Arizona’s hard line against expanding Mexican gray wolf territory sets up a battle between those who want to keep the endangered predator away from the Grand Canyon and those who say its survival odds are slim without the new turf.
In November, Gov. Doug Ducey and the governors of New Mexico, Utah and Colorado sent a joint letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe. The governors argued that 90 percent of the wolves’ historical range was in Mexico and that “any serious recovery planning effort must include a Mexico-centric approach rather than translocation of the subspecies out of its historical range.”
On Thursday, wolf supporters rallied outside the Arizona Capitol and then delivered a petition with 5,500 signatures to the governor’s office asking him to reconsider.
While the governors say the wolves have never roamed in the territory north of Interstate 40, wolf supporters say in today’s reality — where most former Mexican habitat is private ranch land or otherwise altered — the wolf must look north to find deer, elk and solitude for survival.
They noted that various polls over the last decade have placed Arizonans’ support for wolf recovery in the state at more than 70 percent.
“Arizonans want wolves,” said Sandy Bahr, the Sierra Club’s Arizona chapter leader.
Ed Coleman of Mesa attended the rally and agreed. The retiree said he has seen and heard wolves in their existing recovery zone by a home he owns in Nutrioso.
“There’s nothing that gives you goosebumps like the sound of a wolfpack howling in the night,” he said.
Source: Gov. Doug Ducey’s hard line sets up battle over expanding Mexican wolf territory