{"id":25077,"date":"2023-12-15T19:44:47","date_gmt":"2023-12-16T02:44:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westernlaw.org\/?p=25077"},"modified":"2023-12-15T19:44:47","modified_gmt":"2023-12-16T02:44:47","slug":"court-denies-livestock-industry-attempt-to-immediately-halt-wolf-reintroductions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westernlaw.org\/es\/court-denies-livestock-industry-attempt-to-immediately-halt-wolf-reintroductions\/","title":{"rendered":"Un tribunal niega el intento de la industria ganadera de detener inmediatamente las reintroducciones de lobos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, a U.S. District Court Judge denied a request by the Colorado livestock industry to block imminent wolf reintroductions to the state. Gunnison County Stockgrowers\u2019 Association and Colorado Cattlemen’s Association filed a lawsuit<\/a> on Monday against Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seeking to stop wolf releases that are slated to occur this month. The livestock groups also requested an immediate restraining order<\/a> against the reintroduction effort, which has been years in the making and results from a voter-approved ballot measure in November 2020.<\/p>\n

The court ruled against the restraining order<\/a>, citing \u201c[d]ata submitted to the Court by the Conservation Groups, and not rebutted by Petitioners, demonstrat[ing] that in other states with hundreds or thousands of wolves, predation affects mere fractions of a percent of total livestock populations\u201d (order at 16). Conservation and animal welfare groups who moved<\/a> to intervene in the lawsuit praised the court\u2019s decision and vowed to continue fighting the industry\u2019s lawsuit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are looking forward to wolves being returned to their rightful place in Colorado,\u201d said Delaney Rudy of Western Watersheds Project. \u201cThe agencies went through the full and proper process, and while none of us are 100 percent happy with the management plans for wolves in Colorado, trying to thwart the will of the voters with this last minute maneuver was poor form. We\u2019re glad the court saw through it.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Livestock interests hostile to wolf coexistence are abusing the law to get their way, even when the state bent over backward to accommodate them in how wolf reintroduction \u2014 scientifically supported and democratically decided through a ballot measure \u2014 is accomplished,” said Kelly Nokes, attorney at the Western Environmental Law Center. “The court made the right call here denying the livestock associations’ request to block wolf releases before the case is even heard. I will work on behalf of our clients to move wolf reintroduction forward in Colorado.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRejecting this unfounded restraining order request is excellent news,\u201d said Lindsay Larris, wildlife program director at WildEarth Guardians. \u201cColorado Parks and Wildlife and U.S. Fish and Wildlife staff have spent thousands of hours on this process, hundreds of them to ensure that livestock owner interests are heard. We\u2019re more than happy to intervene on behalf of those agencies and wolves against this ill-intentioned lawsuit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m relieved that the court saw right through the livestock industry\u2019s self-serving and meritless arguments,\u201d said Allison Henderson, Southern Rockies director at the Center for Biological Diversity. \u201cBoth science and Colorado voters have very clearly told us that wolves belong here. Once wolves are reintroduced, they\u2019ll help restore balance to our state\u2019s ecosystems.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis meritless lawsuit is nothing more than a desperate attempt by those hostile to wolves to circumvent the will of Colorado voters at the eleventh hour,\u201d said Nicholas Arrivo, managing attorney for the Humane Society of the United States. \u201cWolves belong in Colorado, and we stand ready to ensure their restoration can continue as planned.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe court\u2019s opinion vindicates that the lawsuit ignores reality,\u201d said Tom Delehanty, an attorney with Earthjustice\u2019s Rocky Mountain office. \u201cState and federal personnel put years of work into preparing for wolves\u2019 return to Colorado, and this misguided attack on that process has rightly failed.”<\/p>\n

The non-profit organizations are represented in this litigation by Earthjustice and the Western Environmental Law Center.<\/p>\n

Contacts:<\/b><\/p>\n

Kelly Nokes, Western Environmental Law Center, 575-613-8051, nokes@westernlaw.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Lindsay Larris, WildEarth Guardians, 720-468-0842, llarris@wildearthguardians.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Allison Henderson, Center for Biological Diversity, 970-309-2008, ahenderson@biologicaldiversity.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Delaney Rudy, Western Watersheds Project, 970-648-4241, delaney@westernwatersheds.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Perry Wheeler, Earthjustice, 202-792-6211, pwheeler@earthjustice.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Nicholas Arrivo, The Humane Society of the United States, 202-961-9446, narrivo@humanesociety.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Background:<\/b><\/p>\n

Colorado\u2019s livestock owners have several revenue streams to underwrite non-lethal conflict reduction and for compensation. Most are unlikely to incur rare livestock losses.<\/b><\/p>\n