The Colorado Range Rider program will launch in early 2025 and is seeking qualified applicants who can help ranchers keep gray wolves away from livestock.
Range riders support livestock producers by protecting herds from wolves, whether on horseback, foot or ATV. They can not only keep an eye out for wolves, but can deploy non-lethal deterrents to haze the wolves.
The program is the result of a partnership between the Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) and the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA). Both organizations hope to create a team of range riders who are connected to their communities and can be deployed at short notice, CDA and CPW said in a Monday press release.
The Colorado Range Rider program stemmed from conversations and recommendations that CPW heard from the communities that have been impacted by the wolves in the year since they were reintroduced.
“The agency has incorporated this feedback …