In May of 2023, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission unanimously approved the Colorado Wolf Restoration and Management Plan. This achievement marked the culmination of a multi-year planning process that included dozens of meetings with the Technical Working Group (TWG) and Stakeholder Advisory Group (SAG). In addition to working with these two advisory bodies, CPW participated in two Tribal consultations and engaged with the public through 45 in-person and virtual meetings as well as an online comment form. By the end of this extensive public engagement approximately 3,400 participants had provided input and feedback on wolf restoration in the Centennial State.
From these meetings consultations, comments, and the underlying statute created by proposition 114, was crafted the following goal for the wolf plan:
To recover and maintain a viable, self-sustaining wolf population in Colorado, while concurrently working to minimize wolf-related conflicts with domestic animals, other wildlife, and people.
Key to achieving this goal was the creation of a robust conflict minimization program. This entailed acquiring and deploying a variety of hard tools and techniques with a proven track record of success. One such tool that has proven effective in Colorado’s unique social and geographical landscape has been fladry — which CPW currently has approximately 45 miles of in its conflict minimization inventory.
What is fladry, why was it created and why does it work?
Producers in wolf country across the American West are familiar with the temporary barrier known as fladry. Composed of a cord or rope with red flags tied along its length, fladry and turbo fladry (a variation which incorporates an electrified wire) is generally deployed to enclose pastures up to 240 acres during high risk periods, such as calving season.
Tracing its origins back to being a hunting tool in Eastern Europe, centuries later researchers recognized that wolves were unwilling to cross under these unfamiliar barriers with dangling flags. Based on these observations, the United States Department of Agriculture began testing fladry at their National Wildlife Research Center to see what other uses it might have, and it soon became a staple tool used for wolf-livestock conflict minimization.
While wolves are known for being intelligent and far ranging predators who hunt in packs, they are also very cautious by nature. Fladry takes advantage of wolves’ innate fear of the unknown to deter conflict, and is more effective than it might appear.
“Fladry as a tool looks underwhelming, but it has proven effective in Colorado and has years of success in every state with a wolf population when it has been deployed in the right way and in the right situations,” said CPW’s Wolf Conflict Coordinator Adam Baca.
Due to a reliance on a wolf’s fear of the unknown, fladry is effective for a limited time. Turbo fladry, with the addition of an electrical current, reinforces a wolf’s fear response with a non-lethal shock, and substantially increases the amount of time fladry can be effective.
“Wolves are smart and can quickly figure out that the flags themselves are not dangerous,” Baca said. “That’s where the shock comes in. By adding that physical stimulus, a tool that’s effectiveness is measured in days becomes one that can last for weeks and is a valuable component of the mosaic of conflict minimization efforts on a landscape.”
How well has it worked in Colorado and what are its limitations?
Between June 2022 and March 2026, CPW had more than 19 successful fladry deployments (with 11 more deployments occurring this year ). These fladry deployments have included more than 40 miles of temporary barriers.
Each of these fladry builds protected an estimated average of 200 pairs of cattle over the length of the deployment (ranging from 45-73 days). Through this nearly four-year period there have been zero confirmed depredation within fladry enclosures.
A big part of this success is the forethought used when deciding where and how to deploy fladry. As with all of the tools utilized by CPW, fladry has a history of demonstrated success, but also specific use cases.
“Fladry is a high-effort tool. It takes time and skill to design, set up, and requires maintenance on behalf of producers and CPW, but the results in Colorado thus far have been very promising,” Baca said. “It is certainly not a one-size-fits-all solution as some landscapes don’t lend themselves to it. We also have to balance how densely we are deploying fladry so we aren’t habituating wolves to the point they are no longer deterred by it.”
The first step in determining if tools like fladry are the right option for an operation is conducting a Site Assessment. Site Assessments allow producers and CPW staff to engage in solution-oriented conversation about wolf presence and the potential for conflict. These assessments lay the groundwork for conflict minimization efforts and establishing an adaptive game plan.
During a site assessment, CPW’s field staff consider the usefulness of fladry — as well as other tools and techniques — for an operation and address questions and concerns producers may have.
Some of the factors CPW staff considers when deploying fladry include:
- Size of the plot that would need to be enclosed (fladry is most effective when used to enclose less than 240 acres)
- Topography (fladry has to be deployed at specific heights from the ground to be most effective, and dramatic changes in elevation can impact its usefulness. It is easier to deploy in areas that can be accessed by vehicles, ATVs or side-by-sides)
- Length of deployment needed (fladry is most effective when used for a time period not exceeding 90 days with average deployments in Colorado lasting closer to 60 days)
- Conflict minimization tools and techniques used by neighboring operations (repeated use of fladry on neighboring operation can increase the rate at which wolves become habituated and lessen its effectiveness)
If fladry is determined to be a viable, reasonable and effective option for conflict minimization, CPW will partner with the producer to deploy it.
Fladry deployment requires driving T-posts, guide posts and grounding rods as well as spooling out the fladry itself (all of which is provided by CPW at no cost to the producer).
Ongoing maintenance of fladry entails ensuring the line is still under tension so the flags are at the right height and haven’t been wrapped up by the wind. It also needs to be regularly tested to ensure there is still sufficient electrical current running through it to deter any wolf who might touch it.
In total it usually takes about half a day of effort from half a dozen workers to deploy and four hours of maintenance a week.
Due to fladry’s effectiveness, it is often well worth the investment of time.
What other tools and techniques does it work well with?
When deploying fladry, CPW also considers other tools and techniques that can be utilized to maximize its effectiveness. As already mentioned it is important that tools are deployed with consideration of what other producers in the area are using to avoid wolves becoming habituated.
Scare devices (which will be covered in a future article) provide either an additional visual stimuli or an auditory one that helps reinforce wolves’ fear of the unknown. For instance, light-based scare devices that simulate human presence can make wolves think there are people patrolling an enclosed area or that the enclosure is larger than it actually is.
Monitoring tools, such as cameras, help producers and CPW know how effective fladry is, where there might be issues, and if there is a need for a change in tactics.
Fladry can also play a role in effective hazing of wolves.
“Wolves develop patterns of behavior and travel routes that parallel fladry lines as they look for openings,” Baca said. “With sufficient monitoring of these habits we can create the right opportunities to haze wolves, disrupt their patterns and address behaviors that lead to conflict. However, when we are doing this it is important that we are catching wolves during the behaviors we want to change, critical times of the year, and ensuring effective efforts, not just hazing for the sake of hazing as this can habituate them to human presence.”
Fladry also works alongside range riding as a supplemental technique to provide additional human presence and peace of mind to producers.
“Good conflict minimization is incredibly complex and there are far more aspects than you might think on the surface,” Baca said. “It’s not as simple as putting range riders on the landscape or fencing year round, but these collaborative successes are also powerful reminders that there are options and organizations that are here to assist them.”
Additional information about fladry and CPW’s conflict minimization efforts can be found in our Wolf Resource Guide and Wolf-Livestock Conflict Minimization Program Guide.
Producers interested in having a site assessment conducted and exploring tools that may be viable, reasonable and effective at minimizing conflict at their operations can contact their local area’s CPW office.
2025-2026 Colorado Gray Wolf Annual Report
On May 7, 2026, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) issued its Gray Wolf Annual Report for biological year 2025-2026 from April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026.
Read the news release: May 7, 2026 — CPW Releases Gray Wolf Annual Report for Biological Year 2025-2026
Hear from the Experts – 2025-2026 Colorado Gray Wolf Annual Report Q&A.
Written by Luke Perkins, a Statewide Public Information Officer for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
