Colorado Parks and Wildlife is working with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe as they continue to restore gray wolves. The two signed a MOU, a memorandum of understanding, which creates guidelines for the collaboration between Colorado and the Tribal lands.
The effort aims to minimize conflict or issues that could arise on their Tribal land and the Brunot Treaty Area in southwest Colorado around the San Juan Mountains. The MOU extends a previous initiative that protects the Ute people鈥檚 right to hunt, fish and gather ceremonial items in the area that extends 3.7 million acres.
Get top headlines and KUNC reporting directly to your mailbox each week when you subscribe to In The NoCo.
A big part of the MOU is focused on communication.
鈥淭he Colorado Department of Natural Resources and its Division, Colorado Parks and Wildlife greatly appreciate our relationship with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and are committed through this MOU to promote continued cooperation and communication between the Tribe and the State in our efforts to restore the gray wolf to Colorado,鈥� said Jeff Davis, Director, Colorado Parks and Wildlife in their press release.
Colorado voters approved the gray wolf restoration plan in 2020. The effort to bring back wolves, a species that once lived in the state, has led to some issues, including concerns from ranchers and others. CPW has made additional efforts to work with landowners to protect livestock.
Part of the MOU blocks CPW from releasing wolves within 60 miles of the Reservation as well as not releasing any within the Brunot Treaty area. An agreement in 1873 first established the area that allowed the Southern Ute Indian Tribe to continue their traditions.
鈥淲e look forward to working constructively with the state to ensure that the reintroduction of the gray wolf is conducted in a manner that respects Tribal sovereignty, upholds our cultural values, and minimizes potential impacts on our Tribal Members, their livelihoods, and our traditional ways of life,鈥� said Chairman Melvin J. Baker of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe in the press release.
Colorado wildlife officials plan to continue the release of more wolves into the state next year. Biologists plan to relocate up to 15 wolves from B. C., Canada, to the state between January and March.
