Wolf program makes progress
By Tom Jackson King, Managing Editor
In a series of blunt comments, Terry Johnson of the Arizona Game and Fish Department briefed the New Mexico and Arizona game and fish commissions on how his agency answers the question — “will this wolf in my backyard eat my dog?”
At a Friday meeting at the Manor House Convention Center in Safford, Johnson reviewed the successes, and several failings, of the controversial state-federal plan to reintroduce up to 100 endangered Mexican gray wolves into federal forests in New Mexico and Arizona.
“We needed a more open process. We needed to give people a seat at the table,” he told the two state commissions during his afternoon review of the program’s progress.
“People needed to know the answer to, will this wolf in my backyard eat my dog? We’re trying to get to the local people. Local people want local presence (in meetings),” Johnson said.
“We believe progress is being made in all areas. Progress is slow. It takes time for people to adjust to change. We’re doing our best,” he said.
Johnson said AGF, the New Mexico Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, White Mountain Apache Tribe, U.S. Forest Service and Wilderness Services of the U.S. Department of Agriculture are the “Gang of Six” involved in making the wolf reintroduction program work.
A table of spending on for the wolf program released at the public meeting showed all agencies had spent $8,020,719 to date on the effort to get wolves to hunt and breed in Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona and in Gila National Forest in New Mexico.
Johnson said he has been critical of the program’s loss of trust with rural residents in the past and the program’s failure to abide by consultation promises made back in the 1980s when the wolf recovery reintroduction plan was endorsed by state and federal agencies.
Now, after a half-year of re-emphasizing local input and local consultation. Johnson said, “We have the ultimate greenies involved. We have the ultimate non-greenies involved. We brought the wolves onto the ground. It’s our obligation to manage them,” he said.
Several audience members applauded the agency for improving communications with the public.
Margaret Bohannon, president of the Arizona Heritage Alliance, said, “The Heritage Fund has invested over $600,000 in this wolf program. We would strongly urge both commissions to invest funds in this program. I think it’s a ground-breaking program.”
She supported loosening the boundaries within which wolves may roam. “It needs to not be stopped at the current borders. We think the reintroduction boundaries should be changed,” she said.
A man stood up and said, “I rejoice at seeing the wolves on the ground. I rejoice at how well they are doing. I hope we can free up our boundaries and let the wolves go where they wish.”
John Buretzky of the New Mexico Outfitters and Guides sounded a clarion call warning that the wolf reintroduction program was bringing economic disaster to rural communities in New Mexico.
“You need to be aware of our concerns. Ours is the New Mexico hunting industry. We make our living by taking people hunting. Our industry is the one being asked to pay for this wolf reintroduction. If a wolf eats a bull elk, it’s one less elk we can hunt. This has a very real impact on the economy of our area,” he said.
Caren Cowan of the New Mexico Cattlegrowers Association also warned the wolf program was damaging rural economies.
“We have to look at the costs. The San Carlos Apache Reservation lost their entire calf crop last year, hundreds of calves. Thus far this thing is a wreck and we have to figure out how to fix it before we fatally wreck our rural economy,” she said.
AGF’s Johnson concluded the presentation with a reality check for all parties. “People need to understand that wolves are here. We can manage them, or the courts can manage them and us,” he said.