No subsidy provided for killed livestock in wolf program
(AP) – The US Fish and Wildlife Service says it will continue to reintroduce the endangered Mexican gray wolf in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico, but not everyone is pleased with the news.
Many area ranchers have been vocal opponents of the reintroduction effort because of livestock depredation.
Neither the current program nor recommendations accepted this week provide for any government subsidy or reimbursement for wolf-killed livestock.
The recommendations would authorize states and tribes to issue permits to use non-lethal means to harass wolves engaging in nuisance behavior or livestock depredation and lethal means if they attacked domestic dogs.
But Michael Robinson of the environmental organization Center for Biological Diversity argues that the recommendations are going to increase mortality of Mexican gray wolves.