Plan to return gray wolf to area draws opponents

By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

A black-phased gray wolf howls in this file photo. [Courtesy Photo]

GALLUP — The McKinley County Commission Tuesday will debate that age-old question: Are wolves good or bad for the environment?

The commission will be asked to join other counties in New Mexico expressing concern about the possibility of the federal government reintroducing the Mexican gray wolf to northwestern New Mexico.

“Several ranchers in the county have already contacted us,” said County Attorney Doug Decker, who added that the ranchers were concerned about the welfare of their livestock as well as the safety of their children if the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department decides to reintroduce the Mexican wolf in this area.

The federal agency has been holding public hearings in New Mexico and Arizona in recent weeks to get input from the public about bringing back the Mexican wolf, which roamed extensively at one time throughout the two states.

By the early 1970s, because of pressure from people building homes and communities on their lands and aggressive hunting by ranchers, the Mexican wolf was almost exterminated.

Named an endangered species in 1976, Fish and Wildlife officials began a breeding program in more than 40 zoos and in 1998 introduced 40 wolves back into the wild at the Apache National Forest in eastern Arizona.

The agency now wants to bring the wolf back to some of its other former territories and while wildlife groups have praised the efforts, the reaction from many Arizona and New Mexico counties seems to be that it’s a great idea but not in our area.

Otero County passed a resolution in October banning the importation of wolves in the county, making it a punishable by a fine of up to $300 and a jail sentence of up to 90 days. Catron County has set up a procedure for county residents to remove wolves that are causing danger to humans or livestock.

Decker said that if the Fish and Wildlife Department wants to introduce wolves back into this area — and there is no definite word that the federal government plans to do this — there isn’t much the county can do about it since the wolves will be brought back to this area and put on National Forest lands.

Of course, he added, there’s no guarantee that the wolves would stay on federal land and that’s what has a lot of people worried, although he said that some of these concerns may be misplaced since the literature he has seen on the wolf indicates that “it is scared of humans and will run away.”

The county commission meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the county commission chambers.