“Democracy,” the cynical line goes, “is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.” Colorado is putting on a new twist on the old ideas about wolves and democracy.
For the first time in U.S. history, voters will go to the ballot box this fall to vote yea or nay on deliberately bringing hundreds of 150-pound fanged predators into their ecosystem.
If Proposition 114 passes on Election Day, state wildlife officials will reintroduce gray wolves in western Colorado beginning in 2023. The divide on this issue is pretty clear: The people of Denver and Boulder are happy to help the once-endangered species expand its footprint, while the rural residents who would be the wolves’ neighbors are not pleased.
Think of it as “not in my backyard” versus “yes in your backyard.”
The pioneers who settled the Rocky Mountains were not fond of the wolves. Wolves would massacre cattle, compete with settlers for big game, and also terrorize men, women, and children. For protection and for sport, people hunted gray wolves (which once roamed up and down the Rockies) almost to extinction. Colorado even placed a bounty on wolves in 1869. The last gray wolf in Colorado was trapped and killed in the 1940s.
Conservation forces have had great success in reintroducing the wolves in much of the country. Their packs roam in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. They also roam in New Mexico. That is, north and south of Colorado, gray wolves have been reintroduced. But not in Colorado.
If Proposition 114 passes, the gray wolves’ U.S. territory will soon be contiguous from Canada to Mexico. This is good news for the wolves, and conservationists point to Yellowstone Park as an example of how wolves broadly change the ecosystem for the better. The idea seems to poll well in Denver.
But ranchers and others west of the Continental Divide aren’t pleased about the prospect of having packs of massive bloodthirsty hounds as their neighbors.
The wolves are already moving in without any deliberate reintroduction. Earlier this year, six wolves were spotted in northwestern Colorado. They retreated to Wyoming, but three were shot and killed anyway.
The dislike of wolves is strong out in that part of the state. But this is democracy, so it’s not up to the ranchers to decide whether the wolves will be joining them.
