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| Arizona takes over as lead
manager of wolf program
Sorry folks, I almost missed this news. Laura January 15, 2003 Arizona takes over as lead manager of wolf program By Tom Jackson King, Managing Editor, Eastern AZ Courier The Arizona Game and Fish Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have agreed that AGF will now be the lead agency in implementing "day-to-day" decisions of the Mexican gray wolf reintroduction program in Arizona. Brian Kelly, Mexican gray wolf recovery coordinator for USFWS, said agreements signed with AGF on Dec. 4 put the state agency in the forefront of a multi-agency cooperative effort to bring back the endangered species of wolves to original habitats in Arizona and New Mexico. "The implementation day-to-day would be by Arizona," Kelly said. "What this basic agreement says is the state of Arizona has the lead in this. It doesn't mean the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish goes away. We're working out the details." In September 2002 both the Arizona Game and Fish Commission and the New Mexico Game and Fish Commission sent letters to USFWS complaining about a lack of communication with the states on things such as releasing new wolves and responding to complaints of wolf attacks on livestock. The AGF Commission went further and gave the agency a 60-day notice to respond by Dec. 1 - or else. Joe Carter, an AGF commissioner from Safford, said Arizona would review its continued participation in the wolf reintroduction program, but he did not go so far as to call for the pullout of Arizona from the controversial program. Now, it appears the Dec. 4 meeting of the AGF Commission, attended by USFWS staff and AGF staff, has developed an option that will keep Arizona involved in the wolf program. The revised final plan agreed to by USFWS Director H. Dale Hall on Dec. 4 sets out the following changes: ¥ The service (USFWS) will disband the current Mexican Wolf Recovery Team and assemble a new one to revise the outdated current plan. ¥ The service will focus its Mexican Wolf Recovery Coordinator (B. Kelly) on guiding and implementing the recovery program, thus providing appropriate guidance to the reintroduction project. ¥ The states shall be responsible for implementing the reintroduction project in Arizona and New Mexico. ¥ The reintroduction project shall be implemented on the ground through a state-led field team approach. ¥ The states and tribes are responsible for conducting reintroduction efforts in such a manner that they contribute directly to recovery. ¥ The primary cooperators will complete this effort before March 31, 2003, through appropriate collaboration with tribal and other interested parties. The tribal involvement will include the White Mountain Apache Tribe as a partner since the tribe has given permission for release of wolves in its territory. The San Carlos Apache Tribe has refused such permission and has several times asked USFWS to capture and remove wolves that have wandered onto tribal land near Malay Gap. Kelly was upbeat about the change in leadership roles. "This represents a wonderful opportunity to clarify our program and to get us all on the same page. It's a good thing," he said. "We're very much in agreement with what the states want to do. It's not cutting out any other cooperators. It will still be a collaborative process that WMAT, Wildlife Services, Forest Service and New Mexico Department of Game and Fish have a voice in." The next meeting of the advisory group on the wolf program will be in Clifton in February and will be attended by state, federal and rural representatives, he said. Still, the new approach puts Arizona in the front row of directing the reintroduction part of the program. "The day-to-day implementation of the program will be by the head of one of the states. That head position for Arizona Game and Fish, representing the whole field team, will not cut anyone out," Kelly said.
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