Rancher Shoots Wolf with Camera, Adds 200 Square Miles to Aid Recovery
Defenders of Wildlife and New Mexico’s Heritage Ranch announced that they have expanded their agreement by adding Heritage’s Double Lightning Ranch, Berrenda Creek Ranch and Cougar Mountain Ranch to "Wolf Country." The ranches, collectively called "Heritage Ranch," are located adjacent to and southeast of the Gila National Forest and the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area. Under the agreement, Heritage Ranch pledges to promote recovery of Mexican wolves on its land by avoiding the use of non-selective and lethal predator control, allowing territories and dens to be established and to cooperate with the interagency management team in the monitoring and management of wolves.
"Recognizing the importance of predators to a healthy ecosystem, we feel it’s important to have the wolf back on the land," Heritage Ranch owner Jim Winder said. "It has not always been easy to be an environmentalist in cowboy boots, but with the help of partners like Defenders of Wildlife we’ve been able to prepare ourselves and the ranch for the return of the wolf... and we now have reason to celebrate."
Winder recently saw evidence that the wolves are making a comeback when an employee spotted a young male wolf on his land. Instead of grabbing a rifle, he grabbed a camera and took a photograph.
Craig Miller, Defenders of Wildlife’s Southwest Director, said, "Jim Winder represents a new generation of ranchers who are welcoming back the wolf because of its critical importance to the ecosystem. He is clearly on the right side of the future and we’re hopeful that others will follow his example. Imperiled critters like the wolf need more friends like Jim."
"The reintroduced population is growing and faces less opposition from the human population than it did in the previous century," Winder said. "We recognize that wolves kill cattle and that they will have an economic impact on most ranches. However, we feel that we able to bend our management in order to help the wolves and protect our cattle."
For the rare instances in which wolves kill livestock, Defenders maintains The Bailey Wildlife Foundation Wolf Compensation Trust at $200,000 to compensate ranchers.
Using a separate fund, The Bailey Wildlife Foundation Proactive Carnivore Conservation Fund, Defenders also has been helping protect livestock by paying cowboys to ride herd, buying guard dogs, and buying and installing electric fences. Defenders also has contributed more than $20,000 for research on techniques to prevent wolf predation on domestic livestock.
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.
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