Mexican Gray Wolves vs. Arizona ranchers: A battle reaches Capitol Hill

The age-old battle between predator and prey is pushing some Arizona ranchers to the nation’s capital.

The decision to place Mexican Gray Wolves on the protected species list is putting cattle farmers across the Southwest in a difficult position, raising debate over conservation and livestock losses, or depredation.

The first captive wolves were released into the wild in 1998 as part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's recovery efforts.

Local perspective:

The debate is personal for the Marks family, an Arizona ranching family based in Blue, Arizona. Rancher Ginger Cheney recalled finding a calf, Manuka, this spring after a wolf attack.

"She had been bitten on top of the head by the wolves, and they actually crushed the top of her skull," Cheney said.

After several trips to the vet, Manuka is considered a miracle, as her survival is rare.

"Manuka is the lucky one. We had so many head-bitten calves that they died — I had one die in my living room. It was gut-wrenching," said rancher Barbara Marks.

The ranchers say Manuka’s health crisis ultimately took a toll on her mother. "Even though we doctored her, and she saw the vet as well, after our last trip to Silver City the mom actually died from the stress," Cheney said.

‘It starts hitting you in the pocketbook’

The Marks ranch covers nearly 140,000 acres across allotments and leases but supports only about 300 bovine. Every loss hits hard.

Nearby ranchers Doug and Dennis Stacy have also experienced depredation, with each calf lost representing a potential sale of close to $2,000.

"When you start losing several calves a year that could’ve, you know, helped pay for diesel fuel and kept the ranch, all the things that go into ranching up here, it starts hitting you in the pocketbook," Doug Stacy said.

The other side:

The families are seeking solutions from groups like the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD).

Jim deVos, the AZGFD Mexican Wolf Coordinator, said the wolves belong in the ecosystem, noting that human intervention in the late 1800s led to their near-eradication.

Seven wolves were captured in the 1970s to start the captive breeding program. AZGFD now works with organizations like Save Animals From Extinction and the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center in Scottsdale to manage genetics and protect the species.

‘Trying to make a living just like we are’

Kim Carr, animal care manager at the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center, said there is a widespread misunderstanding about the animals.

"People think of them as these big, bad, vicious things, and they’re just really not. They’re very family-oriented, as we know, they’re pack animals, and they are just trying to make a living just like we are," Carr said.

Carr emphasized that removing the apex predator would be detrimental to the overall ecosystem by affecting deer and elk populations and the vegetation they consume.

Ranchers argue that the wolves' mere presence puts additional pressure on other predators like mountain lions, bears and coyotes by taking away natural prey. "The less game there is and with the cow numbers that we have, the more depredation we’re going to see," Doug Stacy added.

While ranchers praise local AZGFD and Fish and Wildlife Services representatives, they express frustration with the federal agencies' upper management.

"Then you get to the Fish and Wildlife Service and the upper ranks and the communication is not there, you know, they’re not on the ground. They don’t see what’s going on," Cheney said.

Dig deeper:

The conflict isn't isolated to Eastern Arizona. In May, a mated wolf pair and their pups were moved from Cochise County to New Mexico following depredation reports.

The move, deVos said, was partly due to the Arizona drought and a lack of natural prey.

The ongoing issue has reached Washington, D.C., where Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar has introduced legislation to delist the Mexican wolf from the Endangered Species Act.

Conservation leaders are urging for a chance to find solutions before delisting occurs. Jason Capps, Interagency Wolf Team Lead for the AZGFD, said the goal is to protect both the species and people's livelihoods.

The Mexican Gray Wolf population has been surpassing recovery goals in the U.S. in recent years. However, some ranchers, like Doug Stacy, say losses have created a staunch opposition to the recovery program. "I hate to say it, but I’d like nothing more than the money be pulled, defunding this program," he said.

Conservationists and ranchers, deVos believes, can find a balance that allows for both wolves and livestock, aiming for a "100-year trajectory of wolf population establishment."

Currently, the independent Arizona Livestock Loss Board offers compensation to ranchers. The board, deVos noted, has paid out just over $1 million to the livestock industry in the last five years.

Ranchers say the payback process is arduous, requiring verified remains of a wolf kill, which they say is nearly impossible to find in the rough, vast terrain.

‘We want them in a measured fashion’

AZGFD is discussing a "pay for presence" program, but funding remains an obstacle. Current combined funding for direct compensation and conflict avoidance totals about $200,000, which is "simply not enough for this pay for presence," deVos said.

Other conflict-reduction efforts include introducing two full-time range riders who use scare tactics like "boar thunder" and "cracker rounds" to haze the wolves away from cattle. However, some ranchers feel the tactics are ineffective in the rugged, mountainous country.

Marks stressed that funding needs to be focused on those working on the ground. Capps said more autonomy for management comes when the species is delisted, a step that requires reaching a total population of 320 wolves between Arizona and New Mexico and maintaining that average for eight years.

Cheney, who recently visited Washington to discuss the issue, said Gosar’s House resolution offers hope, though it could jeopardize the progress conservationists like deVos have made.

The most important takeaway, deVos said, is finding a balance: "I think the fact that we want them here, but we want them in a measured fashion and with safeguards for the ranching community."