COLORADANS ATTITUDES TOWARD REINTRODUCING THE GRAY WOLF INTO COLORADO

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) was directed by Congress to study the feasibility of including Colorado in the Northern Rocky Mou ntain Wolf Recovery Plan (U.S. Fish and Wildl. Serv. 1987). A mail sur vey of Colorado residents was conducted during the summer of 1994 to d etermine the social acceptability of gray wolf (Canis lupus) reintrodu ction. Results showed strong support for reintroducing wolves into Col orado, as well as generally positive attitudes toward wolves. As expec ted, attitudes toward wolf reintroduction were predictive of how an in dividual would vote on this issue. Those with negative attitudes towar d wolf reintroduction considered it undesirable based on beliefs it wo uld likely result in wolf attacks on livestock, financial loss to ranc hers, wolves wandering into residential areas, and large losses in dee r and elk. Those with positive attitudes considered reintroduction des irable based on beliefs it would keep deer and elk populations in bala nce, preserve the wolf as a wildlife species, return the environment b ack to the way it once was, help people understand the importance of w ilderness, and lead to greater control of rodents. Respondents in dens ely populated areas east of the continental divide were more supportiv e and positive toward wolf reintroduction than those in the predominat ely rural areas west of the continental divide.