The Trump administration threatens to revoke Colorado’s authority to manage wolves

Updated at 9:15 a.m. on Jan. 6, 2026.

It’s been more than three years since the former Biden administration gave Colorado permission to proceed with its controversial wolf reintroduction program.

Now the Trump administration is threatening to revoke that authority and take over the restoration effort.

In a letter sent Dec. 18, Brian Nesvik, the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), demanded that the state supply a detailed account of all its wolf management activities since Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) released its first batch of wolves in December 2023. 

Nesvik also required a full “narrative summary” of all its subsequent efforts to capture and release wolves across the state. The Fort Collins Coloradoan first reported the letter on Saturday. 

If the state fails to supply the information by Jan. 18, the federal government will work to terminate the special permit allowing Colorado to manage gray wolves, Nesvik wrote.

Such a move could end Colorado’s work to revive a viable wolf population more than 80 years after hunters and trappers eradicated the species. The state initiated the project after Colorado voters narrowly approved wolf reintroduction in 2020. Ranchers, however, opposed the plan from the outset, and now claim the state has failed to comply with the management plan approved by federal wildlife authorities.

That agreement — known as a 10(j) permit — lets state wildlife officials manage gray wolves as an "experimental population.” Besides allowing the state to reintroduce the carnivores, it also granted CPW permission to capture or kill wolves that prey on livestock or threaten human safety. Since federal law classifies wolves as an endangered species in Colorado, those responsibilities would otherwise fall to the federal government.

In an emailed statement, CPW spokesperson Luke Perkins confirmed the wildlife agency had received the letter and intends to comply with the request for further information.

“CPW believes that it is advantageous for CPW to continue as the lead management agency for Colorado’s gray wolves,” Perkins said. “Our leadership and staff will continue to closely coordinate on wolf management decisions with USFWS staff.” 

Gov. Jared Polis has spearheaded efforts to follow through on Colorado’s wolf reintroduction ballot initiative. In a statement, Shelby Wieman, a spokesperson with the governor’s office, said the state remains committed to wolf reintroduction and disagrees with the “premise” of Nesvik’s letter.

Nesvik cites two specific incidents to explain why the federal government might revoke the permit.

Colorado released a group of 15 wolves captured in British Columbia in January 2025. By bringing wolves across the Canadian border, Nesvik claims the state violated the terms of its own wolf management plan, which only mentions reintroducing wolves from the northern Rocky Mountain region of the continental U.S., not Canada or Alaska. 

Colorado had plans in place to release another group of wolves from Canada during this winter. CPW scrapped the plan after the USFWS raised the same issue in late October 2025, and it hasn’t succeeded in securing wolves from other states or tribal nations since then.

In his most recent letter, Nesvik noted a recent incident surrounding a wolf from the Copper Creek Pack, a family group known for repeatedly preying on livestock. The young male wandered into New Mexico last fall before local wildlife officials returned it to Colorado. CPW then released it into Grand County, even though the agency acknowledged it likely killed a heifer in Gunnison County weeks earlier. 

Colorado’s wolf management plan recommends against releasing wolves with a history of killing livestock. Since the federal government only gave Colorado permission to follow the plan, Nesvik suggests the state is violating its agreement with the federal government.

Wolf advocates, however, don’t buy the legal argument behind Nesvik’s threat. Rob Edward, the president of the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project, said the state’s plan details general recommendations from a panel of technical experts, not hard-and-fast requirements for the restoration program. 

“It’s completely flabbergasting. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an agency that’s supposed to be in charge of recovering the species, is injecting itself into an innovative wolf program and threatening to shut it down,” Edward said.

A current legislative push to remove wolves from the U.S. Endangered Species list could further complicate the conflict. The bill, sponsored by GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert, won approval in the U.S. House the same day Nesvik sent his letter. 

If passed into law, all management authority over wolves would revert back to the states. That means Colorado could continue to manage the species — without explicit federal permission. 

Editor’s note: The story has been updated with an additional comment from the Colorado governor’s office.