Endangered Mexican gray wolves get boost
TUCSON, Ariz. (Nov. 13, 2009) — The Mexican gray wolf recovery effort took a pivotal turn in the right direction today as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reclaimed its decision-making authority over management of this highly endangered animal that roams Arizona and New Mexico’s backcountry.
Settling a lawsuit brought by conservation organizations, the Fish and Wildlife Service reasserted its authority over a multiagency management team and scrapped a controversial wolf “control” rule that required permanently removing a wolf from the wild, either lethally or through capture, after killing three livestock in a year. Conservationists had criticized the rigid policy, known as Standard Operating Procedure 13 or SOP 13, for forcing wolves to be killed or sent to captivity regardless of an individual wolf’s genetic importance, dependent pups or the critically low numbers of wolves in the wild.
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Contact(s):
Eva Sargent, Defenders of Wildlife, (520)834-6441
Sandy Bahr, Sierra Club – Arizona Chapter, (602) 999-5790
Matt Kenna, Western Environmental Law Center, (970)385-6941 x 131
Michael Robinson, Center for Biological Diversity, (575)534-0360
Greta Anderson, Western Watersheds Project, (520)623-1878
Kim Crumbo, Grand Canyon Wildlands Council, (928)638-2304
