ELECT THE WOLF?
AROUND 9 P.M. ON JANUARY 4, JOSHUA CARNEY, HALF OF THE CRAIG PRESS’ TWO-PERSON REPORTING TEAM, GOT A NEWS TIP. A LOCAL WOMAN SAID THAT WHILE HUNTING IN NORTHWESTERN COLORADO’S IRISH CANYON RECENTLY, HER BROTHER HAD COME ACROSS AN ELK CARCASS THAT HAD BEEN “RIPPED TO PIECES.” IN THE SNOW BESIDE IT, THE predator had left a series of tracks shaped like dog paws, save for one distinguishing feature: They were big. Really big. Big enough for a wolf.
Although Carney, 27, had only been on the job a few months, he’d already looked into several similar leads. When he’d called Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), his inquiries were usually met with a chuckle. Yes, CPW had checked it out, and, no, it wasn’t a wolf. “The calls have happened forever,” Carney says. “People can’t tell the difference between a wolf and a coyote.”
Nevertheless, when he got to work on January 5, Carney called CPW again, and this time, they suggested he file a records request. The next morning, CPW delivered the goods. Another hunter had spotted six large canids back in October, just a couple of miles from where the elk carcass had been found, and he’d caught two on video. The new carcass and tracks, plus that video evidence, had led CPW officers to an extraordinary conclusion: After forceful extermination 75 years earlier, wolves appeared to again be making a home in Colorado.
Carney banged out a story, getting a big scoop for a little paper and a crash course in the emotionally wrought politics of wolves. The calls, emails, and social media comments came in a flood. Denver TV stations asked Carney for interviews. The paper’s Facebook followers expressed dismay and predicted the demise of deer and elk, with at least one man writing that he’d use his gun in self-defense. Wolf lovers, meanwhile, dominated Carney’s inbox, and some accused him of sensationalism for his description of the carcass. One even came to the office to berate him in person. “It was a weird time,” Carney recalls. “I was relatively new to the job and that was the first one where I was like, ‘Wow—what happened?’”
Wittingly or not, Carney had waded into the wolf wars, and he had done so with uncanny timing. The day before his story broke, Initiative 107 was certified for the 2020 ballot. If it passes, the citizen-backed measure will direct CPW to develop a plan for actively reintroducing wolves to the state’s mountain landscapes and to put paws on the ground by 2023. It’s the first time voters in any state will have a direct say in reintroducing North America’s most controversial carnivore
into remote reaches of the
