculture","10":"tag-capitol-hill","11":"tag-colorado","12":"tag-colorado-news","13":"tag-colorado-parks-and-wildlife","14":"tag-colorado-politics","15":"tag-congress","16":"tag-conservation","17":"tag-donald-trump","18":"tag-eagle-county","19":"tag-endangered-species","20":"tag-endangered-species-act","21":"tag-environment","22":"tag-gabe-evans","23":"tag-government","24":"tag-grand-county","25":"tag-gray-wolf","26":"tag-jeff-crank","27":"tag-jeff-hurd","28":"tag-latest-headlines","29":"tag-lauren-boebert","30":"tag-mountains","31":"tag-news","32":"tag-pitkin-county","33":"tag-politics","34":"tag-republicans","35":"tag-science","36":"tag-species","37":"tag-summit-county","38":"tag-united-states","39":"tag-unitedstates","40":"tag-us","41":"tag-wildlife","42":"tag-wolf","43":"tag-wolves"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}