The topic of reintroducing wolves to Colorado was met with a very close vote in 2020. The state of Colorado had the option of voting on reintroducing wolves to the state. Proposition 114 (Gray Wolf Reintroduction Initiative) was the deciding factor of gray wolves in Colorado. Now that wolves have officially been reintroduced to the state, many people are fond of the wolves as opposed to the large majority that is hostile towards them.

The vote for Proposition 114 was held in November of 2020, the results of the ballot were 49.09% no to 50.91% yes. When put against the other ballots during the month of November, Proposition 114 was the closest ballot with only a one percent difference. The ballot was created to reintroduce wolves to Colorado west of the continental divide by the end of 2023. Although it was set to be finished by the end of 2023, wolves have been traveling for close to 4 years from the Wyoming borders to cities like North Park Colorado, which is primarily populated by ranchers.

Within the United States, Grey Wolves have been on the endangered species list since 1974. However, in October 2020 they were officially taken off the list. With the wolves being taken off the endangered species list, it led the state and organizations like The Sierra Club to campaign for wolves to be reintroduced to the state. With organizations and the state of Colorado supporting the campaign, they raised 2.4 million dollars when the opposing side raised 1.06 million dollars. “The Rocky Mountain Wolf Action Fund… is leading the support campaign for the initiative” (Ballotpedia para. 2). The amount of money and campaigns prompted the state to propose a ballot to the citizens of Colorado to vote on the fate of wolves in the state.

The main demographic for the campaign was aimed towards people in the Denver Metro and surrounding areas; this vote didn't take into consideration how this would affect the farms and ranchers who lived in rural Colorado. People living in Denver and the surrounding areas see the vote as a positive, and activists all see this proposition as a good thing as it’s reintroducing a formerly endangered species to a state with lands still untouched. However, the ranchers of Colorado are affected every day. With the wolves coming over from the Wyoming state line, they are attacking the farm animals on the ranches. Cows and farm animals are the most common animals to be attacked by wolves. Many residents in North Park have been affected by the animal attacks and want the wolves to be either removed from the state or at least have some law in place to protect ranches. Colorado natives have been struggling with the reintroduction of wolves as well. With Gov. Polis wanting wolves to be introduced in early 2022 the proposition has had a negative impact on the families and Ranchers affected. Many of their animals have been killed by these wolves and for their deaths, they will be “compensated for confirmed wolf kills” which could further affect them in a negative way (Blumhardt, 2022, para. 29). Although these ranchers and farmers will be compensated for the killed animals they will never have a sense of peace from these attacks. With the inability to protect their ranches due to the dramatic consequences that go along with shooting wolves. You could have up to a year in jail and a $100,000 fine for trying to protect your family.

Ranches and city dwellers are both affected by this proposition in extremely different ways. On one hand, people are happily supporting the reintroduction of wolves, while the other is heavily against the reintroduction of wolves due to the deaths of many of their livestock, and other animals. Overall, the proposition has had a very negative reaction, further proving that reintroducing these animals isn’t a good idea.