CPW Expands Range Riding Program to Fight Wolf-Livestock Conflict

Colorado Parks and Wildlife has opened applications for the 2026 Colorado Range Riding season, expanding the year-old pilot program into southwest Colorado and increasing the number of contracted riders. CPW will award contracts in early spring.

Contracted riders will attend training from CPW and the Colorado Department of Agriculture. Topics include wildlife tracking, range riding best practices, and livestock monitoring. The curriculum was developed with veteran riders and livestock producers from across the West, who bring decades of wolf-livestock conflict experience.

Once hired, riders work primarily in their assigned county, though CPW can redeploy them to emerging hotspots based on wolf activity and need.

The Colorado Range Riding program, established in 2025 as a CPW-CDA partnership, is Colorado's first and builds on nonlethal strategies other Western states have deployed.

"Range riders provide critical monitoring of wildlife and livestock behavior and activity to help inform effective decision making related to wolf-livestock conflict," said Rae Nickerson, wolf damage and conflict minimization manager. "Riders improve communication between producers, agencies, and different CPW divisions."

According to Nickerson, riders function primarily as information collectors embedded in daily ranch operations. "Range riders are pattern and information experts," Nickerson said. "Their collection and communication of important information allows us to work with producers to find viable, reasonable, and effective responses to the risk of wolf-livestock conflict."

An information session is scheduled for January 16 at 10 a.m. at CPW's Grand Junction office, with online participation available. Applications close February 6, 2026.