Charles Walker's Letter to USFWS

I took the liberty of posting Mr. Walker's letter without his permission. You can do that when you are dealing with the most upstanding, honest people you could ever hope to meet, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Walker.


December 28, 2007

Mr. Brian Millsap
State Administrator
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
New Mexico Ecological Services Office
2105 Osuna N.E.
Albuquerque NM 87113

Re: Wolf

Dear Mr. Millsap:

I am a cattle rancher in Otero County NM. I am 85 years old and have spent all my life ranching in Otero County.

My grandfather and father were both lifelong ranchers who came to the Sacramento Mountains in 1887.

There were wolves here when they came to this area that were called “Lobos.”

The government put a $50.00 bounty on wolves because of the severe damage they did to the livestock business.

The crippling, harassing and killing of animals is well documented as well as the threat to human life.

Therefore, I am against the government’s managed wolf program with the proposed intention of releasing additional wolves in New Mexico or increasing the proposed area in which wolves are proposed to be released.

I am a member of many farm and livestock organizations. They were all against the government’s release of wolves when the program first started and continue to be strongly against the release of any additional wolves in New Mexico.

The many sporting groups, that I am aware of, are also against releasing wolves because of the threat to wildlife that wolves have.

The hunting and fishing industry is a multi-million dollar industry not only in New Mexico, but throughout the United States.

The sportsmen and women bring significant revenues to the local economies, counties and states which has the probability of being drastically reduced with the release of any additional wolves.

The hunting and fishing industry has already been severely impacted in those areas where wolves have been released as evident from the continual information received from the Gila area of New Mexico.

The revenues lost to wolf depredations in both the livestock and hunting and fishing industries cannot be recovered and should not be tolerated.

The U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service should furnish unbiased and “Sound Science” information to the public instead of attempting to protect their jobs.

Sincerely,

Charles Walker
Sixteen Springs Canyon
Cloudcroft, New Mexico