Wloves in Kaibab & So. Utah????
Wloves in Kaibab & So. Utah????
This is NOT good news for the deer herds in Kaibab North and the southern Utah herd. I've already sent the USFWS an e-mail voicing my concerns and disapproval.
BOHNTR )))---------------->
PINOS ALTOS, N.M. -- A slot in Utah's spectacular San Rafael Reef is called "Spotted Wolf Canyon," but it has been a century since any wolf has been spotted there.
That may change this century as wolves reintroduced in the wilds to the north and south of Utah try to colonize the Beehive State.
If a canis lupis comes in from the south, chances are it will be a Mexican gray wolf, an endangered species struggling to gain a pawhold here in the mountains of southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona.
This is Aldo Leopold country, a vast expanse of roadless areas where native forests of pinyon, juniper, Pondersa and fir remain largely intact and support herds of elk and deer. It is prime habitat for the Mexican wolf, which was exterminated from the United States in the first half of the 20th century.
In 1998, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, under the authority of the Endangered Species Act, began reintroducing Mexican gray wolf packs into Arizona's Apache National Forest, later relocating packs into New Mexico's Gila National Forest.
The goal was to establish 100 wolves by 2006.
But unlike the northern gray wolf of the Yellowstone region, where recovery goals have exceeded expectations, the Mexican gray wolf recovery effort is under- achieving.
The Fish and Wildlife Service had projected that by this year, however, the Mexican wolf population would total 55, including 11 packs and 10 breeding pairs.
At last count, there were only a handful of breeding pairs, eight packs and an estimated 40 wolves, most of them in Arizona.
Joy Nicholopoulos, supervisor for the Fish and Wildlife Service's ecological services division in New Mexico, said the program's setbacks are due mainly to a high number of wolves killed illegally. Most ranchers in southwestern New Mexico oppose wolf reintroduction.
She said she is heartened, however, by a steady number of wolves being born in the wild -- a good sign for continued survival of the species.
Michael Robinson, a Pinos Altos resident who advocates for the Tucson, Ariz.-based Center for Biological Diversity, points to a more objective statistic: Wolves equipped with radio collars have decreased from 28 a year ago to 18 today.
"There are reasons not to be optimistic," said Robinson, whose organization was among several environmental groups that filed suit in the late 1980s to force the Fish and Wildlife Service to reintroduce the Mexican gray wolf.
Despite the setbacks, wolf advocates have new reasons to be hopeful. Earlier this month, the New Mexico Game Commission, under orders from Gov. Bill Richardson, reversed its anti-wolf stand and asked the federal agency to consider changing its management policies to give the wolves a better chance of long-term survival.
Nicholopoulos said the commission's support of the wolf will give the agency more flexibility.
Historically, the Mexican gray wolf, or "lobo," ranged throughout much of northern and central Mexico and the American Southwest, from Mexico City to Albuquerque and from San Antonio to Phoenix.
The Fish and Wildlife Service last year convened a team to revise a 1982 wolf recovery plan designed to lead to the wolf's eventual removal from the endangered-species list.
Some groups are lobbying for that revision to include a reintroduction of wolves to the Kaibab Plateau on the north rim of the Grand Canyon.
"They are going to have to reintroduce wolves into other areas, and we think the Grand Canyon is the best remaining habitat in the Southwest," said Lara Schmit, a Flagstaff, Ariz., activist coordinating a coalition of environmental groups trying to bring wolves back to northern Arizona.
If wolves get established on the Kaibab, they undoubtedly would spread into southern Utah, heightening concerns among Utah ranchers and big-game hunters already wary of wolves moving into the state from packs in Yellowstone National Park.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is devising a plan to manage the northern gray wolf, which soon may be removed from the federal endangered-species list.
But the management plan would not apply to the Mexican gray wolf, which will remain on the list for several years.
Although the two wolf species can be distinguished by experts, mainly by size and coloring, the Fish and Wildlife Service has made management simple with an arbitrary line that divides Utah in half.
The southern half of the state was designated a "distinct population segment" for the Mexican gray wolf.
The dividing line, coincidentally, is Interstate 70 -- which slices through Spotted Wolf Canyon.
BOHNTR )))---------------->
PINOS ALTOS, N.M. -- A slot in Utah's spectacular San Rafael Reef is called "Spotted Wolf Canyon," but it has been a century since any wolf has been spotted there.
That may change this century as wolves reintroduced in the wilds to the north and south of Utah try to colonize the Beehive State.
If a canis lupis comes in from the south, chances are it will be a Mexican gray wolf, an endangered species struggling to gain a pawhold here in the mountains of southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona.
This is Aldo Leopold country, a vast expanse of roadless areas where native forests of pinyon, juniper, Pondersa and fir remain largely intact and support herds of elk and deer. It is prime habitat for the Mexican wolf, which was exterminated from the United States in the first half of the 20th century.
In 1998, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, under the authority of the Endangered Species Act, began reintroducing Mexican gray wolf packs into Arizona's Apache National Forest, later relocating packs into New Mexico's Gila National Forest.
The goal was to establish 100 wolves by 2006.
But unlike the northern gray wolf of the Yellowstone region, where recovery goals have exceeded expectations, the Mexican gray wolf recovery effort is under- achieving.
The Fish and Wildlife Service had projected that by this year, however, the Mexican wolf population would total 55, including 11 packs and 10 breeding pairs.
At last count, there were only a handful of breeding pairs, eight packs and an estimated 40 wolves, most of them in Arizona.
Joy Nicholopoulos, supervisor for the Fish and Wildlife Service's ecological services division in New Mexico, said the program's setbacks are due mainly to a high number of wolves killed illegally. Most ranchers in southwestern New Mexico oppose wolf reintroduction.
She said she is heartened, however, by a steady number of wolves being born in the wild -- a good sign for continued survival of the species.
Michael Robinson, a Pinos Altos resident who advocates for the Tucson, Ariz.-based Center for Biological Diversity, points to a more objective statistic: Wolves equipped with radio collars have decreased from 28 a year ago to 18 today.
"There are reasons not to be optimistic," said Robinson, whose organization was among several environmental groups that filed suit in the late 1980s to force the Fish and Wildlife Service to reintroduce the Mexican gray wolf.
Despite the setbacks, wolf advocates have new reasons to be hopeful. Earlier this month, the New Mexico Game Commission, under orders from Gov. Bill Richardson, reversed its anti-wolf stand and asked the federal agency to consider changing its management policies to give the wolves a better chance of long-term survival.
Nicholopoulos said the commission's support of the wolf will give the agency more flexibility.
Historically, the Mexican gray wolf, or "lobo," ranged throughout much of northern and central Mexico and the American Southwest, from Mexico City to Albuquerque and from San Antonio to Phoenix.
The Fish and Wildlife Service last year convened a team to revise a 1982 wolf recovery plan designed to lead to the wolf's eventual removal from the endangered-species list.
Some groups are lobbying for that revision to include a reintroduction of wolves to the Kaibab Plateau on the north rim of the Grand Canyon.
"They are going to have to reintroduce wolves into other areas, and we think the Grand Canyon is the best remaining habitat in the Southwest," said Lara Schmit, a Flagstaff, Ariz., activist coordinating a coalition of environmental groups trying to bring wolves back to northern Arizona.
If wolves get established on the Kaibab, they undoubtedly would spread into southern Utah, heightening concerns among Utah ranchers and big-game hunters already wary of wolves moving into the state from packs in Yellowstone National Park.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is devising a plan to manage the northern gray wolf, which soon may be removed from the federal endangered-species list.
But the management plan would not apply to the Mexican gray wolf, which will remain on the list for several years.
Although the two wolf species can be distinguished by experts, mainly by size and coloring, the Fish and Wildlife Service has made management simple with an arbitrary line that divides Utah in half.
The southern half of the state was designated a "distinct population segment" for the Mexican gray wolf.
The dividing line, coincidentally, is Interstate 70 -- which slices through Spotted Wolf Canyon.
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Danthe2pointmuleyman
- Spike
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Hey,
Not that this is much but Utah has had wolves and bear in it before. We border states that have herds of wolves and its not like the wolves are going to stop at the state line and turn back because they know its utah
but anyhow i wouldnt be too frightened about it because we got some world class cougars up here in Utah and they are just as much of a threat if not more to the deer herds but somehow we manage it. In the past few years we have had a really bad coyote problem and i think it was two years ago the dwr told people to go and shoot the coyotes up around lightning ridge. Utah likes to think they are exempt from bear and wolves but in reality we arnt so if we manage the wolves right i dont think there will be much of a problem. But all in all theres my opinion and thanks for the info.
Not that this is much but Utah has had wolves and bear in it before. We border states that have herds of wolves and its not like the wolves are going to stop at the state line and turn back because they know its utah
but anyhow i wouldnt be too frightened about it because we got some world class cougars up here in Utah and they are just as much of a threat if not more to the deer herds but somehow we manage it. In the past few years we have had a really bad coyote problem and i think it was two years ago the dwr told people to go and shoot the coyotes up around lightning ridge. Utah likes to think they are exempt from bear and wolves but in reality we arnt so if we manage the wolves right i dont think there will be much of a problem. But all in all theres my opinion and thanks for the info.Happy Trails
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Anonymous
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MuleyMadness
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ironranger
- Fawn
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I would just bet that Mr. Robinson and Joy Nickawhatever have some affliation with either the humane society, PETA, or some other anti org. Just a guess. I know how you feel down there as the Feds force fed the wolves down our throats quite a few years ago and we have too many now. In cases where the DNR says that we have so many wolves, you can figure on doubling that number. I don't have any definitive proof to that statement but from past experience with game depts, I have reason to say that. Hopefully the ranchers will keep the numbers down!!
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30inchbucks
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Anonymous
if you take after those wolves, not that I am saying you should, you better learn to shoot, shovel, and shutup (SS&SU). Case in point, I was on a freinds ranch in N Utah and I saw a big kitty just on the outskirts of one of his pastures. the pasture bordered the buck brush and sage so I got to watch him for a while. I ended my day by going back down to my buddies ranch and told him of the sighting. HOLY COW!!!! did I ever get a butt chewing. I was told never to let one of those #$@%!@ survive while on his property. the SS&SU rules applied there. I am glad I never saw the kitty again, for I didnt want the ethical call to be on my shoulders, one side with my buddy who has been struggling making ends meet and didnt need the loss of stock and on the other side the illegal taking and wasting of wildlife. neither sit well with me. so anyways just remember SS&SU