Rim Country’s representative pushing bill to defy federal rules
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Rim
Country Sen. Chester Crandell (R-Heber) has taken the lead in pressing
for legislation to limit the reintroduction of Mexican Gray Wolves in
Arizona.
He has supported or introduced
bills that would encourage Arizona residents to trap the endangered
wolves in violation of federal laws (SB 1211), set aside $250,000 so
that state can file lawsuits concerning the federal effort (SB 1212) and
sponsored a resolution against the reintroduction program (SCR 1006).
All three measures have passed the Senate and await action in the House.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service has announced plans to pair two wild-born wolves with
two captive-reared wolves then release the two mated pairs back into the
wild.
The USFWS hasn’t released
captive-reared wolves into the wild along the border of Arizona and New
Mexico for some time, but decided to release the additional wolves to
replace two wolves shot illegally last year.
The USFWS also continues to
study the possible impact of expanding the wolf reintroduction area to
include almost all of Arizona south of Interstate 40, which would
include all of Rim Country.
Currently, the USFWS rules
require biologists to recapture any of the 83 known Mexican Gray Wolves
that wander out of the remote recovery area. Biologists have pushed for
an expanded reintroduction area to give the wolf packs room to hunt
without coming into conflict with one another. The USFWS plan doesn’t
detail areas where biologists might try to introduce new groups of
wolves specifically.
After almost 15 years of
effort, the number of wolves in the wild has expanded to at least 83 —
just short of the initial goal of 100. After stagnating for years, the
number of wolves has risen steadily in the past three years.
Cattle ranchers have strongly
opposed the expanded reintroduction area. They say that the wolves often
prey on livestock and that the federal government is slow to pay
compensation to ranchers for livestock grazing on public lands that are
killed by the reintroduced wolf packs.
Many hunters also oppose
reintroduction of the wolves, for fear they’ll sharply reduce the number
of deer and elk and so lower their hunting success rate. Wolves also
make deer and elk considerably more wary and less likely to cluster
around riparian areas and other places where they’re easier to find.
Studies of the reintroduction
of Gray Wolves in Yellowstone National Park did document a big
reduction in the number of elk and deer. However, the introduction of
the wolves also dramatically changed the behavior of the elk and deer,
which no longer lingered along streams and in valleys.
As a result of the change in
the behavior of the deer and elk, streamside vegetation grew much more
lush. This allowed for a comeback in the beaver population, which in
turn benefited a host of other species and dramatically changed the
dynamics of the stream flow. The return of the wolves also provided a
boon to the animals that fed on the remains of their kills, like bears,
eagles, foxes and others.
The USFWS extended the comment period on plans to expand the reintroduction area and is now considering its options. Critics urged the USFWS to
either keep the wolves limited to the current Blue Ridge Recovery Area,
divided between Arizona and New Mexico — or to abandon the program
entirely.
Even if the reintroduction
effort continues, critics said they want to make sure that the USFWS
continues to classify the wolves as an “experimental, non-essential”
population. Such a designation leaves the USFWS free to give ranchers
and others permission to kill wolves that attack livestock or pose a
threat to people or pets.
On the other hand, advocates
pointed to public opinion polls showing strong public support for wolf
reintroduction in Arizona and touted the potential benefits of
ecotourism. They insisted that wolves have killed a relatively small
number of cows in the reintroduction area.
As it turns out, the USFWS has
also agreed to do a new set of studies on its earlier decision to
delist the Gray Wolf nationally, which had the effect of turning over
management of wolf populations to the states where they roam. A review
of the science behind the congressionally-ordered delisting of the Gray
Wolves conducted by the National Center for Ecological Analysis and
Synthesis at the University of California, Santa Barbara raised
questions about the science behind the delisting decision. The USFWS
agreed to redo some of the baseline studies.
In the meantime, several
states where the wolves have been reintroduced have adopted aggressive
hunting programs to limit their numbers. Environmental groups have also
filed actions to force the USFWS to adopt a better researched
reintroduction and management plan for the Mexican Gray Wolf, a
subspecies that remained on the endangered species list even after the
Gray Wolf was removed. Those actions have challenged the idea that the
target 100-wolf population could survive long term. They cite other
estimates suggesting that the wolves would not be safe from extinction
without a population in the Southwest of at least 750.
The bills sponsored by Sen.
Crandell and others would put the state in direct opposition to the
federal efforts to protect the Mexican Gray Wolf from extinction. SB 1211 would expand the list
of people who could kill nuisance wolves. Federal officials have
declined to comment on the bill, but have said that no matter what law
the state adopts people who illegally shoot or trap wolves could still
be prosecuted under federal law. Backers of the bill later amended it to
require coordination between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the
Arizona Game and Fish Department before shooting or trapping problem
wolves. The bill still extends the authority to kill problem wolves from
private to public lands, a potential conflict with federal law. The
bill would also set a cap of 100 wolves in the wild, another potential
conflict with federal law.
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