30
Jul
Letters to the Editor: Born to Be Wild
BORN TO BE WILD
Rule should not promote extinction
THANK YOU for news of the Mexican wolf family released into the Gila, and bravo to Fish and Wildlife biologists who work so hard on the ground for these animals! However, a hearing is scheduled on Aug. 13 in Truth or Consequences — Civic Center, 6 p.m. — asking for comments on a proposed rule change that relaxes standards for wolf removal on private and public lands.
This wolf population is classified as “non-essential.” The knowledge and instincts of four wild generations is certainly essential and this designation needs to be corrected. Any removal of these wolves is contrary to the recovery of this genetically unique and highly endangered species!
This hearing is a chance for us all to say what we value and what we want our state to look like. I also call on Sens. (Martin) Heinrich and (Tom) Udall to stand for a rule that promotes recovery, not extinction.
ADRIENNE SELTZ
Sandia Park
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Speak up for future of our wolves
FOR THOSE OF us who care about wilderness, the release of six Mexican gray wolves into the Gila Wilderness is vital news. And I’m one of those who care. As an outdoor writer, I spend a great deal of time in wild country. I long for that wild country to be whole, to have all the components with which it evolved. I want to walk where there are wolves.
Our wilderness areas attempt to reflect the natural state of the lands where they have been designated. They matter for what they preserve. And they matter for what they are capable of restoring.
Wolves, a natural, native part of New Mexico’s wild lands — and the wild lands of much of the rest of America — stand to restore the balance inherent in wild land when all its components are there. Balance is always healthy — for the land itself, for those of us who enter it and for those who may not enter, but are recipients of the good emanating from a healthy environment.
The two adults and four pups released last week add to the 83 currently in the wild. This is a small number to grow a sustainable population of the most endangered mammal in the U.S.
Their release is hopeful, but it isn’t enough. More Mexican gray wolves in captive breeding facilities around the country are ready to be released. It is up to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to move forward with allowing new wolves to be released throughout the Blue Range Recovery Area. It seems to be up to us to badger the service.
Anyone who cares about wolves has an opportunity to speak out for their recovery on Aug. 13 when the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service holds a hearing in Truth or Consequences about their future. Even without speaking, your presence speaks for wolves.
RUTH RUDNER
Corrales
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These letters were published in the Albuquerque Journal.
Please submit your own letter to the Editor of the Albuquerque Journal.
Here is a recent article by the Journal Staff: Fed Proposal Gives Wolves Wider Range
Talking points and contact information provided at the end of the article.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE USFWS PROPOSAL AND UPCOMING HEARINGS, CLICK HERE.
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