SANTA FE – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish and the Arizona Department of Game and Fish signed a memorandum of agreement Wednesday to further collaboration between the agencies and to work on the recovery of Mexican gray wolves.
The memorandum increases cooperation to achieve the downlisting and eventual delisting the Mexican wolf in accordance with the revised 2017 Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan. As part of this effort, a field team composed of members from each agency will provide input to determine the timing, location and the circumstances for release of Mexican wolves into the wild in Arizona and New Mexico. With the signing of this agreement, the service acknowledged the importance of working cooperatively with their partner state wildlife agencies and agreed to comply with New Mexico’s permit requirements prior to any future releases.
“In this act of good faith, we look forward to strengthening our partnership with the service,” said New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Director Alexandra Sandoval.
The service released the final Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan, First Revision on Nov. 30, 2017. To learn more about the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program and to view the plan visit online at www.fws.gov/southwest/es/mexicanwolf. For more information about the department visit online, www.wildlife.state.nm.us.
