Friends,

Within three weeks, the Fish and Wildlife Service intends to release a pair of known problem wolves at McKenna Park in the Gila Wilderness. This is just 10 miles from several ranches in the region.

The female is F1108 (look up Mexican Wolf F1108 for more information on her) which was part of the Aspen Pack that officially killed 12 yearlings on the Adobe Ranch in 2007. The male is M1133 (look up Mexican Wolf M1133 for his history) which was the wolf that had to be darted and removed for loitering in a residential neighborhood in Reserve, NM this past January.

The only reason for this release is to introduce the DNA of F1108 into the existing wolf population in the wild to shore up deteriorating genetics.

Please encourage Congressman Pearce to introduce legislation to defund the Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Program. Feel free to use the example email below. Please send in your emails as soon as possible to Fred Huff in the Congressman’s Las Cruces Office.

Fred.Huff@mail.house.gov

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April 16, 2013

Representative Steve Pearce
2nd Congressional District of New Mexico

Dear Congressman Pearce,

The Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Program continues in disarray. The destruction of local economies, the unrelenting deception, fear and intimidation perpetrated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on the people of the affected communities and the devastation to ranching and outfitting industries continues unabated.

(I), (We), (Organization), (Unit of Local Government) urge you to lead the effort to stop this egregious program by introducing legislation to permanently defund the Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Program.

This travesty has to end.

Thank you.

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http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/witness-sinks-teeth-into-womans-wolf-tale-199490591.html

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Staying calm, Dawn Hepp gets to Ashern, Man., and treatment for injuries
CBC News
Posted: Mar 18, 2013 9:07 AM CT
Last Updated: Mar 18, 2013 5:19 PM CT
Read 141 comments141

A Manitoba woman credits a childhood lesson for saving her life when she was attacked and bitten by a wolf at the side of a highway.

Dawn Hepp was driving along Highway 6 near Grand Rapids on March 8 when she pulled over to help another driver.

When she walked over to the car, a wolf lunged at her.

“His face and his jaws were around my neck … so it was his fur I can feel on my face,” she said.

“I could just hear my dad saying, ‘stay calm Dawn, stay calm Dawn.’ So what I did was I just stayed calm, I didn’t yell, I didn’t scream.

“He dug a little deeper with that tooth and by the larynx, whether he couldn’t get a good enough grip or what, he let go.”

At that moment, Hepp jumped into her car and pulled up next to the people in the other vehicle she had stopped to help.

“I rolled down my window and said, ‘You guys are OK? I’ve gotta go. I’ve gotta get to the nearest hospital,’” she said.

“I just said, ‘I gotta get going’, and they said, ‘Yeah, we were worried about you.’”

Remaining calm, Hepp drove herself to the hospital in Ashern and was treated for puncture wounds and rabies.

Ken Rebizant is with Manitoba Conservation and said the animal could have been hungry or sick.

“It is very rare. I have been with wildlife branch for 25 years, and this is the first case that I have heard of of this kind in Manitoba,” said Rebizant.

Grand Rapids is located about 415 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

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NMTA and Coalition kill HB579
Text: This year’s efforts to end trapping in New Mexico have failed. The bill was tabled this morning in the House energy and Natural Resources Committee. This was the second best outcome; a Do Not Pass vote would have been slightly better. Given that there are few days remaining in this session and the strong showing made by the NMTA and our friends, this tabling vote is a death sentence for the bill.
There were two highlights of today’s brief session: Before the chair opened the meeting the R’s were caucusing somewhere. One R came into the room and a D asked him where his people were …the D’s were ready. Without hesitation Rep Madalena responded ” they’re out checking their traps”. (I liked that one, Madalena was the swing vote). After the bill was tabled, a D who supported the bill, commented , and I paraphrase here…I have never received so many e-mails and calls on a bill. I congratulate you for organizing your people. Later in the hall an R made a similar remark and thanked us.
You folks did a bang up job. Trapping would have suffered a terrible blow if it not for your hard work and diligence. I hope that we can now recommit to our goals and be even better prepared for the next round in two years.
We are not finished. When this session is over be on the watch for another e-mail with a list of legislators who need to learn of your thanks for their support. These e-mails are everry bit as important to send as were those requesting help.
Personally, I am gratified by the cooperation of my members, our coalition partners, department and legislative friends…you ROCK!
T.D. McDowell
President NMTA

We will be making better effort throughout the year to educate the public on the affects of disease spread and the impacts states without trapping are experiencing. Public Safety is at stake and not the way the Anti- Trappers think it is.

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Thirteen-year-old Trenton Dale of Alamogordo, who testified before the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday morning, represents what most people support — a youth who spends a lot of time outdoors.

But Dale also traps coyotes.

That put him on the wrong side of more than a dozen conservationists, hikers and animal-rights advocates at the committee meeting in support of House Bill 579, a measure that essentially bans wildlife trapping for fur or predation on public and private land in New Mexico.
- See more at: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/local%20news/022813xgrTRAP#.US9zs1dweYk

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By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press
Posted: 02/26/2013 11:36:17 AM MST

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—Legislation that sought to outlaw coyote killing contests like the one that drew close to 200 participants last weekend in southeastern New Mexico was rejected by the New Mexico House after more than two hours of debate Tuesday.
The bill introduced by Rep. Nate Cote, D-Organ, would have made it illegal to organize, sponsor, arrange or participate in a coyote killing contest. Cote had argued that the contests were senseless, but lawmakers representing rural areas of New Mexico shared stories about the challenges of raising livestock with an unchecked population of predators.
“We have to be able to maintain our cattle, our ranches and our livelihoods,” said Rep. William Gray, R-Artesia.
Several coyote hunting contests have been held in New Mexico in recent months in which firearms have been awarded as prizes for those hunters killing the most coyotes. Ranchers have welcomed the contests as a way to trim the population and limit the loss of cattle, sheep and other livestock.
The contests have sparked protest among animal rights advocates who argue that such a practice gives New Mexico a bad reputation.
Rep. Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, said during Tuesday’s debate that New Mexico rejects the idea of “killing for the sake of killing” and should send that message by outlawing the hunts. He also noted that nothing in the bill would have prevented ranchers from shooting or trapping coyotes that were threatening livestock.
“It is just simply wrong to have 10 or 20 or 30 people get together and set out with the only purpose to see how much death and destruction you can bring by the end of the day,” he said. “There’s no scientific reason to do this. There is no population management reason to do this.”
The idea behind the legislation was to target those hunts that awarded prizes or were put on for entertainment purposes, supporters said.
For ranchers, the debate seemed to pit urban interests against a rural way of life.
“Urban citizens have a police force to protect them from predators, if you will. We don’t have that same luxury in the country, and we need the ability to use the methods at hand,” said Caren Cowan, executive director of the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association, which represents about 1,500 ranchers.
Cowan said each calf taken by a coyote could mean a dent of about $1,000 in the livelihood of a New Mexico rancher as well as the loss of genetics that have been culled over generations in the search for those cattle best suited for the state’s range.

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Preliminary draft EA V2 wolf management plan 12-18-12

Only Select Counties and Tribes in AZ and Texas and a few in NM were given access to these documents. Then only had 3 weeks to render the documents and send in relevant comments. Not enough time to even get on a county government agenda. Was your county left out? Many rural counties did not even receive these documents

Instructions below. There is a comment deadline of February 1, 2013 for counties, tribes, and agencies to respond prior to these documents being released to the public for comment. The information was mailed on December 20, so best case most people didn’t begin receiving until December 26. Most county commissions meet only once or twice a month and for some counties, the documents were not received in time to get the issue on meeting agendas for those in early January. Additionally, with all due respect to counties and their hard working staff members, many do not have anyone on staff with the expertise to add this volume of information in such a short turnaround time.

We need you to do two (2) things immediately:

1. Find out if YOUR county received the documents, if they did not, please let us know ASAP.
2. Request that your county write a letter to:

Sheryl L. Barrett
Mexican Wolf Recovery Coordinator
US Fish & Wildlife Service
NM Ecological Services Field Office
2105 Osune NE
Albuquerque NM 87113

Asking for a 90-day extension of time the February 1 deadline.

It would be great if the NMCGA could get a copy of that request.

If you have questions, please let us know and thanks in advance for your help.

We are working to assist in the development of comments to make available to those who might like assistance.

Caren Cowan
New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association
POB 7517
Albuquerque NM 87194
505.247.0584 phone
505.842.1755 fax
nmcga@nmagriculture.org

Remember … you can join NMCGA on the web NOW at http://www.nmagriculture.org/ !

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