Endangered Mexican gray wolf at heart of political battle in Southwest

Tucked into the southwestern part of the state, just along the border with Arizona, Catron County is New Mexico’s largest and third least populous county. Just over 3,600 people are spread across nearly 7,000 square miles. Much of the county consists of national forest lands, including the Gila Wilderness. But Catron County is a hotbed of anti-government sentiment. Anti-wolf signs pop out from the side of the highway near the towns of Glenwood and Reserve. On a few rural roads, locals have built plywood and chicken wire cages they say serve as bus stops to protect their children from wolves. “It’s criminal to turn loose habituated wolves raised in captivity on the citizens of this country,” said Catron County Commissioner Glyn Griffin, who lives in the town of Reserve. “There’s not a civilized country in the world that would do that to their people.” Griffin has worked in the ranching and logging industries for decades. He said wolves threaten the ability of rural people to make a living. “You can’t raise any cattle, you can’t get any calves,” he said. “It’s a fairy tale about wolves. They’re a predator that’s going to destroy the last two industries we have left in this county: livestock and hunting.” He’s unhappy with the Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposed rule changes, and he challenges wolf supporters who live outside the area. “The pro-wolf people need to have them in their backyard. The bosque [cottonwood tree forest] around Albuquerque would be a good place,” he said. “Then see what the reaction would be when people can’t let their pets outside and you have to keep a close eye on your children.” Tensions around the topic run high. Sometimes very high. At a public meeting last spring, a rancher told Barrett he’d charge her with murder if his child were hurt or killed by a wolf. And as the agency plans to release wolves into Arizona in the coming months — the first releases in five years — Republican lawmakers in the state Legislature are trying to block wolf recovery. Biologists with the wolf program navigate this often-hostile landscape, while at the same time answering to environmental groups that say the agency is dragging its feet on recovery...more