NEW MEXICO
BY FRANK DUBOIS
Federal
Lands News This is your Official Spring Tour of the Endangered Species Act our tour guide was going to make this a western tour, but once I threw in wolves it became international. Set your seats back to the resting level and I hope you enjoy this exploration of what Congress has brought you through the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Y
Wolves
Last June the USFWS proposed delisting the gray wolf (but not the Mexican grey wolf). The proposal would have turned wolf management over to the states. The feds received over 30,000 comments on their proposal including those challenging the science used. Scientists at USFWS had written a paper calling for a taxonomic
THREE MILE HILL RANCH “Our cattle not only make dollars — they make cents”
Registered Black Angus
ANNUAL YEARLING ANGUS BULL SALE APRIL 8, 2014 at 1:00 P.M. "
' "
!%
"" &
!#
!
registered
IRISH BLACK & IRISH RED Bulls & Females For Sale
result the Service has reopened the comment period to March 27. On the Mexican grey wolf, the Service recently announced the number of wolves had jumped to 83, a roughly ten percent increase. Arizona Game and Fish Director Larry Voyles noted “this is the third year of a greater-than-10-percent increase in the wolf population.” “Equally important to the population growth” says Voyles, “is the fact that now 100 percent of the Mexican wolves in Arizona and New Mexico are wild-born.” The biologists conducted an aerial survey and found 46 wolves in New Mexico and 37 in Arizona. Some of the wolves born in the wild and not collared would have gone undetected, so there are more than 83 of the critters out there. Meanwhile, elk hunters in Idaho have continued on page 36
Cattle Goats Sheep
HUMANE BLOODLESS DRUG FREE MADE IN USA
These cattle are renowned for their grade-ability, early maturity & growth, marbling & cut-out percentage. Irish Black & Irish Red sired calves are a favorite among feeders & packers alike. Cow-calf operators like them because of their exceptional calving-ease & high fertility. Raised in High-Altitude at 7,500 - 8,000 Feet
EARLY EARL Y CAS CASTRA TRATION TION
DELAYED CAS CASTRA TRATION TION
Please call Steve Jarmon
JARMON RANCH
" (
"" & $
revision. The Service claims that, historically, the United States was home to another wolf species (Canis lycaon), which would mean the historic range of our modern wolves (Canis lupus) didn’t include most of the eastern half of the U.S. This paper was not peer reviewed and was challenged by many. The Service then requested a panel review the science and the panel came back with a finding the proposal was not based on the best available science. Robert Wayne, a canid geneticist at UCLA who sat on the independent review panel says, “I can’t think of another endangered species which has been delisted because of a taxonomic revision. In this case the taxonomic revision is questionable. It seems like a convenient way for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to delist the gray wolf in 22 eastern states.” As a
Cortez, Colorado Ph: 970/565-7663 Cell: 970/759-0986 www.j-clivestock.com
CALL FOR A DISTRIBUTOR NEAR YOU YOU
800-858-5974 www.CallicrateBanders.com MARCH 2014
35