In a Dec. 18 letter, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gave Parks and Wildlife 30 days to submit a complete reporting of all gray wolf conservation and management activities that have occurred from Dec. 12, 2023 until the present, as well as a narrative summary and all associated documents describing Parks and Wildlife’s January 2025 release of wolves imported from Canada and any more releases — including its recent release of a wolf from a pack with a confirmed history of repeated depredation.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife responded on Jan. 16, with the following documents and exhibits, sent in seven emails, according to a public records request obtained by the Vail Daily.

•  A Jan. 16 letter from Laura Clellan, acting director of Colorado Parks and Wildlife, to Brian Nesvik, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, outlining Parks and Wildlife’s response to Nesvik’s Dec. 18 letter requesting a full account of the state agency’s wolf program. 

Documents related to the January 2025 wolf releases

• A narrative summary describing the January 2025 wolf importation and release.
• A September 2024 agreement between Parks and Wildlife and the British Columbia Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship to obtain up to 15 wolves between Dec. 1, 2024, and April 15, 2025.
• A December 2024 email from the British Columbia ministry, including the permits issued pursuant to British Columbia’s Wildlife Act to export wolves to Colorado.
• A copy of the permits issued in October 2024 under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and administered by the Canadian Wildlife Service for the wolves’ export to Colorado.
• Health certificates signed by a British Columbia wildlife veterinarian in January 2025 for each of 15 wolves translocated to Colorado. This includes a list of vaccines issued to each wolf. 
• A permit issued by the Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement authorizing Parks and Wildlife to use alternative ports of entry into the U.S. with the wolves.
• A February 2024 email from a Fish and Wildlife Service official (name redacted) to Eric ODell, Parks and Wildlife’s wolf program coordinator, outlining the required permits and authorization to export wolves from Canada.
• A September 2024 press release announcing Colorado’s agreement with British Columbia to capture wolves in winter 2024-25.
• A PowerPoint shared at outreach meetings with Pitkin, Garfield, Rio Blanco and Eagle county commissioners with information on Colorado’s wolf population status, release logistics, wolf selections, working with producers to reduce conflict, release site selection and more.
• A December 2024 press release from Parks and Wildlife and the Colorado Department of Agriculture outlining their conflict minimization program.
• A presentation giving a wolf program update that was shared at the Parks and Wildlife Commission meeting on Jan. 8, 2025.
• A Jan. 19, 2025, press release announcing it had released 15 wolves from British Columbia, and the Copper Creek pack, in Pitkin and Eagle counties.
• A February 2025 press release outlining some information on range riders and wolf movements.
• A joint report detailing the 2025 translocation effort created by the British Columbia Ministry and Parks and Wildlife, published by the province in April 2025.
• The 2024-25 Colorado Gray Wolf Annual Report published in June 2025.

Documents related to the December 2025 rerelease of a wolf captured and returned by New Mexico

• A narrative summary of the capture of gray wolf 2403 from New Mexico and its rerelease in Grand County in December.
• A September 2023 agreement between Parks and Wildlife, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, Arizona Game and Fish Department, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Region 2 and Region 6 outlining management actions should gray wolves enter the southwest states and should Mexican gray wolves enter Colorado.
• An email chain starting with an email from Matt Hogan, Fish and Wildlife’s mountain prairie regional director, to Colorado and New Mexico wildlife officials, giving them a “green light” to capture and return the Colorado wolf in New Mexico.
• A Dec. 11 press release announcing that gray wolf 2403 was released in Grand County after being captured by New Mexico wildlife officials.
• Three letters sent in December by Laura Clellan, acting director of Parks and Wildlife, in response to letters of concern about 2403’s release sent by the Grand County Commissioners and Sheriff’s Office to the agency and to Gov. Jared Polis. Cllellan’s letters outline the operation, why the release location was selected and information that the wolf had migrated away from the county.

Documents relating to gray wolf activities that have occurred since December 2023

• The 2023-24 Colorado Gray Wolf Annual Report published in September 2024.
• A narrative summary of Parks and Wildlife’s gray wolf conservation and management activities from March 31, 2025, to January 2026.
• A PowerPoint presentation given to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife commission on July 17 with an update covering the annual report, mortality, new packs and dens, wolf movements and its release plans for the winter of 2025-26.
• Several wolf-specific newsletters sharing monthly wolf movement maps, pack establishments, living with wolves resources, updates to its depredation compensation program and more.
• A June 17 final report on the lethal removal of 2405, a Copper Creek yearling killed by the agency following repeated livestock attacks in Pitkin County.
• A Sept. 5 final report on the attempted lethal removal of an uncollared wolf in Rio Blanco County, which was shot, but not killed. The wolf was later identified as a Copper Creek yearling, which was born to the pack in 2024 and evaded capture in September 2024 when its pack was relocated to a wildlife sanctuary.
• A May 31 press release announcing the launch of Parks and Wildlife’s state range riding program in coordination with the Colorado Department of Agriculture.
• A document from Parks and Wildlife and the Department of Agriculture listing the numbers of site assessments, fladry deployment, scare device deployment, carcass management, site collaborations and other nonlethal tool implementation from June 2022 to June 2024.
• A PowerPoint presentation given at a Nov. 6 media day sharing Parks and Wildlife and the Department of Agriculture’s combined conflict minimization program.
• A summary of outreach events held from 2023 to 2025, by Parks and Wildlife and the Department of Agriculture, including range rider trainings, livestock management strategy trainings and wolf-specific trainings.
• A November 2024 agreement between the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and Parks and Wildlife outlining wolf management responsibilities on tribal land, including a data-sharing agreement. 
• A July 2025 agreement between Parks and Wildlife and the British Columbia Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship for the translocation of wolves from the province to Colorado up until April 15, 2028.