20
Sep
Press release: Lobo Advocates Rally Despite Cancelled Mexican Wolf Hearing
For Immediate Release
Contact:
David Parsons
The Rewilding Institute
(505)-908-0468
David Parsons
The Rewilding Institute
(505)-908-0468
ellobodave@gmail.com
Wendy Keefover
WildEarth Guardians
(303)-819-5229
WildEarth Guardians
(303)-819-5229
wendy@wildearthguardians.org
Lobo Advocates Rally Despite Cancelled Mexican Wolf Hearing
Albuquerque, NM. Despite the postponement of the only public hearing in the country on controversial changes to the Mexican gray wolf reintroduction program, wolf advocates from six states will rally in Albuquerque on October 4th for a citizens’ hearing to promote Mexican wolf recovery. The Save the Lobo events and citizens’ hearing are open to the public.
Wolf activists say that many of the proposed management changes are counter to the recommendations of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) own recovery team, and will actually make recovery more difficult.
“The content of these proposals is critical to the survival and recovery of Mexican wolves, which are still vulnerable to extinction in the wild. The hearing may be postponed, but it’s vital that activists come together and keep up the drum beat that our lobos deserve a recovery plan and new rules that support actual science-based recovery, not a smoke and mirrors attempt to look busy while actually preventing recovery” said David R. Parsons, Wildlife Biologist, and former coordinator of the FWS’s Mexican wolf recovery program. Parsons is now with The Rewilding Institute, an Albuquerque-based conservation think tank.
Parsons and scientists assigned to the Mexican Wolf Recovery Team maintain that releases from captivity must be resumed and Mexican wolves must be allowed to live in additional areas with good habitat to secure their recovery. The federal proposal would allow release of captive-bred wolves into the Gila National Forest in New Mexico and allow wolves to roam outside of current boundaries. But in a sop to politics, the proposal would stop wolves from reaching important suitable habitats north of Interstate 40 and south of Interstate 10 by ordering their capture and return to the prescribed area. Also harmful, the proposal would open up new loopholes for legal killing of wolves.
The Save the Lobo event begins at 3:30 with information tables, light refreshments, and wolf related art activities for children. Defenders of Wildlife will provide training from 4:00 – 4:45 p.m. to teach people to be a more effective advocate for wolves. At 5:00 pm the Save the Lobo Rally will begin, followed by a citizens’ hearing with opportunities to be heard speaking for wolf recovery. All of the events are free and open to the public.
Sponsors of the events are:
Mexicanwolves.org/Lobos of the Southwest
Defenders of Wildlife ~ Sierra Club-Rio Grande Chapter ~ WildEarth Guardians ~ Center for Biological Diversity ~ New Mexico Chapter of ConservAmerica ~ Sierra Club-Grand Canyon Chapter ~
Animal Protection of New Mexico ~ The Wildlands Network ~ Southwest Environmental Center ~ Grand Canyon Wildlands Council ~ Wolf Conservation Center ~ Conservation Voters New Mexico ~ Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project ~ NM Wilderness Alliance ~ White Mountain Conservation League ~ Western Wildlife Conservancy ~ The Rewilding Institute ~ Great Old Broads For Wilderness ~
Western Watersheds Project
Animal Protection of New Mexico ~ The Wildlands Network ~ Southwest Environmental Center ~ Grand Canyon Wildlands Council ~ Wolf Conservation Center ~ Conservation Voters New Mexico ~ Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project ~ NM Wilderness Alliance ~ White Mountain Conservation League ~ Western Wildlife Conservancy ~ The Rewilding Institute ~ Great Old Broads For Wilderness ~
Western Watersheds Project
CLICK HERE for the schedule of events.
If you are unable to attend the rally, please submit your comments to the Fish and Wildlife Service HERE.
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