By Rebecca Moss
The New Mexican
Several conservation groups plan to rally Thursday in support of Mexican gray wolves in New Mexico ahead of a State Game Commission meeting that could decide the fate of an appeal by Ted Turner’s Ladder Ranch on its request for a permit to hold captive-raised wolves.
Advocates have said there is overwhelming support for the endangered animals in the state, and they are “baffled” by the actions of Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration and game commissioners, who have blocked efforts to continue rebuilding the species’ population in Southwestern states as part of a federal reintroduction program.
The State Game Commission is scheduled to discuss an appeal by staff at the Ladder Ranch, west of Ruidoso, who seek to import and house Mexican gray wolves to prepare them for release. Game and Fish Department Director Alexa Sandoval had denied the ranch a permit for the wolves. The ranch appealed, but the commission’s decision on the appeal was postponed during a November hearing in Roswell.
Earlier this year, Sandoval also denied a separate permit sought by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to release 10 wolf pups and a pair of breeding adults into the Gila National Forest. The Wildlife Service, however, said in November that it doesn’t need the state’s permission for the program and will move forward with its plans.
Michael Robinson, of the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, said every month of delay on the wolf releases “increases the chance of extinction.” Robinson, who will speak at the rally, said greater diversity is needed to strengthen the wolf packs, which are weakened by inbreeding.
At last count, there were 53 Mexican gray wolves in New Mexico, according to an annual survey. New numbers are due out at the end of January.
The state Game and Fish Department has said it won’t condone wolf releases until there is an updated federal recovery plan for the species and a clear assessment of how the wolves will affect elk, deer and livestock in the state.
The federal government has said it will release an updated reintroduction plan in 2017.
Ranchers and others in the state, meanwhile, have cited the wolves as a threat to livestock (wolves reportedly killed 36 farm animals in 2015), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has reported injury to a handful of pets and “close contact” with humans.
“The livestock industry is a real reason behind [the commission’s] opposition,” Robinson said. “What they have said in terms of recovery planning is, frankly, steeped in hypocrisy.”
The Mexican gray wolves, the smallest wolves in North America, were all but eliminated in the mid-1970s due to trapping and poisoning, but the last five survivors were bred in captivity and began to be reintroduced to the wild in 1998.
Robinson said he anticipates a packed crowd at Thursday’s State Game Commission meeting, which starts at 9 a.m. at the Santa Fe Community College Board Room. The rally will begin at 8 a.m.
If you go
What: New Mexicans Rally for Wolves
Where: Santa Fe Community College, 6401 Richards Ave., on the west side of the main entrance
When: 8 a.m. Thursday