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Increased number of wolves may force enactment of moratorium

Increased number of wolves may force enactment of moratorium

Evelyn Cronce El Defensor Chieftain Reporter

In response to the February 2005 meetings, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service crafted a proposed moratorium for the Mexican Wolf Blue Range Reintroduction Project’s Adaptive Management Oversight Committee consideration.

Public meetings were held and public comments, whether verbal or written, were evaluated and carefully considered in reaching a final decision on this matter.

Known as the calendar year 2006 moratorium, the committee determined that if the number of breeding pairs of wild Mexican wolves is six or more by Dec. 31, it will enact a moratorium, which states that during the calendar Year 2006, the committee will not allow any new releases of packs composed of captive-reared wolves that have not previously been in the wild in Arizona or New Mexico.

Alpine field officer John Oakleaf said, “The moratorium may or may not happen.”

The wolf population is currently estimated at five breeding pairs. A breeding pair is defined as a male and female couple with two or more live pups as of Dec. 31. The official count will not occur until after Jan. 1, 2006.

“I think we will find six breeding pairs,” said Oakleaf.

If the moratorium does go into effect, it will provide time for the committee to:

  • Complete its ongoing Five-Year Review of the Reintroduction Project and make recommendations for changes in any and all aspects of the Project;
  • Complete current expansion of field staff, and provide training for new staff essential to wolf management;
  • Continue to evaluate the effectiveness of the standard operating procedures for the project that were developed and implemented in 2005;
  • Investigate options and, if feasible, initiate development of techniques by which to better assess the total number of wolves in the wild;
  • Increase project outreach to further enhance local awareness and understanding of the adaptive management framework for the project;
  • Continue collecting information on wolf management issues as they occur, thus providing better information on which to base short and long-term adaptive management decisions.

    During the calendar year 2006, the committee will allow relocation of wolves throughout the recovery area, under the following stipulations:

  • Relocations will be in accordance with affected state agency and tribal guidance and will be conducted in strict compliance with project standard operating procedures.
  • Relocation sites for wolves with depredation histories will be sites absent of livestock, within the state or tribal lands on which the depredation occurred; and whether there is a likelihood of future depredation.
  • Relocations of wolves with a history of problem behavior will be evaluated in strict compliance with standard operating procedure which require notification of, and comment opportunities for, landowners and permittees in the immediate area for which relocation is being considered. The director of the state or tribal wildlife agency shall make final decisions on relocations of wolves with problem histories responsible for the proposed relocation site, after discussion with the committee.

    Consistent with the reintroduction project, chronic problem wolves shall be permanently removed from the wild in Arizona and New Mexico. Individual captive wolves that have not previously been in the wild in Arizona or New Mexico will be released as necessary to offset losses due to unlawful killings or other unnatural causes where the introduction is determined to be necessary for management purposes.

    This moratorium is being enacted because AMOC believes the administrative and social contexts of this reintroduction effort warrant it, and because a hiatus on new pack releases for one calendar year will not substantially impede progress toward population objectives. The moratorium covers 2006 only, and provision is made for replacing individual wolves lost to unnatural or other causes.

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