Anytime 2020 wants to go back to being normal would be fine by me. It’s been a wacky year, all the way from the beginning. But one of the most surprising things, in my opinion, that came out of this year happened in the recent elections. And no, I’m not talking about the presidential or Congressional races.
Colorado voters have a history of placing propositions on the ballot that cause more than a little controversy, and this year was no exception. Their Proposition 114 asked voters to support “requiring the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission to create a plan to reintroduce and manage gray wolves on designated lands west of the Continental Divide by the end of 2023.”
Wait. What? The citizens of Colorado themselves wanted to ask for a vote to bring wolves INTO Colorado? And it PASSED? The results were 50.51% of voters in favor of the proposition, and 49.49% opposed.
While I am not completely opposed to wolves, I know that there are few places in the Lower 48 states that are suitable for them in modern times. And the disappearance of wolves from the Colorado wilds has resulted in drastic overpopulations of elk and deer in that state. But have they not been watching the problems Wyoming, Montana and Idaho have had with wolves? And yet they voted in favor of requiring their wildlife commission to bring them in? Wow.
It’s interesting to note that the vast majority of the votes in favor of this proposition came from the urban populations of Denver, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins and Boulder. Cities far from the areas where the wolves will eventually be released.
I think we have a few extra wolves in Wyoming we could give them, though.
