Colorado’s wolf reintroduction program has been contentious from the start. It’s seemingly created a divide between rural ranchers worried about their livestock, and urban Front Range voters who supported reintroduction.
But there’s one effort that might help bridge that divide. It’s a specialty Colorado license plate with a drawing of a wolf, and a tagline that says “Born to Be Wild.”
The idea for the plate came from an advocacy group called the Rocky Mountain Wolf Project. They wanted to get ahead of the inevitable conflicts between wolves and the ranching community by raising funds to help pay for nonlethal services that prevent wolves from preying on livestock. That includes range riders, who patrol ranchland on horseback to scare away wolves that might attack sheep or cattle.
Colorado Sun reporter Tracy Ross says the license plates have raised just over $1 million since they became available in January 2024.
She joined Erin O'Toole to talk about how this specialty plate has taken off, even in areas that voted against wolf reintroduction at the ballot box.
