Photo Credit: Mark Dumont Flickr via Compfight cc
My short piece about the Baldy Pack and the politics of wolf reintroduction is in the June issue of The Sun in the “Readers Write” column.
As published:
On November 8, 2016, Donald J. Trump was elected president of the United States. Now, three weeks later, winter has arrived in the White Mountains of Arizona. Temperatures have dropped to single digits, and there is new snow on the ground. Undeterred by the cold, two Mexican wolves trot through stands of ponderosa pine and weave among bare aspen trees. A mated pair, they are tracking a herd of elk. The heavy undercoats they have grown over the last few months keep them warm and dry.
The wolves know nothing of politics or national borders. Their territory straddles the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest (ASNF) and the Fort Apache Indian Reservation (FAIR) in the shadow of Mount Baldy. They are two of fewer than a hundred Mexican gray wolves left in the wild. Threats to their population abound: A blow to the head from the hoof of an elk. Ambush by a mountain lion. Starvation. Humans with vehicles and guns. And inbreeding. Local resistance—primarily from ranchers and hunters—to reintroducing wolves has made it nearly impossible to move animals bred in captivity into the wild.
Our pair of wolves, though, are not related. In January or February, if all goes well, they will breed. By then a new president will have been sworn in. So far the incoming administration has shown little regard for endangered species. There are numerous bills and amendments in Congress that aim to cut funding for the reintroduction effort and possibly remove wolves from the endangered-species list, stripping all protection. These bills are nothing new, but after January 20 we will have a president who is likely to sign them.
The days are growing shorter. The two wolves run silently through the woods. They are lucky: they do not know they have lost.
*****
Six months have passed since I wrote those words. In November and December the two wolves, M1347 and f1445, were “located within their traditional territory in the eastern portion of the FAIR and the northern portion of the ASNF.” Since then they have not been located according to the monthly status reports.
I hope for the best, but fear the worst.
Update July 13, 2017
Monthly Project Update for May 2017 “It has been more than three months since the Baldy Pack was located and they are now considered fate unknown.”
Update April 28, 2018
Good news from the Monthly Project Update for March 2018: The alpha male AM1347 and a pup born in 2017, mp1672, were reported to be traveling on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation and in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests.
Is there any other way to bring about awareness of this horrible plight man has created???
Pointing outl if not stopped, the effects on the eco system, breaking the chain of life, robbing future generations of this beautiful animal. Also, show many examples of various ways Ranchers protect their livestock using alternative methods and NOT a gun.
Maybe commercials? Let’s make it KNOWN
I have found the best thing to do is to stay engaged: write letters to the editor, call elected officials, attend public meetings, and submit comments.