Plan to relocate wolves stirs debate in rural New Mexico
[AP]
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Monday marks the deadline for people to comment on plans by U.S. wildlife managers to relocate a pair of wolves and their pups to one of Ted Turner’s properties in New Mexico.
Environmentalists are pushing for the release, but ranchers have concerns given the pair’s previous conflicts with livestock.
The proposal for letting the wolves go on the Ladder Ranch comes as federal managers try to boost genetic diversity among the wild population in New Mexico and Arizona.
Ranchers argue that there’s nothing to keep the endangered predators from wandering back into other parts of the Gila National Forest.