In 2020, Colorado became the first state to pass a ballot initiative requiring the government to reintroduce an endangered species.
Now, a little more than a year after the state began releasing gray wolves into the Colorado wilderness, opponents hope to once again use the ballot box to halt the program.
The newly formed Colorado Advocates for Smart Wolf Policy announced its intention last month of creating a 2026 ballot initiative to end the wolf program. Since the state began releasing wolves in December 2023, ranchers and farmers have decried the policy, pointing to numerous cattle killings tied to wolves.
The ballot initiative is part of an ongoing effort from state ranchers and rural advocates to dismantle the wolf program. Such efforts have so far been unsuccessful — Colorado’s Parks and Wildlife Commission recently struck down a citizen petition seeking to end the program, citing ongoing efforts from the department to protect ranchers from wolves and compensate them when cattle are killed. Legislative efforts to end the program have also failed to gain traction.
