WildEarth Guardians

Monday, March 19, 2007
Conservation groups prepare to sue over wolf ordinance

Catron County wolf-killing ordinance illegal
Contact: Staci Matlock The New Mexican

Santa Fe-based WildEarth Guardians joined three other conservation groups Monday in sending Catron County commissioners notice of their intent to file a lawsuit over a new county wolf-killing ordinance.

Catron County recently approved an ordinance allowing livestock producers to kill wolves that might be a danger to humans. The conservation groups say the killing of wolves to protect humans is already covered under the Endangered Species Act. The ordinance “unlawfully undermines federal wolf management.”

WildEarth Guardians was joined in the notice by the Center for Biological Diversity, the Rewilding Insitute and Sinapu.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been working on a Mexican grey wolf reintroduction program since 1998 with five other federal, state and tribal agencies. Their policies allow the killing of wolves that feed on livestock.

The conservation groups say agency policies have prevented the wolf population from reaching its initial target of 102 wolves, of which 18 are breeding pairs, by Dec. 31, 2006. The agency estimates there are now 57 wolves and seven breeding pairs in the wolf reintroduction range of Southern New Mexico.

Copyright 2007 Santa Fe New Mexican - Reprinted with permission