Colorado First Gentleman Marlon Reis deactivated his social media accounts after getting into a howling match about wolves on Facebook over the weekend.
Reis, who is Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis’ husband, had posted online about grants the state was offering for nonlethal wolf deterrents when he got into a heated exchange in the comments with David Gittleson, according to 9 News.
Gittleson is a rancher in Walden — a town of about 600 people 150 miles northwest of Denver — and for years has dealt with wolves killing his livestock even before Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) formally reintroduced them to the state in December, the outlet reported.
“The truth is I don’t care. I don’t care what you do or don’t eat. I don’t care what you think you know or what you think you’re qualified to comment on,” Rais railed at Gitttleson, according to screenshots obtained by the outlet.
“I don’t care why your family seems to love the limelight and never misses an opportunity to trash talk the Front Range. If you’re proud of being a rancher, act like it. All this complaining is leading nowhere fast,” he continued.
“You’ve abused the media by stoking fear of wolves. An entire agency is at your disposal for solving disputes. The interference you think is happening is made-up,” Reis said in another comment. “David, I want you to do well. But you have to use the system that’s been set up. No one gets special treatment. The law applies equally to all parties.”
It’s not immediately clear what Gittleson had said to set Reis off.
By Monday, the “First Gentleman Marlon Reis” Facebook page was no longer publicly active on Facebook.
When contacted by The Post, Gov. Polis’ spokesperson said Reis “views social media as a tool for celebrating animals and sharing the many ways in which the Polis Administration is proactively working to protect them.
“In recent weeks, the volume of negative commentary on his posts increased to such a degree that he felt his pages were no longer serving the goal of fostering compassion, appreciation, and respect for animals,” spokeswoman Shelby Wieman said. “Rather than allow his social media channels to become forums for misinformation, he decided to deactivate them for the time being.”
Several animals have been attacked by a pack of 10 wolves since they were brought to Colorado this winter as part of a voter-approved reintroduction plan, according to Colorado Public Radio.
On Wednesday, Wildlife agencies said they were trying to capture and relocate the pack after its repeated attacks on livestock — marking an early stumble in the first year of the initiative, which has been bitterly opposed by ranchers, according to the Associated Press.
Ranching groups want the wolf pack killed. But wildlife advocates said more should have been done to keep the wolves from killing livestock, such as using electric fencing that can better deter attacks.
Colorado officials, unlike other states where wolves have been reintroduced, have decided not to kill wolves for killing livestock because there aren’t “enough wolves on the landscape to lethally remove” the pack, spokesperson Travis Duncan said.
Rancher Ted Ritschard, who lives about 15 miles from the ranch in Grand County, Colorado, where most of the livestock attacks occurred, told AP he was glad the pack would be removed.
He blamed them for killing at least 16 cattle and sheep and wants them kept in captivity so they don’t kill again.
“These pups have learned to kill livestock so they’re going to keep doing it,” said Ritschard, president of the Middle Park Stockgrowers Association. “Once they get a taste of sheep or cattle, that’s a whole different world.”
Polis became the first openly gay politician elected governor of a state in US history after handily winning the 2018 gubernatorial election. He was reelected to a second term in 2022.
Reis is described on his husband’s governor page as “a freelance writer, an animal welfare advocate, a father, and the first First Gentleman of Colorado.
“From raising his two wonderful children, to his continued support of animal welfare organizations such as the Wild Animal Sanctuary right here in Colorado, Marlon is already committed to making Colorado an even more welcoming place to live,” the website says.
He and Polis were married in 2021 and share two children.
With Post Wires
