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Catron Wolf Law Challenged

Liberty Belle

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Feb 10, 2005
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Location
northwestern South Dakota
I found this article a while ago but haven't had time to post it. The enviro-whackos just never quit, do they?

Catron Wolf Law Challenged
August 3, 2007
By John Larson for Mountain Mail

The Mountain Mail
Socorro, New Mexico


Socorro, New Mexico (STPNS) - Reserve, New Mexico - Two environmental groups filed a complaint July 25 against Catron County in federal district court. Forest Guardians and Sinapu claim injury for violation of the Endangered Species Act by the County and for the County's enactment of a Mexican wolf ordinance.

Catron County in May passed an ordinance allowing the local wolf investigator to take action when the federal agencies failed to remove problems wolves.

Melissa Hailey, Forest Guardians staff attorney, said a summons will be issued after the documents are finalized. Catron County will have to file an answer within 20 days. "We're looking for two things. First, for the court to strike down the ordinance, and second, to ask the court to issue an injunction to keep any county official from following the ordinance," Hailey said. "The thing we hope to accomplish is to get a real relief for the wolves on the ground."

She said the question is the legality of county versus federal law.

"As a federally protected species, the Mexican gray wolf should not be held hostage by backward local laws," Hailey said. "What Catron County has done is blatantly illegal and risks driving Mexican wolves to extinction in the wild for the second time in history."

Catron County Attorney Ron Shortes responded in a press release dated July 27. "This suit is a gross misrepresentation made in bad faith which distorts the facts and the law," county attorney Ron Shortes said. "It is a cheap theatrical trick used to lie to the public about what is actually going on in Catron County, about the failure of the wolf program and the great danger it poses to human beings."

"When Catron County is properly served with the suit, which the Forest Guardians has not bothered to do – another indication of bad faith – we will have the chance to address the issues," Shortes said. "We are the county where they've released most of the wolves, so we're the ones whose children are endangered the most. The Forest Guardians and Sinapu are composed of people who don't even live here. Sinapu is a carnivore protection group focused on the Southern Rocky Mountains. These organizations aren't suffering from the problems with the wolf program. We in Catron County are. Even the wolves here are suffering more from this poorly-managed program than the Forest Guardians and Sinapu are."

Hailey said the press release from Shortes contained serious allegations. "We realize this is a very emotional issue," she said. "They raised some very serious allegations about legal ethics and he has exceeded his authority as a county attorney. We have a very solid legal basis on which to base the complaint. We're not arguing anything outside of the law."


Copyright 2007, Mountain Mail.

http://www.stpns.net/view_article.html?articleId=54144313234335434
 

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