The State of Colorado through Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) and the Southern Ute Indian Tribe (Tribe) announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on coordination and communication regarding CPW’s efforts to restore gray wolves in Colorado and the potential impacts on the Tribe’s Reservation and the Brunot Treaty Area in Southwestern Colorado.

The MOU establishes a formal framework for continued collaboration between the sovereigns as the State continues to implement the Colorado voter approved program to restore and manage gray wolves in accordance with the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan. At the same time, the MOU simultaneously recognizes the sovereign authority of the Tribe on its Tribal lands and the Tribe’s treaty protected off-Reservation hunting, fishing, and gathering rights in the Brunot Treaty Area.

The MOU also builds upon a previous MOU signed in 2008, concerning wildlife management and enforcement in the Brunot Treaty Area, further supports the Tribe’s inherent sovereignty, and is the primary recommendation that was advanced from the formal consultation meetings between the State and the Tribe held from 2022 - 2023, prior to the finalization of the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan.

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“The Colorado Department of Natural Resources and its Division, Colorado Parks and Wildlife greatly appreciate our relationship with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and are committed through this MOU to promote continued cooperation and communication between the Tribe and the State in our efforts to restore the gray wolf to Colorado,” said Jeff Davis, Director, Colorado Parks and Wildlife. “The Tribe has a wide variety of interests both on its Tribal lands and in the Brunot Treaty Area and we look forward to maintaining our positive working relationship on managing and co-stewarding wildlife within these lands.”

CPW and the Tribe are committed to operating on a basis of a government-to-government relationship that simultaneously recognizes and respects Tribal sovereignty. The MOU also states that CPW and the Tribe will work together to provide a process to minimize conflicts, memorialize a process for information sharing on gray wolf reintroductions throughout the State and confirm the Tribe’s intent to participate in the State’s program to provide fair and timely compensation to the Tribe or Tribal Members for any losses of livestock proven to be caused by gray wolves.

"The Southern Ute Indian Tribe acknowledges and appreciates the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and Colorado Parks and Wildlife's commitment to fostering a strong and collaborative relationship with our Tribe. We recognize the importance of continued cooperation and communication in all matters pertaining to wildlife management. As the oldest continuous residents, we have a deep and unique connection to the land and its wildlife. We look forward to working constructively with the State to ensure that the reintroduction of the gray wolf is conducted in a manner that respects Tribal sovereignty, upholds our cultural values, and minimizes potential impacts on our Tribal Members, their livelihoods, and our traditional ways of life,” shared Chairman Melvin J. Baker of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe.

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The Brunot Area is approximately 3.7 million acres of the San Juan Mountain region within the State of Colorado established by a 1873 Agreement, and contains an important provision reserving for the Utes the right to “hunt upon said land so long as the game lasts and the Indians are at peace with the white people.” Based on historical evidence and testimonials from Ute elders, this reserved right includes not only hunting but also fishing and gathering activities by which the Utes supported themselves in the region for centuries prior to the Agreement. The Utes continue to use the Brunot Area for hunting, fishing, and to gather ceremonial plants.

The MOU also sets out that CPW will ensure that a minimum 60-mile buffer exists between wolf release sites, the Utah state line, and the exterior boundaries of the Reservation and not conduct wolf releases within the boundaries of the Brunot Area. This 60-mile buffer zone is currently included in CPW’s Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan and was developed through past Tribal consultation efforts.

Currently, operational planning is underway for the second capture and release season in support of the Colorado Gray Wolf Restoration and Management Plan. The operation is focused on translocating up to 15 gray wolves from British Columbia to Colorado between January and March, 2025, as announced by Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) in September. To read more about CPW and the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) efforts to work with Colorado livestock producers on a robust program that includes new tools, support and resources to minimize wolf-livestock conflict, see CPW/CDA press release of December 9, 2024.