Skeen Demands Immediate Removal Of Wolves
	From the April, 2000

By JIM OWEN

Daily Press Staff

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials say they are doing their best to recapture three Mexican gray wolves that have been sighted on private property near Gila.

U.S. Rep. Joe Skeen says they need to try harder.

In a letter mailed Tuesday to the federal agency's regional director, the congressman requested "imme-diate action to remove" the wolves.

"For two weeks, the FWS has not fulfilled its legal obligations to private citizens regarding their legitimate requests to remove the wolves," Skeen wrote.

"It remains unclear whether this inaction is due to a lack of resources, negligence or the desire of the Fish and Wildlife recovery team members to put the recovery program goals ahead of all other concerns, includ-ing a willing-ness to endanger the safety of citi-zens of Catron and Grant counties," he continued.

"If you do not have enough resources, the South-west Region of the FWS should immediately reallocate the funds and manpower to remove the wolves. It is the FWS responsibil-ity to carry out every aspect of the wolf recovery program, including the removal of animals that are ha-rassing citizens on private prop-erty," Skeen wrote.

"This inaction is inexcusable and once again points out the continuing mismanagement of this wolf recovery program," he added.

Vicki Fox of the FWS told the Daily Press this morning that "trapping efforts continue, but they have been un-successful because the wolves are moving."

Traps are put out, but the animals are not returning to those places.

"If they localize, we will be able to recapture them," Fox said.

The alpha male and two yearlings, along with an alpha female, were released March 24 into the Gila Wilderness.

The female re-mains in that area in a den, where she has given birth to an undeter-mined number of pups, according to Fox.

She noted that the wolves, known as the Mule Pack, "have never been involved in a (livestock) depredation."

Biologist Wendy Brown of the wolf recovery team reported that she saw the three male pack members walk through a herd of cattle without bothering them.

Another group of wolves, the five-member Pipestem Pack, was translocated April 4 to the Gila Wilderness. They remain near the release site, according to Fox.

Meanwhile, The Associated Press has corrected a Tuesday story, published in the Daily Press. It inaccurately stated that the Campbell Blue wolf pack "attacked" a rancher and his dogs in eastern Arizona.

The AP said today that the incident should not have been characterized as an attack.

The rancher was riding horseback April 14 with six dogs when he encountered the pack on a trail. The dogs and wolves began mixing it up, FWS spokesman Tom Bauer said.

The armed rancher placed himself and his horse between the wolves and the dogs, but the female alpha wolf kept acting aggressively while the other wolves waited, ac-cording to Bauer.

The rancher, who had fired a warning shot into the air, managed to get the dogs and his horse into a barn, and the wolves reportedly left after about 20 minutes.

"Biologists believe the wolves were protecting their territory, and perhaps a kill, from the dogs and were not focused on the rancher," the FWS said in a news release. "However, the behavior towards the horse with a mounted rider was not acceptable."

One of the dogs suffered puncture wounds in the back and stomach, according to the AP story.

The alpha female wolf was captured Sunday and returned to captivity at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge near Socorro.

In his letter to the FWS, Skeen wrote that the incident "points out the danger that citizens are facing."

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