Agencies to blame for lack of solution for wolf problems

A 900-pound, four-legged mother stands in a green pasture with her calf at her side, and there couldn't be a better sight to cowmen or cowgirls atop their horses. To a wolf -- an 80-pound, top-of-the-food-chain predator -- it is a slow-moving, tantalizing T-bone on hooves. Can you really blame the wolf for wanting to enjoy a savory bite of delicious beef? It's instinct. However, wildlife managers believe they have figured out how to keep wolves away from slow-moving prey. While Southwest ranchers learn to live and work among these predators, everyone is quick to point a finger at people who have done nothing to the wolf beside live within the guidelines provided by government and wildlife experts. Ranchers from Arizona and New Mexico continue to work with federal agencies and other organizations on instituting a wolf program. It has been several years since a wolf was lethally removed from the Blue Range Recovery Area because of livestock depredation. To say that hardworking ranch families, who have spent as much time with federal agencies and organizations on the wolf as they have on their ranch, are the Achilles' heel of the program ignores the facts. The agency entrusted by the American people to recover the Mexican wolf -- the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service -- is the true Achilles' heel of the program that has failed to communicate with stakeholders -- the public. And, above all, it has failed to construct a working program for success. Instead, these individuals have chosen to do nothing about the wolves on the ground and sit quiet in Albuquerque while their state partners in New Mexico step away from the program. They keep other agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, from assisting in the program while leaving Arizona partners in the dark wondering what will be next...more