With Wolves On Ground, Backers
Planning Classic Double-Cross

ALBUQUERQUE — Like so many things the federal government does, the scheme to reintroduce wolves in the Southwest is being played on two levels — one level above the table and another below it.

Current rules prohibit direct releases of wolves into New Mexico, so federal bureaucrats are "pulling a Clinton" — releasing them into Arizona first, then recapturing them for re-release in New Mexico. That way, they comply with the letter of the rules while violating the intent with impunity.

And now that the program appears too well underway to stop, they may soon rewrite the rules entirely, eliminating the need to bother with a flim-flam.

The former director of the Mexican gray wolf recovery program says plans to move wolves from Arizona into southern New Mexico are farther along than publicly known.

Federal biologists were planning to take wolves recaptured in Arizona and release them into the Gila National Forest of New Mexico within a few months, said David Parsons, former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wolf recovery leader.

Parsons also said that biologists were pushing for approval to release additional captive wolves into the New Mexico forest next year.

Few outside the agency knew that plans for releases into the Gila were moving forward.

``I knew nothing about it,'' said Caren Cowan, spokeswoman for the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association.

Wolf reintroduction, now in its second year in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest of Arizona, has been troubled by human-caused deaths and conflicts between wolves and livestock.

Parsons said those problems could be limited if the wolves were moved into New Mexico. He said the roadless and cattleless areas of the Gila meet the criteria.

``The project is nearly running out of suitable release areas in Arizona,'' he said.

Captive wolves can be released only in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. Once those wolves are released, they can be recaptured and moved into New Mexico.

That restriction was put in place years ago to soothe political opposition to wolf releases in New Mexico.

Biologists hoped that wolves, once released, would find their way into the Gila Wilderness, a vast, rugged and largely cattle-free expanse with plenty of water and prey.

Today, activists are growing frustrated with the pace of wolf releases and attempts to recapture wolves that get too aggressive around livestock.

``You have a program that is going backward instead of forwards,'' Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity said.

``There's no leadership,'' Robinson added. ``The program appears to be in disarray.''

Parsons took an option to retire early after consulting with his supervisor last month. His plan was to return to work on contract. Instead, he was asked to return to work for a month and train a successor, an offer he rejected.

Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Tom Bauer said Parson's departure might slow down the wolf recovery program.

Meanwhile, biologists are planning to move forward with two means of getting wolves in the Gila.

First, they plan to select sites in the Gila where wolves captured in Arizona can be re-released.

Second, they plan to initiate a more extensive revision to reintroduction rules that would allow biologists to move captive wolves directly from zoos and sanctuaries into the Gila.

That, of course, would violate both the spirit and the letter of the original plan — a double-cross, in western parlance — but the cooperation of stockmen and local officials is no longer needed now that the reintroduction scheme is underway.