CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATOR AND THE GOVERNOR TO SUPPORT THESE ACTIONS:

Immediate actions that could be taken by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Regional Director:
  • Improved management plans
  • Greater transparency from US Fish and Wildlife Services and NMDGF
  • No further releases of Mexican wolves into Catron County unless required to meet genetic diversity requirements for downlisting
  • Consult with county personnel and ranchers about each proposed cross-fostering plan
  • Write lethal removal orders for wolves or wolf packs that kill at least four head of livestock in 60 days
  • Issue permits to ranchers to authorize lethal removal of wolves that have killed at least four head of livestock in 60 days on their private land
  • After a Mexican wolf livestock or pet depredation, assign responsibility for determination of the depredating wolf to the Wildlife Services field investigator
  • Instruct Wildlife Services to return to using SOP 11.0 for depredation investigations
  • Revoke SOP 26.1 and provide ranchers with the same GPS collar data available to USF&WS biologists, Wildlife Services and county depredation personnel
  • Expand collaring to all pack members.
Actions that require a revised Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan:
  • A 4d downlisting rule will take at least another two years to write and couldn’t be put in place for at least three more years. By contrast, a new 10j rule with improved management of Mexican wolves by changing the rules for “take” could start to be rewritten immediately. For that reason alone, revising the 10j is recommended.
  • Recommended revisions to the 10j rule:
    • Change the rule to provide for the take of Mexican wolves by livestock and pet owners when wolves are in the act of attacking their livestock or pets on private as well as legally leased federal or state land.
    • Authorize USF&WS to issue lethal removal permits to ranchers on both private as well as legally leased federal and state land.
Actions that will require either new legislation or new USDA administrative rules:
  • Delist the Mexican wolf
  • De-fund the Mexican wolf program.
  • For wolves that remain in the wild:
    • Provide adequate funding in the Farm Bill for compensation of Mexican wolf depredations. The Livestock Demonstration Grant is completely inadequate to even pay for annual confirmed depredations by Mexican wolves. Ensure that the Farm Bill provides for both confirmed and probable kills by wolves.
    • Provide funding in the Farm Bill for conflict avoidance and indirect damages related to the presence of Mexican wolves. There is currently almost no federal funding available to compensate ranchers for indirect damages caused by Mexican wolf presence nor funding for the costs of trying to prevent wolves from killing livestock.
    • Change the FSA LIP rules to pay for 100 percent of the actual market value of livestock that wolves kill or injure. Rewrite the LIP handbook to provide clear direction to the county committees, so that the guidelines are easy to follow.

Important Links:
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Conserving the Mexican Wolf