Howl for Mexican Gray Wolves!

Mexican gray wolf photo courtesy of USFWS

Mexican gray wolves were nearly eliminated from this Earth and were totally absent from the wild for many years. Following their listing as an endangered species in 1976, the United States and Mexico collaborated to capture all lobos remaining in the wild. This extreme measure prevented the lobos’ extinction. Five wild Mexican wolves (four males and one pregnant female) were captured alive in Mexico from 1977 to 1980 and used to start a captive breeding program. The captive population is managed for maximum genetic integrity by experts with the Mexican Wolf Species Survival Plan and it is from that population that we have wolves in Arizona, New Mexico, and a handful in Mexico.

While the Mexican gray wolf numbers have increased, they are not recovered -- there is just one population and only 286 total wolves in the wild in Arizona and New Mexico. Mexican gray wolf experts have stated that we need at least three populations of these wolves with sustainable numbers to even consider them recovered, plus families of wolves need to be reintroduced to ensure the maximum genetic diversity possible in the wild population.

Now, rather than supporting recovery efforts, the Arizona Legislature is seeking to erect impediments to their recovery and virtually ensure that they will not thrive. The bills below and others represent a coordinated attack on wildlife and on science-based conservation in Arizona. Allowing private individuals to kill endangered Mexican gray wolves, redefining predators to pave the way for future hunting, and stacking management committees in favor of special interests undermines decades of recovery work and violates the spirit and the letter of the Endangered Species Act.

Please contact your legislators and ask them to oppose the following bills.

HB2158 (predatory animals; definition) expands the definition of predators to include not only foxes, skunks, coyotes, and bobcats, but would add bears, cougars, mountain lions, and wolves. While these animals are all indeed predators (though bears are really omnivores), and noting that cougars and mountain lions are the same animal, this provision could more easily make lobos a huntable species if they are ever recovered and removed from the Endangered Species list.

HB2159 (Mexican wolves; landowner permits; rules) would allow the killing of Mexican gray wolves by landowners in Arizona. The bill would authorize private individuals, through permits issued by the Arizona Game and Fish Department, to kill wolves on private and/or public lands. In some cases, the Game and Fish Department would be required to issue those permits at the direction of the Arizona Game and Fish Commission. This bill is contrary to the Endangered Species Act which protects the Mexican gray wolf as a listed species.

HB2160 (Mexican wolf; management committee; appropriation) would create a “Mexican wolf management plan development committee” made up of hunters, ranchers, and wildlife conservationists. The committee would consist of three members from each of those groups, tipping the scales heavily in favor – 6 to 3 – of those whose economic or hunting interests are or could be directly in conflict with sound, science-based wildlife management. The Committee’s plan would focus on creating opportunities for hunters to kill wolves, protecting the ranching industry’s financial interests – including compensating ranchers for their “past roles in sustaining Mexican wolf populations,” a role that is difficult, if not impossible to identify. While this committee would plan for some unknown period in the future when the Mexican gray wolf is no longer listed as a threatened or endangered species, the legislature’s efforts would be better spent addressing the current threats the livestock grazing industry poses to Mexican gray wolf recovery, as well as addressing the needs of Arizonans such as health care, quality education, protecting our rights to clean air and water, and protecting voting rights across the state.

HB2161 (sovereign authority; endangered species act) prohibits any aspect of state government, including Game and Fish, from enforcing, administering, or cooperating on the Endangered Species Act. This would hinder recovery efforts by precluding cooperation on recovery and other efforts around sustaining imperiled wildlife

HB2787 (federal nullification; Mexican wolf; reintroduction) prohibits the state from administering, enforcing, or cooperating or spending any money on Mexican gray wolf reintroduction and recovery. This is another short-sighted bill to hinder wolf recovery.

HCM2006 (endangered species act; urging reform) is a message to Congress asking for reform of the Endangered Species Act and Migratory Bird Act, plus asking for regulations to be removed from livestock grazing. It seeks to weaken protections for wildlife to facilitate more cattle.

HCM2011 (Mexican wolf; delist; urging support) is a message to Congress asking it to pass H.R. 4255 and delist the Mexican wolf from the endangered species list and to defund the Nonessential Experimental Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Project.

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Please Oppose Bills that would Harm Wolves and Other Wildlife!

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The bills below and others represent a coordinated attack on wildlife and on science-based conservation in Arizona. Allowing private individuals to kill endangered Mexican gray wolves, redefining predators to pave the way for future hunting, and stacking management committees in favor of special interests undermines decades of recovery work and violates the spirit and the letter of the Endangered Species Act.

Please oppose these bills. Thank you.

Please vote no on HB2158, HB2159, HB2160, HB2161, HB2787, HCM2006, and HCM2011 and oppose efforts to remove protections from Mexican gray wolves and other endangered wildlife. While the Mexican gray wolf numbers have increased, they are not recovered -- there is just one population and only 286 total wolves in the wild in Arizona and New Mexico. Mexican gray wolf experts have stated that we need at least three populations of these wolves with sustainable numbers to even consider them recovered, plus families of wolves need to be reintroduced to ensure the maximum genetic diversity possible in the wild population. The bills below and others represent a coordinated attack on wildlife and on science-based conservation in Arizona. Allowing private individuals to kill endangered Mexican gray wolves, redefining predators to pave the way for future hunting, and stacking management committees in favor of special interests undermines decades of recovery work and violates the spirit and the letter of the Endangered Species Act. HB2158 (predatory animals; definition) expands the definition of predators to include not only foxes, skunks, coyotes, and bobcats, but would add bears, cougars, mountain lions, and wolves. While these animals are all indeed predators (though bears are really omnivores), and noting that cougars and mountain lions are the same animal, this provision could more easily make lobos a huntable species if they are ever recovered and removed from the Endangered Species list. HB2159 (Mexican wolves; landowner permits; rules) would allow the killing of Mexican gray wolves by landowners in Arizona. The bill would authorize private individuals, through permits issued by the Arizona Game and Fish Department, to kill wolves on private and/or public lands. In some cases, the Game and Fish Department would be required to issue those permits at the direction of the Arizona Game and Fish Commission. This bill is contrary to the Endangered Species Act which protects the Mexican gray wolf as a listed species. HB2160 (Mexican wolf; management committee; appropriation) would create a “Mexican wolf management plan development committee” made up of hunters, ranchers, and wildlife conservationists. The committee would consist of three members from each of those groups, tipping the scales heavily in favor – 6 to 3 – of those whose economic or hunting interests are or could be directly in conflict with sound, science-based wildlife management. The Committee’s plan would focus on creating opportunities for hunters to kill wolves, protecting the ranching industry’s financial interests – including compensating ranchers for their “past roles in sustaining Mexican wolf populations,” a role that is difficult, if not impossible to identify. HB2161 (sovereign authority; endangered species act) prohibits any aspect of state government, including Game and Fish, from enforcing, administering, or cooperating on the Endangered Species Act. This would hinder recovery efforts by precluding cooperation on recovery and other efforts around sustaining imperiled wildlife HB2787 (federal nullification; Mexican wolf; reintroduction) prohibits the state from administering, enforcing, or cooperating or spending any money on Mexican gray wolf reintroduction and recovery. This is another short-sighted bill to hinder wolf recovery. HCM2006 (endangered species act; urging reform) is a message to Congress asking for reform of the Endangered Species Act and Migratory Bird Act, plus asking for regulations to be removed from livestock grazing. It seeks to weaken protections for wildlife to facilitate more cattle. HCM2011 (Mexican wolf; delist; urging support) is a message to Congress asking it to pass H.R. 4255 and delist the Mexican wolf from the endangered species list and to defund the Nonessential Experimental Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Project. Please oppose these bills. Thank you.

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