Foreword: Colorado Parks and Wildlife is pleased to highlight several of the nearly 1,000 talented staff members in these ongoing profiles for Colorado Outdoors. Based on the field-based nature of staff members, we ask that you do not contact profiled staff directly. If you have media or general requests on the topics showcased in these articles, please contact a statewide or regional Public Information Officer. If you would like to request educational programs or opportunities, please submit a form to our Education team.
Brenna Cassidy feels a kinship with the gray wolves which were translocated to Colorado. She is only a few months into her newly-created position with Colorado Parks and Wildlife as the Wolf Monitoring and Data Coordinator and she’s still learning her new state.
“It’s an exciting way to be introduced to Colorado. It’s kind of interesting to also be the new person coming with my background in the Northern Rockies and coming at the same time as the wolves. I get to look at it with their lens and go through the Colorado reintroduction at the same time,” said Cassidy.
While most new jobs start slowly with getting to know new coworkers and easing into an unknown role, it’s been the opposite experience for Cassidy.
“A good whirlwind,” she described. “I haven’t had a single moment of twiddling my thumbs. I have had to jump in at such an exciting and busy time. I’ve been immersed in this translocation effort.”
Her position, a first for CPW, will focus on analyzing and interpreting the data from the wolves’ movements and pack numbers. At first, the job will be aided by telemetry collars placed on the wolves during the translocation process, but once the wolves begin natural reproduction after a few years in the wild, the data will be harder to come by as the new pups will most likely not be equipped with those collars. That’s when Cassidy expects her job to become harder and more interesting.
Cassidy will closely monitor data from surrounding wolves to see who is forming a pack with who, which wolves are mating and denning together, their movements across Colorado and overall health of the species. The data gleaned and analyzed from the collars and packs will inform wildlife decisions, health management and overall success in the reintroduction process. It’s an enormous, unique effort she is ready to build from the ground up within the Species Conservation Unit, part of a priority by CPW to increase support and research for the section which will work with the wolves.
“My career mentors have been telling me incredible stories for the last 15 years about wolf reintroduction efforts in Yellowstone National Park. I’ve wanted to be a part of that. When this opportunity with CPW came up, there was no way I wasn’t going to apply for it.”
Wolves have been a part of her life for many years, starting with a technical project at Yellowstone in 2009 during her undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin Stevens-Point. After graduation, Cassidy returned to the national park full-time and lived on park property to monitor wolf activity there.
“When I was living in the park, I would start my days early and walk out the door to hear wolf howls. I would think ‘ok my day has started.’”
While in Yellowstone, Cassidy became increasingly curious about the inner workings of wolf populations, which led her to graduate school at the University of Montana. Her PhD thesis focuses on what drives wolf populations, and the gritty details of survival and reproduction of wolves in Yellowstone with Dr. Mark Hebblewhite.
“Studying a social species is so fascinating. Watching a wolf pack cooperate to raise litters of pups and be able to quantify how successful they are is an incredible experience, and such a treat as a scientist.”
She is excited to bring that knowledge and experience to a different landscape to study how wolf behavior may differ in Colorado.
“We’re going to be combining a lot of what other places have done and see what works best for us. We have a really large state. Because they are a social species, packs look different all over the US and world. I’m excited to see what that looks like in Colorado.”
One part of Colorado she is looking forward to exploring on her own is the Western Slope. The wilder, frontier areas of the state remind her of home.
“I grew up in a tiny, tiny farming community in the Midwest, about 1,000 people. The ranch living, small town felt familiar to me. I want to get to the Western Slope more because it feels like the place where I grew up.”
Even time zones apart, Cassidy sees the similarities between the Midwest and West in their values and spotlight on natural resources. The emphasis on wisely using the land was instilled in her at an early age, which she credits with sparking her lifelong passion for wildlife ecology. Going on those early morning hunts with her dad, having to stay quiet and very still for long periods of time not to spook their harvests gave her valuable wildlife viewing skills in the wilderness.
Her life outside of fieldwork is anything but still and quiet.
“My brain doesn’t shut off at 5 p.m.”
Cassidy describes herself as someone with a lot of hobbies. She enjoys pottery and the arts as a tool to see the science side of the creative world. She’s taken up mountain biking, as many do when they move to Colorado, and modestly says she is an “adequate” outdoor recreationalist. Cassidy can’t wait to spend more time in state parks. She has already been impressed with the beauty of State Forest and Lory in her few months here.
Most of her personal time surrounds Indy, her nine-year-old cattle mix rescue dog. Named after famed explorer and professor Indiana Jones, he also boasts a degree in “barkeology.” Cassidy defers to Indy on the majority of choices on how to spend their outdoor time.
With the biggest challenges in her job ahead, Cassidy considers herself lucky to pioneer this path within CPW and is looking forward to the opportunity to learn from the new wolf arrivals.
“If there’s anything I know about wolves is that they’ll surprise you, which makes things pretty exciting. Their lives are changing a lot and I feel the same way. My experience has been positive and I don’t foresee that changing. I have the same hope for them in Colorado.”
Written by Kara Van Hoose. Kara is the Northeast Region Public Information Officer for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
18 Responses
I hope you have a GREAT time watching the precious wolves devastate Colorados Big Game. Bravo to you all! You would think educated people would have seen what happened to Idaho’s big game and stop this travesty but NOPE, you applauded it. No problem, Colorado will not be getting my out of state hunting dollars anymore!
Good luck!
If you can’t support it, we likely don’t want you here.
That is what I had planned on sending, I hope more hunters will wake up., I have 24 moose points, can’t draw a tag, so now the wolwes can have them.
Welcome to Colorado, Cassidy!
The only thing you geniuses will accomplish is 1) Starting a war with the Cattleman’s Association/Landowners(Landowners provide food/habitat for our wildlife and are a critical part of the process). 2) Literally devastating our Big Game Populations which the Sportsman pay for. 3) Supporting our Govenor who hates Hunting/Fishing and wants to turn the better part of the State into a National Park. 4)Look what’s happened to our Park system. Now we are selling Park Passes thru driver licenses for less than $30. Now illegals/non sportsman people are using our lakes like Grocery stores. Not buying fishing licenses/extra rod stamps nor following any of the regulations. Out East used to be world class Walleye fishing. RUINED!!!!! Great work!!!! I have a picture taken @ Jumbo Mid December 2022 with about 3-400 dead fish left to rot!!!! Mostly Drum (which are very edible) about 1/3rd of them were Big Walleye’s quite a number of them were in the 5-6lb. range. I contacted the appropriate people on the 3-4 fish salvages. Never got a response.!!!! It appears as though CPW is in violation. The charge. Wanton Waste which is one of the worst (if not the worst) Wildlife violations we have!!!! If convicted your up for Lifetime Suspension!!!!!! On top of this the Sportsman’s Access has not had proper attention for decades. There are almost 160 GMU’s where Sportsman do not have proper access to Big Game either thru A Pilot program, Ranching for Wildlife, BLM, National Forest. Where the Wolf thing will end up is the same a Wyoming. The Landowners will gut shoot them, they will run off then die inhumanely. On top of this the Wolves carry a parasite that has to be surgically removed which all other animals can get!!! Without the Sportsman/Landowners the is no CPW! If you go to Public CPW Meeting. It’s about CPW’s agenda’s not the Sportsmen/General Public.
Question: What would it take for CPW to properly relate to the Public?
Lay off the Sportmen’s Alliance crack pipe. CPW spent years listening and working with the public when developing the Wolf Management Plan and had the very best minds work on it. You are regurgitating hate fueled nonsense and driving conflict where there is none. Impacts on cattle ranchers is almost nothing if they act right, and given that their industry is parasitic welfare industry, they should be happy to have had CPW and the taxpayers of this state bend over backwards to make sure they are subsidized further with payments for lost cattle and sheep. The hunting world will be fine, there are more elk in the Northern Rockies with wolves than there was without them.
Lay off that crack pipe.
Will this person be keeping track of all the predation these wolves will do on livestock and the wildlife hunters and fisherman pay to maintain? Maybe she can catch them and give them a bath and manicure their paws every now and then to make sure they look good killing things. We could do without articles like this which are written by folks who have no idea of what they are reporting on.
Welcome to Colorado, Brenna, I look forward to seeing the published data as this project progresses, and who starts a family with whom.
To the editors of this site: It would be to the benefit of genuinely interested readers if, going forward, this website was monitored and the anonymous, and childish, trolling posts removed.
Thanks for your comments, Bill. This website is a product of Colorado Parks and Wildlife. State agencies are limited in what content they can remove from the comment sections. We appreciate comments that stick to the facts and are gratefully for community support when a comment is inaccurate.
Why don’t they release the wolves in the counties that voted for them? I’m sure Boulder and Denver would put them to good use. Might cut down on the homeless population.
Very interesting so I guess CPW doesn’t properly observe our Freedom of speech.
I just heard that there were a # of these wolves that have recently died. How did they die?
Thanks so much for all your help Brenna! They were here first, what right does a rancher, who chooses to way out in the “puckerbrush” and try to eliminate a predation model that has worked for centuries! A balanced ecosystem is key. Thanks again.
Welcome Brenna! Aside from all hostility there are very many who actually review all sides of the research and then make an informed decision on where they stand. While the hostility will fester for many, there are those that can rise above and come to fully appreciate our Wildlife and long to be able to show our Grandchildren something positive that Man decided to achieve. Best wishes!…P.S. Coors puts Point beer to shame! Rocky Mountain Spring Water vs Mosinee Paper Mill Swill…Those were the Good Ole Days though!
I am tired of the CPW being blamed for all the issues- positive and negative – related to the reintroduction of wolves in Colorado. A majority of the voters of Colorado were the ones who made this happen. CPW was charged with the work and responsibility of dealing with wolves in our state. Were they asked if they wanted this additional task? NO. Were they even allowed to have an open, public opinion before the issue was voted on? NO. They have been forced into the drivers seat and are now the BAD GUYS. I guess people need “someone” to blame and CPW employees are now the ones.
Once again. Reintroduction of the Wolves has not/will not work in the lower 48. They are being shot and left. TOO Many people/livestock. It is just yet another really good example of government just doing what it wants and failing to properly relate to the public especially with the landowners. Just a huge waste of time, sportsman’s $ and natural resources. What’s next reintroduction of the wolverine!
Facts matter. On November 3, 2020, Proposition 114 – now state statute 33-2-105.8 – was approved by Colorado voters. The statute directed the Parks and Wildlife Commission to “develop a plan to restore and manage gray wolves in Colorado, using the best scientific data available” and “hold statewide hearings to acquire information to be considered in developing such plan, including scientific, economic, and social considerations pertaining to such restoration.” The voter approved statute directed the Parks and Wildlife Commission to take the steps necessary to begin restoration of gray wolves in Colorado west of the Continental Divide no later than December 31, 2023. CPW’s initial release of gray wolves on the Western Slope occurred on December 18, 2023. For more facts, please visit – https://cpw.state.co.us/learn/Pages/Wolves-Stay-Informed.aspx
Welcome Brenna, your work is important in the effort to successfully restore wolves to Colorado. Despite the hate and opportunistic fear-mongering from some folks, you are taking part in a major conservation success that should lead to healthier ecosystems, abundant elk, and hopefully even a boost to our state’s tourism sector. CPW spent several years listening to people across Colorado from all interest groups and had an all-star technical group that resulted in a good Final Wolf Management Plan. Further the general assembly and several other organizations have put forward immediate and long-term funding for doing conflict prevention work and making ranchers whole if they have livestock that are killed by wolves. This is the Colorado way, taking care of our wildlife and people. The people of Colorado voted for this and the people of Colorado support your work.