Colorado gray wolf recovery: A biological feasibility study

Bennett, Larry

The gray wolf was abundant in Colorado prior to Euroamerican settlement. Extensive human persecution led to its extirpation in the state by the 1920s. During Fiscal Year 1993, Congress directed that funding be provided tci the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 6, to conduct a study on the feasibility of reintroducing gray wolves in Colorado. The study was divided into a biological component and a human dimensions component. On 1 April 1993, the biological component of the study was initiated by the University of Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. This document is the Final Report of this portion of the study. A total of 11 national forests and adjacent areas were evaluated after the initial selection of potential areas was reduced to a Primary Analysis Area encompassing the western half of the state. These potential wolf recovery areas were then evaluated by comparing several selected habitat characteristics to those recommended by other Wolf Recovery Teams currently involved with wolf recovery programs in the United States. An unweighted ranking system identified and classified several potential areas that met the minimum recommended requirements for wolves. Specific issues pertaining to each area requiring a more in-depth investigation are identified. The contiguous nature of the National Forest System and Bureau of Land Management lands in Colorado and potential transboundary movement by wolves suggest that any future wolf recovery efforts consider all the areas evaluated as one unit. The resulting complex consists of about 38,000 square miles of public land, of which, about 9,578 square miles are roadless.