Arizona Files Motions to Protect Arizona’s Interest in Mexican Wolf Recovery

The State of Arizona, on behalf of the Arizona Game and Fish Department, recently filed two motions aimed at protecting the state’s interest in the Mexican wolf reintroduction program and successful recovery of the endangered wolf subspecies that inhabits east-central Arizona and New Mexico. Arizona filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit Center for Biological Diversity v. Sally Jewell. The suit concerns the recently-revised 10(j) Rule that governs the management of Mexican wolves in Arizona and New Mexico. The state filed the motion to intervene to defend its trust authority over wildlife conservation in Arizona and its involvement in the revision of the 10(j) Rule. The state also filed a motion to dismiss the suit based on the court’s lack of subject matter jurisdiction because the plaintiffs are unable to demonstrate that their interests have suffered due to the revised 10(j) Rule. The Arizona Game and Fish Department also is working with the Arizona Attorney General’s office to challenge the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s failure to develop an updated Mexican wolf recovery plan that incorporates Mexico, which has historically held 90 percent of the habitat for Mexican wolves...more