Colorado Parks and Wildlife Awards Born to Be Wild License Plate Grant Funding

June 22, 2026

DENVER – 

On June 22, 2026, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) announced the awardees for the annual Born to Be Wild License Plate Grant Program. The Rocky Mountain Wolf Project and Native American Broadcasting Company were selected to raise awareness and promote the Born to Be Wild specialty license plate to engage and educate the public about the importance of the license plate and increase sales to further support conflict mitigation efforts.
 

"The Born to Be Wild License Plate Grants support Colorado ranchers and our important ecosystems. Coloradans are encouraged to support the Born to Be Wild initiative by purchasing a one-of-a-kind license plate to help raise awareness of wolf activity in Colorado and efforts to minimize wolf-livestock conflicts," said Governor Polis. 

 

"The Born to Be Wild License Plate continues to be a valuable funding source for Colorado Parks and Wildlife as we work to build a sustainable gray wolf population in the Centennial State and minimize conflict between livestock and wolves,” said CPW Director Laura Clellan. “This program has provided vital contributions that fund ongoing non-lethal conflict minimization techniques, particularly the Colorado Range Rider program. CPW is grateful to Coloradans for making the Born to Be Wild License Plate such a success and assisting our important work of supporting wolf-livestock conflict minimization on working lands."

 

CPW received five applications from non-profit organizations for the 2026 grant round and awarded $50,000 split between two projects. Below are descriptions of this year’s grant awardees and their projects.

 

The Rocky Mountain Wolf Project
Coexistence Through Collaboration Campaign
The Rocky Mountain Wolf Project (RMWP) was awarded $30,000 for the continuation of their Coexistence Through Collaboration Campaign. Building on the success of a grant award in 2025, Rocky Mountain Wolf Project intends to apply this funding towards ongoing billboard promotion of the Born to Be Wild license plate as well as digital advertising. This year RWMP will also incorporate new advertising opportunities by supplementing billboard coverage with bus shelter advertisements in suburban areas around the Denver metro area as well as incorporation of digital ads at DMV’s in select front range communities. 

 

"Rocky Mountain Wolf Project understands that the future of wolves in Colorado will be determined by conflict prevention and mitigation. Equipping livestock producers with nonlethal conflict reduction tools, alongside field-based collaborations and community building, can help foster social tolerance for wolves and each other,” said Courtney Vail, Board Chair RMWP. “Last year’s grant enabled us to produce and deliver high quality and effective billboards and digital ads throughout the Denver Metropolitan Area as well as a series of bus shelter ads in the Denver and Glenwood Springs areas. This year we will build off of the insights, relationships, and in-kind support provided by our campaign partners to target new geographic areas to increase plate sales and generate recurring revenue to support wolf restoration and livestock producers in Colorado." 

 

Native American Broadcasting Company, division Red Hawk
Born to Be Wild PSA Campaign
Native American Broadcasting Company, division Red Hawk in collaboration with Mesa County Fair and Rocky Mountain News Network were awarded $20,000 for raising public awareness about the Born to Be Wild license plate and the program's contributions to conflict minimization efforts in Colorado. This project will produce a series of public service announcements aired on Rocky Mountain News Network affiliated radio stations that operate primarily in rural Colorado. In addition to this public service announcement campaign, Mesa County Fair Board will collaborate with Red Hawk on an educational display for the Mesa County Fair — the largest county fair in Western Colorado.

 

"The campaign is designed to provide accurate and updated information about the benefits of the Born to Be Wild license plate program and help inform Coloradans of measures being taken to ensure successful wolf restoration,” said Renee St. Andre, owner of Native American Broadcasting Company. “Combining outreach to radio audiences and participation in the Mesa County Fair will allow this collaborative project to reach thousands of Colorado residents and promote both the license plate as well as ongoing non-lethal pack conflict minimization efforts."

 

About the Born to Be Wild license plate and grant program
Colorado House Bill 23-1265 created Born to Be Wild license plate to raise funding for nonlethal ways of mitigating conflict with gray wolves. As of May 31, 2026, more than 26,000 Born to Be Wild License Plates had been sold. Each license plate contributes $50 annually (more than $1.3 million cumulatively) for nonlethal wolf-livestock conflict minimization efforts.

 

In addition to creating the Born to Be Wild license plate, HB 23-1265 also established the Born to Be Wild License Plate Grant Program. This program provides $50,000 annually in grant funding for innovative and creative marketing strategies and solutions that engage and educate the public and increase support for, and sales of, the license plate.

 

Each winter, CPW opens up grant applications to non-profit organizations, educational institutions, and government agencies with grants awards being announced in late spring or early summer.

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