Colorado Voters Adopt Proposition 114, Pave Way for Wolf Reintroduction

Colorado voters have chosen to reintroduce gray wolves to the state. As of 1:00 p.m. MT, with 90% of votes counted, over 1,495,000 Coloradans have voted to adopt Proposition 114. In passing the measure, voters have directed Colorado Parks and Wildlife to develop a science-based plan with public input to safely reintroduce wolves to western Colorado by December 2023. 

“With this vote, the people of Colorado reflected their values, bypassing the politicians and special interests to right a historic wrong and restore the gray wolf to its rightful home in Colorado,” said Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife. “This is a win for Coloradans and for a healthier environment.” 

For hundreds of thousands of years, gray wolves lived throughout Colorado and much of North America. That changed in the early 20th century as government agencies led organized wolf eradication efforts that killed Colorado’s last wild wolf in 1945. Over the following 75 years, attitudes and values changed. As evidenced by this result, Coloradans now support bringing the gray wolf back. 

This win is the result of thousands of Coloradans working together in a true grassroots effort to gather signatures, get the word out to neighbors and families, and contribute funding and time to secure this outcome. These Coloradans worked tirelessly because they believe we owe it to future generations to restore our lost biodiversity.

This proposition represents the first time anywhere in the U.S. that voters have directed their state wildlife agency to reintroduce a species through a referendum. With this vote, Coloradans made clear their desire to see the gray wolf return home.

“Defenders of Wildlife looks forward to joining with state agencies, biologists, ranchers and all other stakeholders in a collaborative process to craft a future of coexistence with wolves and all wildlife of Colorado,”  said Jonathan Proctor, Rockies and Plains program director at Defenders of Wildlife. 

This is just the beginning, but Colorado can take the lessons learned from previous reintroductions of wolves in the Northern Rockies and Southwest to implement an even more successful, collaborative, and affordable reintroduction program that incorporates the input and concerns of all Coloradans. These previous reintroductions have shown the numerous ecological benefits that wolf restoration has on the environment, and decades of work on human-wildlife coexistence efforts provide a roadmap to reducing conflicts even further.