Ariz. commission supports gray wolf delisting
ap ^ | December 5th, 2010

Posted on Sunday, December 05, 2010 10:11:28 PM by george76

The Arizona Game and Fish Commission has voted to support congressional action aimed at removing gray wolves from the federal endangered species list.

The commission voted 4-1 after a lengthy meeting Saturday in support of federal legislation that would declare the wolves recovered and no longer in need of federal protections.

Thanks for the update!!

Don

Montana governor says wolf deal dead

.BILLINGS, Mont. -- Negotiations to remove wolves from the endangered species list hit an impasse late Monday, after Wyoming and Idaho refused to go along with an Interior Department proposal on the issue, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer said.

Schweitzer said the breakdown in talks between the three states and the Obama administration makes it unlikely Congress will address the issue this year.

Western lawmakers have introduced multiple bills to strip protections from an estimated 1,700 wolves in the Northern Rockies, where the animals' attacks on livestock and big game herds have stoked growing resentment.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has previously approved plans to hunt the predators in Idaho and Montana -- but not Wyoming. That's because Wyoming law classifies wolves as predators that can be shot onsite across most of the state.

Schweitzer said the administration was ready to back legislation to take wolves off the list in Montana and Idaho, while giving Wyoming three years to craft an acceptable management plan for the predators.

"I was ready to go forward with a hunt in January of 170-something wolves," he said. "But the governors, we couldn't come to a consensus with the secretary of Interior about a possible legislative fix."

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal would not confirm Schweitzer's description of a Monday conference call between the three governors and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

"That's Brian's perspective," he said.

Earlier Monday, Interior Department spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff said talks between the states and administration were continuing, but she did not elaborate. A spokesman for Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter did not return a call late Monday seeking comment.

Wolves lost their endangered status in Montana and Idaho in 2009, but were returned to the endangered list this year following a lawsuit from environmentalists.

U.S. District Judge Donald Molly ruled in August that it was illegal to declare the animal recovered from near-extinction across a part of its range while it remained at risk in Wyoming.

Another federal judge, in Wyoming, later said the government's rejection of Wyoming's management plan was unfounded. That ruling stopped short of ordering the animals off the endangered list.

Arizona Sportsmen for Wildlife (AZSFW) is in strong support of S 3919 sponsored by Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah which will, if passed, remove the gray wolf from the list of endangered species or the list of endangered species published under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.

AZSFW voted to support the effort of Big Game Forever and Senator Hatch's legislation to return management of the gray wolf to the states and remove it from the endangered species list. The Arizona Game & Fish Commission voted 4-1 at their meeting last Saturday to also support the bill. Now we need your help. This may very well be the most important issue we have ever addressed. Help us save our elk and deer herds. We cannot stand on the sidelines and condemn our elk and deer herds to the same fate of the elk and moose herds in the Northern Rocky Mountains. The background picture below will help you understand the urgency of our request for your assistance.

Background: Gray wolf designated as endangered in 1978 for the conterminous United States

Experience in the Northern Rockies and Western Great Lakes Region

Gray Wolf recovery plans adopted for Wyoming, Idaho and Montana (300 wolves agreed upon target number for recovery)

2009-2010 Currently have more than 2,000 wolves in Northern Rockies and 4,000 in Western Great Lakes Area

Department of Interior delisted wolves in Montana and Idaho; Federal court reinstated wolf protection almost simultaneously at request of Enviro-litigants

In the meantime elk and moose herds suffer from wolf predation and some herds nearly decimated (Idaho Lolo elk herd declined from 9,000 in 1995 to fewer than 2,000 in 2010 while Jackson Wyoming moose herd declined from 1,200 in 1995 to low of 117 in 2010)

July 2010 Petition filed with Interior Department and U. S. Fish and Wildlife requesting wolf populations be established in Pacific Northwest, California, Great Basin, Southern Rocky Mountains, Great Plains and New England

In summary: There will never be enough wolves to satisfy the Enviro-Litigants whose real agenda is to end or significantly limit our ability to hunt and remove man from public lands. The wolves simply provide a mechanism for their over-arching agenda.



Experience in Arizona and New Mexico

1990 Center for Biological diversity claims credit for initial reintroduction of Mexican gray wolf after filing lawsuit

January 1998 Decision published for release of Mexican gray Wolf in Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area (BRWRA); Final rule called for BRWRA to be classified as a non-essential experimental population under 10J of Endangered Species Act

March 1998 Eleven captive wolves released in BRWRA (Plan called for release of 14 family groups over five years with a ultimate population of 100

Today we are not sure exactly how many wolves are in the BRWRA as there is disagreement over the number which ranges from 42-60

Federal and State governments have spent more than $23 million on Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery with little to show for their efforts and at great cost to the tax payer

August 2009 Petition filed by Enviro-Litigants to list Mexican Gray Wolf as a separate subspecies or distinct population segment

October 2010 Petition filed by Enviro-Litigants in Federal Court alleging that Secretary of the Interior Salazar decision on separate listing for the Mexican Gray Wolf was overdue

U. S. Fish & Wildlife now attempting to draft a new Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Plan and is relegating Arizona Game & Fish Department (AZGFD) to the back of the bus listing them as a agency liaison to the process even though any success in the program to date is largely due to the efforts of AZGFD

Arizona Game & Fish Commission voted to support removal of all gray wolves from the endangered species list and to support legislation to return management of the wolf to the states
The drafting of a new recovery plan opens up the question of what will constitute a reasonable recovery number for the Mexican Gray Wolf and a potential expansion of the BRWRA geographic boundary

One thing is certain. We can count on the Enviro-Litigants to do exactly what they did in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. We cannot stand on the sidelines and allow our elk and deer herds to meet the same fate as the Lolo Elk Herd and the Jackson Wyoming Moose herd.

Please contact Senator John McCain and Senator Jon Kyl today and ask for their support as co-sponsors of Senate Bill 3919.

Arizona Game and Fish reaffirms commitment to Mexican wolf conservation

Department continues day-to-day management as it seeks to play greater role in conservation effort

Dec. 7, 2010


PHOENIX – On Dec. 4, the Arizona Game and Fish Commission voted to support Congressional actions to delist the gray wolf from protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The commission reaffirmed its strong commitment to Mexican wolf conservation, but recognized that progress on the program had been stalled since 2001 due to the current federal process that guides Mexican wolf conservation and the impact of unceasing environmental litigation.

“The current Mexican wolf conservation program is in gridlock, and while we support the Endangered Species Act, we recognize that in the case of the wolf, it has helped create an impasse that could lead to the demise of the species in the wild,” says Terry Johnson, Ph.D., endangered species coordinator of the Game and Fish Department. “The discussion that led to the Game and Fish Commission’s decision recognizes that it is both unfortunate, and ironic that successful Mexican wolf conservation may hinge on removing it from the Congressional act intended to help restore it.”

Through the commission’s action, they anticipate that the Game and Fish Department will become even more heavily involved in planning the future of the species and the day-to-day activities in a more affordable, efficient and effective manner

“Continuous litigation on wildlife conservation efforts, including wolves, has left wildlife management decisions to the judiciary instead of with the experts – the natural resources agencies. This litigation-driven bureaucratic process also drives up the cost of conservation, making Mexican wolf conservation unaffordable for anyone,” added Johnson.

The commission discussed that Congressional involvement is necessary to break the regulatory and litigious gridlock that Mexican wolf conservation has endured for many years before the demise of the species in the wild.

Federal partnerships have been, and will continue to be, essential to continuing Mexican wolf conservation, and the commission invites all stakeholders to the table who are willing to participate in seeking solutions that will lead to effective, productive Mexican wolf conservation.

Wolves in Arizona will continue to be protected wildlife through state statutes.

Arizona’s involvement in Mexican wolf conservation began in the mid-1980s, with exploration of the feasibility of reintroducing wolves in Arizona and New Mexico. In 1996, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service selected the Blue Range area in east-central Arizona as the reintroduction site, and the first 11 captive-reared wolves were released there in 1998. The Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area encompasses east-central Arizona and west-central New Mexico. The Fort Apache Indian Reservation also plays an integral part in the reintroduction effort.

To learn more, visit www.azgfd.gov/wolf.

Thanks for the update.

Dec. 10, 2010


Arizona Game and Fish pleased by decision to release male wolf in eastern Arizona




PHOENIX – The Arizona Game and Fish Department is pleased by a decision to authorize the release of an adult male Mexican wolf into eastern Arizona later this month or in January to help restore the stability of the Hawks Nest Pack and promote future breeding to further the Mexican Wolf Reintroduction project. The department had approved the release, but also needed U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (Service) approval.
The Service’s decision was in response to a request made by the project’s Interagency Field Team that was supported by cooperating agencies and stakeholders, and endorsed by Game and Fish’s director, Larry Voyles.

The release is hoped to lead to a mating of the male with the pack’s currently unpaired adult female, increasing the number of potential Mexican wolf breeding pairs. Two adult males from the Hawks Nest Pack, including a breeding male, were illegally killed last summer.

"The goal of this translocation is to augment the breeding wild wolf population in the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area and also increase the genetic diversity of the current population,” says Terry Johnson, endangered species coordinator for Game and Fish.

Cooperating agencies are concerned that since 2003 the Mexican wolf population in the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area has stagnated between 40 and 60 known (documented) radio-collared and uncollared wolves. An annual survey conducted in January 2010 counted 42 documented wolves. The annual survey will be carried out again in January 2011. The project’s population goal is at least 100 wolves in the recovery area.

Game and Fish, in coordination with the project’s field team, began discussions in mid-August with project cooperators and local stakeholders about a potential translocation in the aftermath of the Hawks Nest Pack killings.

Game and Fish held a public meeting in Alpine, Ariz. on Nov. 17 to discuss the translocation with local stakeholders.

“It is critical to the success of the wolf program that the project team works with local stakeholders prior to a translocation, and this public meeting was very constructive,” said Johnson. “Local public-lands livestock permittees that participated made suggestions to mitigate potential impacts, but they did not oppose the release, and in fact, recognized the need to help the Hawks Nest Pack through translocation of a new male wolf.”

At the meeting, Barbara Marks, a local rancher from Blue River, Ariz., spoke out against the unlawful killing of the breeding male from this pack saying, “Based on the history of this pack not depredating on livestock and avoiding people in the area, the killing of the male wolves this past summer was disappointing and a burden on the recovery program. We feel the loss of the alpha male could predispose the alpha female to potentially start depredating on livestock or frequenting residences just trying to support her pups and the other sub adult wolves in the pack. She needed some help one way or another.”

Game and Fish estimates that approximately 90 percent of the free-ranging wolves were born in the wild. Wolves that have been wild for several generations are the key to the long term success of the wolf project.

Unlawful killings continue to be a major challenge for the project, and sometimes necessitate the need to release or translocate naïve (captive-born) wolves.

The project has not permanently removed a wolf since 2007.

The Hawks Nest release could occur on national forest land in the recovery area either in the Springerville or Alpine Ranger Districts south of Eager, Ariz., and is dependent on a number of factors, including the pack’s location at the time of translocation, weather, and available road access. The translocation could also be postponed if relevant circumstances change, such as if a free-ranging male wolf bonds with the pack’s adult female.

The male wolf proposed for release was removed from New Mexico as a dependent pup from the depredating Saddle Pack in 2007. The release required prior concurrence by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service because the wolf is coming to Arizona from an out-of-state (New Mexico) management facility. It was never implicated in any livestock depredations and is eligible for translocation.

Arizona’s involvement in Mexican wolf conservation began in the mid-1980s, with exploration of the feasibility of reintroducing wolves in Arizona and New Mexico. In 1996, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service selected the Blue Range area in east-central Arizona as the reintroduction site, and the first 11 captive-reared wolves were released there in 1998. The Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area encompasses east-central Arizona and west-central New Mexico. The Fort Apache Indian Reservation also plays an integral part in the reintroduction effort.

For more information on wolf conservation, visit www.azgfd.gov/wolf.