PINETOP, Ariz. — An
area set aside in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona for
the recovery of Mexican gray wolves is not big enough, according to a
regional official with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "We can't, over time, maintain genetic viability in the little area
that they have," said Southwest Regional Director Benjamin Tuggle.
The agency has proposed expanding the range of the wolves and as a result has reignited passions about whether and where humans should coexist with the predators. Ranchers and rural families were outraged as the plan was discussed at a public meeting on Tuesday in Pinetop, The Arizona Republic reported Thursday (http://bit.ly/1iDXgEg ). A similar meeting was held last month in Albuquerque, where environmentalists spoke in favor of the proposal.
The Mexican wolf was reintroduced in 1998. Biologists say there are at least 75 wolves in the wild in the two states. Federal officials believe it's necessary to make more room for packs — 14 at last count — to squeeze the most from a limited gene pool. "The sad truth is that the wolves are already here," Globe Mayor Terry Wheeler said during Tuesday's meeting. But if they're released in Gila County as proposed, he said, wolves will soon be in Scottsdale "munching down on pink Pomeranians."
Others in the crowd of about 300 people responded with pronouncements of hysteria or "lobophobia" after several people angrily accused the government of endangering children. Biologists said wolves are wild animals requiring caution but they have not attacked anyone since reintroduction began. Members of the White Mountain Apache and Havasupai tribes spoke for protection.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposes to more than double the area in which captive wolves could be released to 12,500 square miles. The release zone currently is restricted to the southern Apache National Forest, but would grow north and west to the Payson area, including the full Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest and three ranger districts in the Tonto National Forest.
It would also expand east in New Mexico, across Gila National Forest and into Cibola National Forest.
Under the plan, wolves would be allowed to live in forested habitat as far north as Interstate 40.
source
The agency has proposed expanding the range of the wolves and as a result has reignited passions about whether and where humans should coexist with the predators. Ranchers and rural families were outraged as the plan was discussed at a public meeting on Tuesday in Pinetop, The Arizona Republic reported Thursday (http://bit.ly/1iDXgEg ). A similar meeting was held last month in Albuquerque, where environmentalists spoke in favor of the proposal.
The Mexican wolf was reintroduced in 1998. Biologists say there are at least 75 wolves in the wild in the two states. Federal officials believe it's necessary to make more room for packs — 14 at last count — to squeeze the most from a limited gene pool. "The sad truth is that the wolves are already here," Globe Mayor Terry Wheeler said during Tuesday's meeting. But if they're released in Gila County as proposed, he said, wolves will soon be in Scottsdale "munching down on pink Pomeranians."
Others in the crowd of about 300 people responded with pronouncements of hysteria or "lobophobia" after several people angrily accused the government of endangering children. Biologists said wolves are wild animals requiring caution but they have not attacked anyone since reintroduction began. Members of the White Mountain Apache and Havasupai tribes spoke for protection.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposes to more than double the area in which captive wolves could be released to 12,500 square miles. The release zone currently is restricted to the southern Apache National Forest, but would grow north and west to the Payson area, including the full Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest and three ranger districts in the Tonto National Forest.
It would also expand east in New Mexico, across Gila National Forest and into Cibola National Forest.
Under the plan, wolves would be allowed to live in forested habitat as far north as Interstate 40.
source
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