Posted: Thursday, January 5, 2006 12:00 am
PHOENIX (AP) - A review of the Mexican wolves reintroduction program in Arizona and New Mexico by state, federal and tribal authorities recommends that the wolves' allowable range be expanded.
A five-year review of the reintroduction program has 37 recommendations that will be sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for review.
It is hoped that the federal agency will decide on which recommendations will be implemented by April 2007.
Included in the review is a recommended moratorium throughout 2006 on introducing new wolves into the wild. The moratorium would be imposed if six or more breeding pairs are found in a wolf count that is taking place now.
Officials with the Arizona Game & Fish Department said an estimated 50 to 60 wolves live in the wolf reintroduction area, which comprises the Blue Range, the White Mountain Apache Reservation and the Gila National Forest in New Mexico.
If researchers confirm that estimate, it would represent about half of the 100 wolves the original reintroduction plan anticipated.
Terry Johnson of the Arizona Game & Fish Department said the current area is not sufficient for 100 wolves.
"They need big country," he said. "How much bigger is where the argument is."
The recommendations give no specific guidance on range expansion, reserving that for later study.
Johnson said the review was conducted by a committee composed of representatives from six agencies - the Arizona department, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, the U.S. Forest Service, the USDA Wildlife Services, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the White Mountain Apache Tribe.
It is one of two required under the federal rule that authorized the reintroduction program. The other review was done after three years.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is obligated to act on the recommendations, responding either yes or no or providing an alternative. Fifteen of the recommendations require FWS action. The committee can pursue the rest on its own.
Since wolves were reintroduced in January 1998, ranchers in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico have objected, claiming that the predators posed a threat to their livestock. Expansion, they argue, could jeopardize more ranchers and several population centers.
A year ago, two New Mexico organizations, including the New Mexico Cattle Growers, lost a federal lawsuit aimed at ending the program.
Howard Hutchinson of the New Mexico-Arizona Association of Counties, another plaintiff in the case, said any expansion of the wolf range would add to problematic interactions with humans, pets and livestock.
Hutchinson said he envisions the range extending all the way into southern Colorado, an expansion that would cover several population centers.
Environmental organizations argue that wolf reintroduction is hampered by people more than biological concerns. They say only a handful of ranchers oppose the program and never will be satisfied.
Sandy Bahr of the Sierra Club in Phoenix praised the recommendation to expand the range, but expressed concern with a recommendation that allows taking individual problem wolves out of the wild, whether by trapping or killing, once the population hits 125.