By Shar Porier
BISBEE — The members of the Cochise County Board of Supervisors approved joining a mail campaign requesting that the federal government pay for consequences in areas where the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program is instituted.
In a letter to Ryan Zinke, secretary of the Department of the Interior, the county called for federal funds to be earmarked for payment to Arizona and New Mexico ranchers and farmers for stock lost to wolf predation; costs of moving livestock from Mexican wolf ranges in recovery areas; costs of fencing livestock in new grazing lands; and costs associated with weight losses, conception rate drop and veterinary costs for injuries.
In the meeting last week, Pascal Berlioux, executive director of Eastern Arizona Counties Organization, went through the logic behind the request to Zinke, saying that Mexican wolves are already here, so people have to deal with that and manage it efficiently.
“If the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program is an asset to society, it cannot be managed as a liability to Arizona and New Mexico ranchers and the states’ Game and Fish departments,” Berlioux said. “All costs must be included in an economic impacts offset program.”
Arizona Game and Fish Department estimated annual costs at around $250,000 for wolf depredations compensation, $250,000 for proactive conflict avoidance measures and $1.5 million for an all-inclusive “Pay for Presence” fee, totaling $2 million annually.
The office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wolf Livestock Demonstration Project Grants currently awards only $200,000 annually in prevention grants and compensation grants to Arizona and New Mexico combined.
In 2016 and 2017, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offered $900,000 each year in grants to the whole country, according to the website.
The grants also require matching cash funds. There are some environmental or wildlife nonprofits that chip in for matching funds, but those entities have not committed to matching funds in perpetuity.
Berlioux said it made no sense to do a recovery program in the United States when 90 percent of the Mexican gray wolf population lived in Mexico.
Board chair Peggy Judd asked if Berlioux had heard anything from Washington, D.C., and Zinke about ending the wolf recovery program. Berlioux responded by saying, “There is some talk. But the law of land is the Endangered Species Act. Only Congress can change that. The ESA is here to stay. Zinke may not like it, but there is nothing he can do.”
Judd said, “We’re trying to prevent people from being hurt, and help the farmers and ranchers.”
The letter approved from the supervisors contained the same information Berlioux provided in his presentation.
According to the Fish and Wildlife website, there are 14 packs of Mexican wolves in eastern Arizona, with a total population of 114 wolves.