For thousands of years, the land that is now the southern Colorado Rockies was home to gray wolves, but these predators were hunted to near extinction by 1930. Now, almost 50 years later, there is a local vote on whether or not the species should be reintroduced to the area that was once their home. If approved, state biologists would reintroduce the wolves to over 17 million acres of untouched wilderness in Western Colorado by the end of 2023. This vote not only marks the end of a 40-year campaign to return the gray wolves to their natural habitat of the Rockies but is also monumental in wildlife conservation history: It would be the first vote in America to decide whether or not to return a species to their habitat, a decision previously made by government scientists exclusively.
Along with the question of whether or not the wolves will return is the question of whether they can co-exist peacefully with neighboring humans. In recent years, the story of the gray wolves has been one of success, as there are currently around 1,700 gray wolves living across Washington, Oregon, Utah, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. However, there have also been some problems surrounding these carnivorous animals and humans, particularly ranchers. In Washington alone, over 30 wolves have been killed for attacking the easy prey of livestock. Wyoming, due to their reliance on the cattle economy, has dropped their federal protection of the animal in most areas, allowing people to shoot gray wolves on sight. While there is undoubtedly an economic impact to reintroducing the wolves, many continue to believe it is only right to return the animals to the very land that humans once drove them from.
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