WildEarth Guardians

Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Conservation Groups Call on Governor Richardson to Stop Feds from Removing New Mexico's Wolves

Groups have asked the governor to stop New Mexico wolf removals until the wild population of lobos has reached at least 100 individuals, including 18 breeding pairs
Contact: WildEarth Guardians

Santa Fe, NM - Expecting that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s official 2007 population count will spell more bad news for the Mexican gray wolf, ten conservation groups have sent a formal request to Governor Richardson asking him to direct the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish to veto any future wolf removal orders within the State. WildEarth Guardians, Natural Resources Defense Council, the Rewilding Institute, the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, Animal Protection of New Mexico, Animal Protection Voters, the Southwest Environmental Center, Chihuahuan Desert Conservation Alliance, the Sierra Club, and the Center for Biological Diversity say that with only nine collared wolves left roaming the state, New Mexico cannot afford another wolf lost from the wild.

Since the Mexican gray wolf reintroduction and recovery program began in 1998, 66 wolves have been removed from the wild, most for conflicting with livestock. Considering that no more than 59 lobos have ever existed in the recovery area at any one given time, the groups say the current rate of removal is neither supported by science nor sustainable. Poor federal management has actually led to a decline in the number of wolves in the Southwest, leading the groups to expect lower numbers in 2007 than were seen the year before.

This past July, Governor Richardson echoed conservationists’ concern for the escalation in wolf removals and called for the immediate suspension of the discretionary guideline under which they occur, Standard Operating Procedure 13 (SOP 13). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has yet to respond to the Governor’s request, but has instead continued its removal campaign. The latest victims of SOP 13 were the four remaining members of the genetically valuable Mexican gray wolf Aspen Pack, which were trapped and sent to captivity in December.

Importantly however, under the current management rules, the Fish and Wildlife Service cannot remove wolves from New Mexico without first consulting with New Mexico’s Department of Game and Fish. Calling on the Governor to direct New Mexico’s Department of Game and Fish to veto all future proposals to remove wolves from the State is, for the conservation groups, where the rubber meets the road.

“We are so grateful to Governor Richardson for speaking out on behalf of lobos,” says Melissa Hailey, Staff Attorney with WildEarth Guardians. “But because the Service has failed to suspend SOP 13, the time has come for New Mexico Game and Fish to use its veto power over further wolf removals.”

The groups have asked the governor to stop New Mexico wolf removals until the wild population of lobos has reached at least 100 individuals, including 18 breeding pairs. While the 100-wolf threshold is not a mark of recovery for this species, it was identified in the program’s environmental impact statement as the first benchmark of success. The groups contend that until there is promise of a healthy, viable wild wolf population in the Southwest, New Mexico must put recovery before predator control for this state and federally protected endangered species.

As of January 28, 2008 WildEarth Guardians, Sinapu, and the Sagebrush Sea Campaign have joined forces to become WildEarth Guardians. With offices in Boulder, Denver, Phoenix and Santa Fe, WildEarth Guardians protects and restores wildlife, wild places, and wild rivers in the American West.

Read the letter to Governor Richardson (PDF)