Just weeks before the deadline for Colorado to begin reintroducing gray wolves under a voter-approved initiative, representatives of the cattle industry association are suing state and federal agencies in the hopes of delaying the predators’ release.
The Gunnison County Stockgrowers’ Association and Colorado Cattlemen’s Association say in the lawsuit filed Monday that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services failed to adequately review the effects of the plan to reintroduce up to 50 wolves over the next several years.
The predators’ release in Colorado, voted for in a 2020 ballot measure, has already stirred controversy and sharpened divides between rural and urban residents. City dwellers largely voted for the measures that would most affect rural areas, where wolves can prey on livestock that help drive local economies.
Cattle are not natural to the region. They are the interloper, the wolves are being reintroduced to their natural habitat.
The cattle industry can re-learn how to deal with the natural habitat they messed with in the first place.