The Western Slope is a colloquial term generally understood to describe the part of the state of Colorado west of the Continental Divide.

[3] The Western Slope, though without an official definition, generally is understood to include Delta, Dolores, Eagle, Garfield, Grand, Gunnison, Hinsdale, La Plata, Mesa, Moffat, Montezuma, Montrose, Ouray, Pitkin, Rio Blanco, Routt, San Juan, San Miguel, and Summit counties and portions of Archuleta, Mineral, and Saguache counties.

Paleo-Indians, early nomadic hunter-gatherers, followed large game throughout the Western Slope beginning about 12,000 B.C.

[3] The Puebloans, while also continuing to hunt and gather food, were the first to farm and irrigate crops on the Western Slope.

[3] The Ute people came to the Western Slope from the Great Basin and ranged through the area beginning about A.D. 1300.

Their way of life, called the Mountain Tradition, relied on hunting mule deer, elk, rabbit, and buffalo.

The initial interest was panning for gold in rivers and that grew over the decades to including mining for ore, coal, and fuel below ground.

The Utes were pushed out of much of the Western Slope after gold was found in the San Juan Mountains, including through the Brunot Agreement.

[3] The region has a rich heritage in farming and ranching, with agribusiness remaining a key industry for most of the western slope.

[citation needed] According to the State Demographer's Office, the population of the Western Slope is estimated to grow by two-thirds by 2050.

As a result there are a number of outdoor recreational options that may include rock climbing, hiking, skiing, horseback riding and other activities.

[8] Voters narrowly approved a November 2020 ballot measure that directed the commission that oversees CPW to develop a plan to begin to reintroduce wolves by the end of 2023 on the Western Slope.

The wolves are managed and designated as a non-game species, meaning they cannot be hunted, with fair compensation being offered for livestock killed by the predators.

[9] Passage of the referendum was opposed by many cattle ranchers, elk hunters, farmers and others in rural areas that argue wolf reintroduction is bad policy which will threaten the raising of livestock and a $1 billion hunting industry.