1. News
  2. AZPM News - Local, independent journalism from the NPR 89.1 newsroom
  3. Arizona Counties Want More Funds for Mexican Wolf Recovery
 June 13, 2018 / Modified jun 13, 2018 10:16 a.m.

Arizona Counties Want More Funds for Mexican Wolf Recovery

A counties organization official says federal funding covers a fraction of the actual costs of the program.
by Associated Press

Mexican Wolf running hero A Mexican wolf.
Jim Clark, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

BISBEE — The Cochise County Board of Supervisors is requesting more federal funding for Mexican wolf recovery efforts.

They're sending a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, asking him to consider a fairer compensation plan for the eastern Arizona communities hosting the recovery program and the state agencies managing it.

Federal authorities began efforts to conserve Mexican wolves in the southwestern United States in 1977 and released the first wolves into the wild in 1998.

The executive director of the Eastern Arizona Counties Organization, Pascal Berlioux, says the annual $200,000 funding for compensation to ranchers in both Arizona and New Mexico is around 10 percent of actual costs.

It's estimated the program has cost $38 million as of last year with the current Mexican wolf population thought to be 114.

MORE: Animals, Arizona, News, Wildlife
By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona