The Wolfs Gift
The Wolfs Gift - Walden, Colo. - Don Gittleson was driving on a snow-covered dirt road to his farm on a recent cold morning when his cell phone rang. The rancher was a stranger, calling three hours from the Denver area and offering his services: Could he watch Gittleson's cattle at night?
The Wolfs Gift
Gittleson, kind and polite, has grown accustomed to such questions over the past year and a half. That's how long gray wolves have roamed this high valley called North Park—on Gittleson's ranch, wolves attacked several cows and calves. This has made the 11,000 acres and territory a testing ground for the future of Colorado's wild dogs and the hopes and fears of both their advocates and detractors.
Colorado is finalizing a 300-page plan to reintroduce wolves to the state, which were exterminated in the 1940s. It's doing so at the urging of voters in 2020, who approved an unprecedented ballot measure directing the state to begin releasing endangered carnivores to western Colorado by the end of this year.
But eventually the wolves started opening their own shops. In 2021, the state Department of Wildlife announced the birth of six puppies to a pair believed to have migrated from Wyoming — the first documented litter in Colorado in decades. The news was celebrated in Denver, where Gov. Jared Polis (D) welcomed the puppies and named their parents "John and Jane," with 66 percent of voters voting in favor.
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Not so much in Jackson County, where Park made his base and where 87 percent voted against. Reintroduction efforts are closely watched across the country. Will Colorado be hospitable to the controversial wildlife, which serves as the missing link in the wolf habitat chain from the Northern Rockies to the Southwest?
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Or will conservationists revert to the positions of Montana and Idaho, which allow extremely aggressive hunting? Trucks, planes, backpacks: In an effort to save Mexican wolves, wolves are federally protected outside the northern Rockies, so almost all killing is prohibited. Colorado's plan eliminates hunting, but the state allows more "flexibility" by asking the federal government to consider released wolves an "experimental population" — a term that could include killing wolves that attack livestock.
Ranchers, including Gittleson, want it. Wolf advocates worry that this could prevent new populations. Under Colorado's plan, wolves could be captured in the northern Rockies and released into central Colorado, where the state believes there is a mix of suitable habitat and social tolerance. But now, in this quiet landscape on the Wyoming border, the first glimpses of Colorado's ability to co-exist with the animal, which the plan calls "a symbol of the diversity of American thought, values and ideas," are emerging.
The local wolf pack has long been extinct. Three of its eight members are believed to have died crossing the border into Wyoming last year. Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) has confirmed 14 cattle or working dogs have been killed since January 2022, including the killing of a $20,000 border collie last month, its owner told local media.
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Below Gittleson's ranch, on another property, a red sign reads: “If you vote to reintroduce wolves, don't reintroduce them here. Welcome!" On Gittleson and his wife's mountain ranch, which has 190 cows and 39 cows, opinions are not so strong. It's made it a kind of Rorschach test — opponents see evidence of the wolf threat and champion the bright spots of coexistence. Gittleson has spent four decades in the Himalayas.
He said he has suffered a handful of losses from lions. He will find black wolves in 2019 and make a trail here and there. "They didn't hurt our cows, so we agreed," said his wife, Kim Gittleson, 60, an administrator with the local sheriff's department.
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That changes when they start killing your cattle." That happened in December 2021, when the pack killed one of their cows — the first wolf kill in Colorado in more than seven decades. Eight more deaths were reported over the next few months, Gittleson said. (CPW
confirmed that four of them were killed and two wounded.) Word got out, and Gittleson's phone began ringing with questions and tips — from reporters, wolf advocates, conservation groups, ranchers and hunters in other states. Gittleson took them all in and opened his ranch to the invitees.
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Here, people are seeing that it's not as sweet as they thought it would be," Gittleson, 65, said of the white rabbit wintering among the leafless willows nearby. "And maybe a rancher isn't the biggest S.O.B. in the world." Besides, there is no alternative to killing, "I am very motivated to find a non-lethal solution," he said.
So if you think you have an answer, I'd be interested to hear it." Flags up - predator deterrents. He used bright foxlights and shell crackers. Riders - some on horseback, some in cars; Some volunteers, some from coexistence organizations - watched at night. Deployed six dedicated burros - known for their herding skills.
Gittleson said. He was thinking about fencing, but he was concerned it would deter pronghorn and elk. Guard dogs will be expensive, he said. He believed the Noodle Man—the inflatables that dance wildly in the car—would last a long time. no A man with security experience.
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Rhinos from hunters in Africa suggested fences and alarms, but after seeing how large the 300-acre pasture was, Gittleson said. "It was a problem we had with a lot of people," Gittleson said. "I'm telling you how many acres there are, but you don't understand what I'm talking about."
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Non-lethal barriers are often effective, researchers say. But Gittleson said he concluded those methods will continue until they know the wolves are not lethal. Two of his cows were killed while the horsemen were giving chase,” he said. The wolves were on his property this month, he said, "testing" the livestock.
They're very smart," Gittleson said. "It's just that I keep doing things and if we don't attack for some long period, we can say that we are doing something right." A day earlier, the state wildlife commission held a final hearing about the reintroduction plan in Steamboat Springs, an hour away.
The front rows of the college's auditorium, overlooking the snowy slopes, were filled with park and wildlife officials in gray uniforms. Behind them, some audience members wore shirts with wolves on them. Others wore cowboy hats and camo. Public reviews were lukewarm, but still reflected strong opinions.
Gail Bell, who helped run the ballot measure campaign, said the proposed compensation for livestock attacked by wolves — up to $15,000 per animal killed plus $15,000 in veterinary fees — "seems too high." "There have been many rights for ranchers over the centuries," Bell said, "let's focus on unity."
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