Wolf program to include counties
By John Kamin, Staff writer
County leaders from Arizona and New Mexico met with U.S. wildlife
officials to give local officials a voice regarding the reintroduction of
the Mexican Gray wolf.
Graham County Super-visor Mark Herrington said he met with Terry Johnson,
the non-game chief for the Arizona Game and Fish Department, to ensure
Graham County’s seat on the Adaptive Management Work Group.
He also met with Arizona Game and Fish Commissioner Joe Carter, AZGF
Director Duane Shroufe and representatives from Greenlee and Navajo
counties.
“Our counties are directly impacted by these wolves,” Herrington said.
His primary concern was about Graham County’s need to have some
decision-making power with the Mexican Gray Wolf reintroduction project.
Herrington said the wolves could impact Graham County by eating elk and
other game hunted for sport.
Shroufe said he met with county leaders from Arizona and New Mexico to
consult with them about becoming members of the work group.
In previous meetings, Johnson and Carter have shown support in educating
and working with local government officials.
“We’ve finally coordinated with the Fish and Wildlife Service and they’ve
agreed that the states of Arizona and New Mexico would be responsible for
wolf reintroduction to their states,” Shroufe said. Shroufe supports the
involvement of local government with the program and wants each county to
have the power to vote on issues regarding the wolves.
Arizona Game and Fish Information Manager Bruce Sitko said, “During the
last 12 to 18 months, the lead in decision-making responsibilities has
been shifting from the U.S. Fish Wildlife Service to a group of primary
cooperating agencies.”
Some of the groups who are included in the work group are the USFWS, AZGF,
New Mexico Game and Fish Department and the White Mountain Apache Tribe.
In a meeting last February, USFWS Field Coordinator John Oakleaf told
Center for Biological Diversity members Mexico also had a representative
on the work group.
“While drafting the Memorandum of Under-standing, it became apparent that
it would be beneficial to have the involvement of affected county
governments as well,” Sitko said. He said the roles and the functions of
the AMWG are still being determined.
Shroufe and Herrington said the county leaders will officially become
members after being added to the memorandum.
A draft of the MOU is being sent to the county leaders by the AZGFD, which
is up for editing and approval by each county. Once the counties have
agreed on a final version of the MOU, it will be sent to the AZGFD for
approval.
Greenlee County Super-visor Hector Ruedas said at several Greenlee County
Board of Supervisors meetings that he supports government efforts to
include county leaders.
He also wants the groups who deal with the wolves to quickly release
information about the wolves.
Daisy Mae Cannon said she wants the Defenders of Wildlife to work on
quicker response times for analyzing cattle that may or may not have been
killed by wolves. Cannon is a prominent rancher from Greenlee County.
Defenders of Wildlife pays ranchers for cattle killed by wolves, but the
group must first analyze the carcass within a short time of the death
before it pays for the cow.
She said most ranchers have large ranches that include valleys and
canyons, making it hard to find a cow once the rancher realizes it is
missing. Once the cow is found, it is usually too late for the group to
analyze the cow.
“If you aren’t in every place all the time, how are you going to be able
to prove all of this stuff,” she said. She mentioned that a fellow
ranching family, the Elys, have lost over 70 head of cattle in the last
year and have no proof about the cattle being killed by the wolves.
The lack of proof means that they have not received any money for the
cattle.
A public meeting with members from the group will be held from 1 p.m. to 5
p.m. on Oct. 3 at the Quality Inn and Suites in Safford.