Written by YNN
Phoenix, Arizona – The Arizona Game and Fish Department recently submitted comments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on two proposals concerning the Mexican wolf.
Game and Fish supports the first proposal to delist gray wolves in the U.S. and list the Mexican wolf as an endangered subspecies of gray wolf. The Arizona Game and Fish Commission and department feel that the gray wolf has far exceeded its recovery goals in the U.S. but recognize that the Mexican wolf still faces conservation challenges and warrants continued protection. The department has multiple concerns with the proposed revision to the Mexican wolf’s 10(j) nonessential experimental population rule. Those concerns are outlined in the comment letter.
Comments included feedback the department received from its constituents during several meetings it held across the state last year. The Mexican wolf reintroduction program began in 1998. The 2012 year-end population count showed a minimum of 75 wolves roaming Arizona and New Mexico, up from 58 wolves in 2011.
For more information on Mexican wolves and to see a copy of the department’s full comments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, visit www.azgfd.gov/wolf. More information on the proposed rules is available at www.regulations.gov under Docket No. FWS-HQ-ES-2013-0073 and Docket No. FWS-R2-ES-2013-0056.