 |
|
|
 Editorials | Environmental | June 2005 
Mexican Wolves Clash with Cows, Fuel Debate Over Reintroduction Effort
 Paul Krza - New Mexico Business Weekly
Some southeastern New Mexico ranchers say the reintroduction of the Mexican Wolf has tossed a wild card into their already precarious cattle operations, another bite out of their already slim profits.
"I know people who have lost $10,000 worth of calves in a year to wolves," says Laurie Schneberger, a Winton-area rancher who represents the 90 members of the Gila Livestock Association. "If things keep going like this, we're going to lose the ranching industry in this part of New Mexico in five years."
Nic Ashcroft, an economic development specialist at New Mexico State University, says the wolf is simply part of the "cumulative effect" that has sent the Gila-area cattle industry into a tailspin over the past 30 years.
In 1977, he notes, ranchers in Catron County reported 53,000 cattle, compared to 25,000 in 2004, he says.
"It's some rough country, and no doubt tougher than on the eastern side of the state," Ashcroft adds. Ranchers in the Gila area depend upon federal leases in the Gila National Forest, where unchecked tree growth has slowly decreased grasslands, and in recent years, drought has limited grazing, he says.
Gila Forest officials say there are fewer cattle grazing on federal leases - from about 21,000 cattle in 2001, to just under 15,000 in 2003, and about 18,800 in 2004 - but that's mostly due to drought, not displacing cattle in favor of wolves.
But it's the wolf that gets the blame - unfairly, says Defenders of Wildlife, an environmental group that assumed the responsibility for reimbursing ranchers for wolf losses. Since the 1998 reintroduction of the Mexican Wolf, Defenders has paid out $38,000 to ranchers for the documented loss of 75 cattle, split about equally between Arizona ranchers and those in New Mexico, where the first wolves arrived in 2000, according to Defenders' data.
The organization has sponsored an array of other economic mitigation measures, says Craig Miller, Southern Rockies director. They've spent money for herders, for cattle feed and even for test-marketing high-priced "wolf country beef" in several cities, including Albuquerque, he says.
When the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service first reintroduced the Mexican Wolf, it was amid much fanfare with then-Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt even helping out in their release into the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona. Agency biologists keep tabs on the animals with radio collars, but not all of the animals are electronically monitored, like newly born litters or those who have lost the devices, for example.
When ranchers call to report losses, Fish and Wildlife responds by taking measures to discourage further predation, capturing the offending animal or by issuing a "lethal take order," says Victoria Fox, spokeswoman for the agency in Albuquerque. In May, federal officials authorized the kill action for two members of the "Francisco Pack," which roams the Gila area. One wolf in the pack has since been captured, but an uncollared male wolf is still at large, Fox says.
Further complicating the situation was the discovery that the other kill target, a female - "Alpha Female 511," a well-known pack member featured in news reports on the Babbitt release - had given birth to, perhaps, five pups.
Ranchers say it's this kind of management difficulty that characterizes wolf reintroduction. At meetings in February in Glenwood and Socorro organized by U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, they called the program a "failure." One major concern: Ranchers hadn't been fairly compensated for losses.
"That's a big issue, getting it called a wolf kill," says Caren Cowan, executive director of the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association. Schneberger agrees, saying she's stopped counting the total cattle lost, putting the last number in both Arizona and New Mexico at around 300. "The depredation is tremendous," she says, though admitting "it's also uncomfirmable."
Hall calls those numbers wildly incorrect, adding not all ranchers oppose wolf reintroduction and many have cooperated. Defenders, he adds, began its reimbursemen as a good-faith effort, but still must have evidence before it pays for "confirmed" or "probable" wolf kills.
Deciding the future: Key meetings set
This month marks a critical juncture in the Mexican Wolf reintroduction in New Mexico. Fish and Wildlife must review wolf activities every five years, and a document is now ready for public scrutiny. Meetings to hear comments have been scheduled in Reserve, Silver City, Truth or Conse- quences and Albuquerque. Also on the agenda is a potentially controversial provision - a one-year moratorium on "new releases" of "captive" Mexican wolves.
"No wolves that have not previously been in the wild will be released from captive wolf management facilities," the rule reads. Fox notes, however, it doesn't prevent "translocation" of wolves, or transferring animals caught in New Mexico and released in Arizona, or vice-versa. Other "experienced" wolves captured and "rehabilitated" also might be released, she says.
Hall says despite valid concerns about livestock "depredation" by wolves, he still thinks reintroduction has been "biologically, very successful." And, he adds, it's taken place in the Gila wilderness and forest, "which is 97 percent publicly owned," and with a majority of public approval.
Still, convincing Schneberger and other Gila ranchers that the wolf is a good thing seems an uphilll battle. Wolves, she says "will be last straw" for cattle growers there and if ranches disappear, the area will take a big hit. "We are the economy in these southwestern counties," she says.
There are other economic threads to the continuing wolf drama. If the animals do increase rapidly, they could pose a threat to big game in the Gila Wilderness, considered a nationwide elk-hunting destination.
Chuck Hayes, the assistant chief of conservation services at the state Fish and Game Department, says so far the impact has been minimal, though the agency does have the right to demand action if there's significant loss to specific herds.
And there's the promise of increased "eco-tourism" in wolf country. However, Ashcroft doubts that, saying the five-year review documents "no tourism," only "potential."
"If you definitely want to see a Mexican Wolf, go to the Albuquerque Zoo," he adds. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us