Welfare ranchers are killing endangered wolves in Southwest

In January the Center for Biological Diversity sued the Trump Organization's Forest Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service and its local representatives saying the agencies are allowing cattle in restricted areas along the Gila River and its tributaries in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona. Investigators from the Center discovered cattle on the Gila National Forest in excluded riparian zones in violation of a 1998 legal settlement. Because of pollution from cattle grazing American Rivers named the Gila the nation’s most endangered river in 2019.

Today in the Gila the Mexican gray wolf population in New Mexico and Arizona has increased by at least 24 percent according to the Center's Michael Robinson. He spoke to the Silver City (New Mexico) Daily Press.

While wolf mortalities are down — unaccounted-for “wolf disappearances” notwithstanding, Robinson noted — instances of conflicts between wolves and ranchers have increased in New Mexico, according to both environmentalists and ranchers. The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish was unable to provide numbers for total reported cattle depredation incidents in Catron County, saying the “data resides with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service”; the Fish and Wildlife Service did not respond to the Daily Press’ request by press time. Robinson said it’s the policies of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that are to blame for the increased depredations. [Report: Wolf count, cattle kills increase]

In September we motored to Oracle, Patagonia, Bisbee and Morenci from Santa Fe and were shocked by the ravages of surface mining at Silver City and in SE Arizona. Operations owned by Morenci and Miami are ravaging water supplies and reducing entire mountain ranges to piles of waste rock. These are Republican enclaves where the rules of law are simply suggestions.

Kill off apex predators like wolves and cougars, spray atrazine, neonicotinoids and glyphosate on everything then wonder why cervids like deer and wapiti contract a prion contagion like chronic wasting disease.

Photo: adobe ruin at the original townsite of Harshaw near Patagonia, Arizona.

Thought this elk in McKnight Canyon might bring a very needed smile to some faces. #WildGilaRiver pic.twitter.com/2gjGYOF8Gn

— Wild Gila River (@wildgilariver) April 2, 2020