RICHARDSON’S WOLF AWARENESS WEEK

New Mexico Governor, Bill Richardson, proclaimed the week of Oct. 15-19, 2007 as ‘Wolf Awareness Week’ in his state. Richardson is quoted in a press release, emphasizing the importance of wolf reintroduction in New Mexico: “As keystone predators, wolves play a critical role in maintaining balanced ecosystems,” said Governor Bill Richardson. “We must redouble our efforts to promote healthy wolf populations coexisting with our communities and land stewards – both in New Mexico and across the country.”

Richardson must be playing to the environmentalist agenda and suburban nature lover voters who subscribe to eco-crisis newsletters and shell out big bucks for coffee table books on wolves. He’s not attracting the vote of ranchers in the American West. The fact that Richardson would advocate for wolf reintroduction in his own state clearly states he has blatant disregard for the concerns of many New Mexican counties that oppose wolf release programs.

On Richardson’s Presidential Campaign site he chimes in on the Endangered Species Act: “Accurate scientific data must be used in assessing Endangered Species Act issues and ensure that corporations and other special interests adhere to the law when challenging ESA. We must find the right balance between preservation and growth, but to do so we must first have accurate data and compliance with the law.” Richardson’s statement on the Endangered Species Act is intended for other regions of the United States, but surely not in his home state of New Mexico.

Wolf release programs in New Mexico have created havoc and economic hardship for ranchers in Catron County, NM. The Gila Livestock Growers Association, in Catron Grant and Sierra Counties, has been battling wolves in their region for nine years. Laura Schneberger, president of the association gives the following account:
“We have seen our neighbors run out of business by uncompensated wolf losses, our children have been psychologically damaged due to the slaughter of their pets in their own yards. The program has been in disarray from the start and managers refuse to follow their own laws and Rule. I don’t expect any better from the upcoming Rule change. It just isn’t in the nature of the managers to mitigate the impacts because they can’t admit the depth of the problems to the public.”

Ranchers in New Mexico have a different view about wolves in their region. Livestock deaths attributed to wolf kills continue to rise annually while the governor of New Mexico calls for re-doubling the efforts of wolf release programs. Ranchers and rural residents of Catron County report wolves killing livestock, harassing cattle, horses and sheep, and the killing of family pets. On November 29th of this year, the Glenwood, New Mexico elementary school was put on lockdown when a wolf appeared less than 20 yards away from the playground. Parents in the county report wolf stalking of children walking to the school bus stop on rural roads. Residents in Catron County have erected ‘wolf shelters’ at the school bus stops for the safety of the children waiting for the school bus. These shelters are sturdy wood structures built inside a high chain link fenced enclosure. Such a shelter would probably be illegal in suburban areas of New Mexico where neighborhood association covenants prohibit structures that affect the resale value of property. Yet the governor wants to increase wolf release programs in New Mexico and the rest of the country.

Bill Millsap of the Fish and Wildlife Service dismisses parent’s fears in Catron County.
In a December 5th, 2007 interview with KRQE-TV, Millsap said, “If you look at historical record you could say there is overreaction going on. There is no historical evidence of wolves attacking people in North America, certainly not in the United States in recent years."In April of 1996, Patricia Wyman, and employee of an Ontario, Canada wildlife reserve was killed and severely mangled by a pack of wolves. Kenton Carnegie, 22, was killed by wolves in northern Saskatchewan. A coroner’s inquest confirmed Carnegie had indeed been the victim of a vicious wolf attack. The Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game released a 52-page study of wolf/human encounters which documents several attacks on adults and children. Wolf advocates characterized Catron County parent’s reaction to wolf sightings as over dramatization orchestrated by ranchers opposed to wolf reintroduction. Has anyone asked Governor Richardson where his accurate scientific data was gathered? Apparently the liberal tagline of ‘for the children’ doesn’t apply to the children of Catron County.

On December 3, 2007, the Fish and Wildlife Service pitched wolf reintroduction to the residents of Otero County, New Mexico. The presentation by the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) was held at the Tay’s Center in Alamogordo. The employees of the FWS sat at tables and answered questions or handed out brochures glamorizing wolf reintroduction. When asked when the FWS planned to introduce wolves into Otero County the answer was there were no immediate plans for such a program in the county.
One wonders why the FWS was in Alamogordo, giving a presentation on wolf release, if no such program was planned for Otero County. The Otero County Commissioners have passed a county ordinance making it illegal for the reintroduction of wolves, grizzly bears or jaguars in the county. Otero County ordinance 07-06, in part reads: “…the County of Otero is empowered to enact an ordinance which would prohibit the import for release of certain genera and specifically predators of the Canis, Ursus, and Felis genera, within and adjacent to the boundaries of the County of Otero…”

Catron and Otero counties in New Mexico are not the only counties against wolf reintroduction. Five other counties in addition to Catron and Otero are asking the state for ‘cooperative agency” status in the process of rulemaking for the Mexican Wolf release program. One hopes that Richardson’s campaign staff reminds him that the federal government retains enumerated powers, defined in the U.S. Constitution, and that the federal government has limited authority. The sovereign authorities of each state of these United States and the counties that comprise each individual state have final say over their county lands and land use. Apparently Richardson’s dream of wolf reintroduction on a grand scale somehow overlooked the Constitution and state’s rights.


The very designation of the Mexican Gray Wolf as endangered and as a separate sub-species is questionable. E. Lendell Cockrum, famed biologist and former head of the University of Arizona Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology describes the regional differences of the Gray Wolf and being in name only. In Cockrum’s book, Mammals of the Southwest, he writes, "Only the Red Wolf (Canis Rufus), formerly in the southeastern United States, is considered to be a separate species. Timber Wolf, Lobo and Mexican Wolf are all names applied to local populations of the Gray Wolf."The Tenth Circuit Court issued an opinion in January of 2000, in the case of Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation v. Babbitt, regarding special sub-species designation of populations of the Gray Wolf. The court comments: "In addition, researchers note that although the gray wolf (canis lupus) was once divided into many subspecies, so many subspecies have become extinct that most scientists no longer differentiate between subspecies. Scientists now typically classify wolves as belonging to one of two species: the gray wolf (canis lupus) or the red wolf (canis rufus).
Apparently Richardson is more concerned with advocating for the coffee table book wolf-lovers agenda than adhering to his own conviction of relying on accurate scientific data.

The wolf release issue is only one of several complex and menacing issues facing ranchers and private property owners in New Mexico and the American Southwest.
Americans in the West struggle with water rights, United Nations designation of National Parks and Monuments as World Heritage Sites, federal abuse of jurisdiction and elected officials who seek their political expediency and self-worth at the expense the people back home. Richardson’s proclamation of Wolf Awareness Week clearly defines his goals as a Presidential hopeful. I doubt he will be the Democrat Presidential Candidate in 2008, but it’s worth noting his position on policy that affects rural Americans living in the West. If Richardson drops out of the Presidential race, how convenient would it be for the leading contender to adopt the Governor’s platform on wolf release programs to attract suburban nature lovers? All it takes is a proclamation for those who don’t live with the daily threat of wolves in their backyard.