Mexican Gray Wolf Hearings In New Mexico, Arizona Expected To Draw Hundreds

Large turnouts are expected at two upcoming public hearings on proposed changes to the Mexican wolf management plan, including expansion of the wolf-management areas in Arizona and New Mexico. The hearings, Aug. 11 in Pinetop, Ariz., and Aug. 13 in Truth or Consequences, N.M., will be the final opportunity for verbal testimony on proposed changes to management of the endangered Mexican gray wolf population in the two states. Public hearings last year in Albuquerque and Pinetop drew a total of around 1,000 people, most of whom were not allotted time to speak. As determined by a settlement agreement with the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must complete its rule-making on changes to the Mexican wolf management plan by Jan. 12, 2015...more