Arizona Republic (Original) Posted May 7, 2014 by Sandy Bahr
Bahr: 'Extinction alternative' shows how out of touch the department is with Arizonans
Larry Voyles' column on Monday, "Mexican wolf proposal offers needed balance," is just one example of how the Arizona Game and Fish Department and its commission are out of step with wildlife conservation and the vast majority of the public.
The proposal Game and Fish calls the "cooperating agencies alternative" is a collection of previously discarded policies that failed to promote wolf recovery in the past and will not promote wolf recovery in the future. It will keep wolves from truly regaining their role in supporting healthy ecosystems and will surely contribute to their demise, if not a second extinction in the wild.
The proposal that Game and Fish director Voyles says brings "balance" would make it much easier to kill endangered Mexican gray wolves in Arizona and New Mexico. It will allow Game and Fish and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services to arbitrarily establish a cap of 125 wolves, with all wolves above the cap to be killed or permanently incarcerated. And it will restrict the wolves to a small portion of potential habitat.
That is not balance. That is not recovery. And it is contrary to the recommendations from the best wolf biologists.
The alternative endorsed by Game and Fish also recommends that management of wolves be taken away from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, where it has been since passage of the federal Endangered Species Act, and given to the state, which has become increasingly hostile to wolves.
Development of the proposal endorsed by the Arizona Game and Fish Commission included nearly all of the groups that historically object to wolf recovery — livestock interests, trappers, and some counties and hunting groups — but no groups that support recovery.
The document was not made available for review until right before the commission's telephone meeting. Members of the public who wished to comment were required to be at the Game and Fish office in north Phoenix, rather than being able to participate from satellite offices, as is often the case.
The department and commission should be embarrassed by their conduct and that they endorsed an alternative that is contrary to federal law and the best science.
Mexican gray wolves are native to the Southwest and are an important part of our natural heritage. There are only 83 in the wild in Arizona and New Mexico. Now is not the time to further hinder their recovery.
Yes, we do need balance, and to achieve that balance, we need wolves and other predators restored to the Southwestern landscape. We need a state wildlife agency that understands its mission and its responsibilities to all of Arizona's wildlife and all of Arizona's people.
What we don't need is another "planned" extinction for wolves. Arizona Game and Fish should spend less time trying to convince us that it is doing the right thing and spend more time actually doing the right thing.
Sandy Bahr is director of the Sierra Club's Grand Canyon chapter.
