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June
12, 2005
You
helped bring back the Mexican gray wolf to the wilds of Arizona
and New Mexico, now we need your help to keep them there.
In
the past year aggressive management has significantly reduced
the number of wolves in the wild. Some livestock interests
and a small but vocal minority of wolf opponents have pressured
wolf managers to recapture and kill wolves-including wolves
of especially great genetic importance.
In
response to private meetings where opponents of wolf recovery
were given special access to high level U.S. Fish and Wildlife
staff, state and federal agencies are proposing a one-year
moratorium on new releases of Mexican gray wolves. They are
also proposing significant limitations on translocation of
wolves and a policy that makes it easier for the agencies
to kill wolves responsible for attacking livestock.
The
Mexican Wolf Adaptive Management Work Group is holding meetings
and has extended the public comment period on documents related
to the wolf reintroduction project. Please mark your calendar
and plan to attend one of the upcoming
meetings in New Mexico or Arizona.
Please
ask the Mexican Wolf Blue Range Reintroduction Project Adaptive
Management Oversight Committee (AMOC) to put science and the
welfare of the wolves above the politics and the anti-wolf
sentiment of a few of those in the livestock industry.
The
AMOC is proposing the following:
I.
A one-year moratorium on releases of Mexican gray wolves to
the wild from the captive breeding population, from July 1,
2005 to June 30, 2006. This will prevent infusion of new genetic
material even though the lead Mexican wolf genetic researcher,
Dr. Philip Hedrick of Arizona State University, has written
that only one of the three lineages comprising the limited
Mexican wolf gene pool is well represented in the wild population,
and it is imperative to introduce new animals from the other
two lineages. Dr. Hedrick added that it is important to introduce
these new animals as soon as possible while the population
is small so that their relative contribution to the genetic
mix will be greater.
II.
A one-year ban on translocations (re-releases) of wolves that
have killed livestock within one year, into any jurisdiction
(i.e. state or tribal) excepting that from which they were
captured. This will exacerbate the detrimental effects of
the present policy that prevents any releases from the captive
breeding population into New Mexico. Should the proposal go
into effect, no wolves with confirmed livestock kills captured
in Arizona could be released in New Mexico. The translocation
of wolves from Arizona to New Mexico has been a standard practice
until now and is the primary tool available for establishing
the wolf population in New Mexico-direct releases from captive
stock are currently precluded by regulation.
III.
A permanent new policy requiring killing of wolves responsible
for attacking three head of livestock if trapping does not
succeed within ten days, and immediate killing of wolves if
four domestic animals have been attacked. This will ramp up
the lethality of the present control program which has already
resulted in a twenty percent drop in the known Mexican wolf
population between the end of 2003 and end of 2004 (from 55
to 44 animals). Had this policy been in effect from the outset
of the program, several packs in existence now would have
been destroyed. For example, the Bluestem Pack, which engaged
in a brief spate of livestock killings in 2002 and have since
then relied entirely on natural prey, would have been captured
or killed.
Written
Comments Due July 31, 2005 (deadline extended)
Please
take the time to comment on the moratorium and also on the
Five-Year Review. It requires two
separate letters to two separate entities. Both sets of
comments must be received in writing by
July 31, 2005 to be considered.
1)
Written comments on the SOPs or moratorium must be submitted
at one of the public meetings noted above, or sent via email
or through the U.S. Postal Service (postmarked by July
31, 2005). Submit email comment to: mexwolf@azgfd.gov.
Submit postal-mailed comment to: Mexican Wolf Reintroduction
Project, c/o Arizona Game and Fish Department, 2221 West Greenway
Road, Phoenix, Arizona, 85023-4399.
2)
The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service is also accepting comments
on the Five-Year Review. Written comment must be submitted
at one of the public meetings noted above, or sent through
the U.S. Postal Service (postmarked by July
31, 2005) to: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, New
Mexico Ecological Services Office, 2105 Osuna NE, Albuquerque,
New Mexico, 87113.
Copies
of documents pertaining to the three meeting topics are available
electronically in a downloadable format at http://azgfd.gov/wolf
and http://mexicanwolf.fws.gov (the socioeconomic component
of the Five-Year Review is now available on those websites).
Individual copies of the documents are also available by telephone
request at (602) 789-3500 or (505) 346-2525.
Please
copy Governor Janet Napolitano on your Comments. Her address
is 1700 West Washington, 9th Fl, Phoenix, Arizona 85007. Her
fax number is 602-542-1381 and to email her, either click
on the following link or cut and paste it into your server
http://www.governor.state.az.us/post/feedback.htm.
If
you live in New Mexico, you can copy Governor Bill Richardson
at 490 Old Santa Fe Trail, Room 400, Santa Fe, NM 87501 or
email http://www.governor.state.nm.us/emailchoice.php?mm=6.
Public
Meeting Schedule
ARIZONA
Tuesday
June 28, from 6 to 9 p.m.*- Wildlife Building - Fair Grounds,
19th Ave & McDowell, Phoenix, AZ
Wednesday
June 29, from noon to 3 p.m.* - Hon-Dah, 777 Hwy 260, Pinetop,
AZ
Wednesday
June 29, from 6 to 9 p.m.* - Old Alpine Elementary School,
42600 Hwy 180, Alpine, AZ
Thursday
June 30, from noon to 3 p.m.* - Morenci Club (Next to Basha's),
Morenci Plaza, Morenci, AZ
NEW
MEXICO
Wednesday
June 15, from 6 to 9 p.m.* - Community Center, Reserve, NM
Thursday
June 16, from 6 to 9 p. m.* - NM Armory National Guard, E
US Hwy 180, Bayard, NM
Friday
June 17, from 6 to 9 p.m.* - Commission Chambers, 405 W 3rd
, Truth or Consequences, NM
Saturday June 18, from 9 a.m. to noon* -Forest Service Regional
Office 333 Broadway S.E. (Corner of Lead & Broadway),
Albuquerque, NM
*Each
public meeting will end earlier than scheduled if business
has been completed.
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