More wolf articles, what a mess!!!

[nenmrancher]

For Immediate Release: July 9, 2007



For more information

Contact: Laura Schneberger 505-772-5753





784 words



Wolf Removal Shrouded with Misinformation, Hysteria and Hyperbole.



The Mexican wolf program has long been a bone of contention between ranchers, who are caught between the packs and federal agencies administering the program.



Last week New Mexico ranchers learned that that Governor Bill Richardson is now advocating that cattle killing wolf packs remain on the ground. The New Mexico Governor has demanded that the federal government abandon the current method of dealing with habituated, problem wolves known as Standard Operating Procedure 13, Control of Mexican wolves. SOP 13 allows federal officials to remove or shoot any wolf or wolves that have been confirmed to have been involved in 3 livestock kills in a one year period.



Governor Richardson, says area rancher Laura Schneberger, can not possibly have the whole story.



"The Governors involvement came about after the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish decided not to cooperate in the removal of one wolf," says Schneberger. "It takes a day to issue a lethal removal order after the third strike on a wolf pack. It appears that NMDG&F stonewalled the decision. Nearly a week after the last kill, the removal order was issued and it was not without their input into the decision-making."



The mysterious circumstances surrounding the lethal control removal of the wolf are currently being investigated by the New Mexico State police and the Catron County Sheriff's Department.



A Witness at the scene shortly after the shooting of the wolf described a female employee of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish arriving at the scene and becoming overwrought and verbally abusive to federal officers in the field upon learning the wolf had been shot. Recent media reports describe an armed confrontation that allegedly took place between program cooperators.



"We support Wildlife Services officers completely and have never had any problems with their professional demeanor. However, we have been concerned for some time over the caliber of people that the state agencies are hiring for this program," says Schneberger. "If a person cannot understand the rules of the program and the reasons behind the policies it operates under, or is too emotional to deal with the deaths of animals that are bound to occur in these types of situations, they should be working in an ice cream parlor instead of interning for a program that is full of death. The NMDG&F should understand by now that our ranching and outfitter neighbors need competent, people that can be trusted in a crisis, not someone who falls apart and makes up stories when the agenda is interrupted."



The wolf in question was AF-924 of the Durango pack, at the time of her removal she was the center of a controversy between federal agents and Catron County. In the weeks prior to her death, the county issued its own removal order for the animal. Catron County officials had placed humane traps in areas frequented by the wolf.



Federal agents with the wolf program attempted to acquire a restraining order to stop the county from removing the animal. Two weeks into the trapping effort, the agents still had not been able to procure that order, the reason why is unknown to the county. However, once the wolves killed another cow and calf, Catron County re-called its trapper and SOP 13 was initiated by federal officials in charge of the program.



"The use of this wolf in the program was just cruel stupidity on the part of the wolf team." says Schneberger. They knew she was an accomplished stock killer, they released her in the Wilderness but within two weeks she moved right back to the same place she killed on before her removal last year. The agencies knew that all she had to do to meet the requirements for lethal control was to kill one more time. It was all entirely too predictable."



It is not known whether a necropsy on the wolf is planned but the manager of the Adobe Ranch where the livestock kills have been taking place says he hopes they examine the wolf, so the issue of the pups can be laid to rest. "She was dry that is for sure, if that wolf had pups in a den somewhere, nobody ever saw them. All they have to do is look at her and see that she wasn't producing milk for pups," says Gene Whetten."



The Aspen pack wolves have also localized on a nearby ranch and are confirmed to be raising pups. This pack is also preying on privately owned livestock to feed those pups and have already been confirmed to have killed three yearlings in the past month on the Diamond Ranch with no removal order issued for those killings.



If the New Mexico Governor does not change his support to stop control of livestock killing wolves, the Aspen pack and other problem wolves will be allowed to kill cattle indefinitely and area ranchers are dreading this possibility.



____________________________________________________________

from the newspaper

http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/577257nm07-10-07.htm



Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Around New Mexico

Journal and Wire Reports

Dispute Over Wolf Shooting Probed


RESERVE— The Catron County Sheriff's Department is investigating an allegation that a federal employee pointed a rifle at a state worker during a dispute last week over the shooting of an endangered Mexican gray wolf.
Catron County Sheriff Shawn Menges said Monday the "disagreement" followed the lethal July 5 shooting of the wolf by a federal sharpshooter in the Gila Wilderness.
The complaint under investigation included the allegation that the federal Wildlife Services employee pointed a rifle at a state Game and Fish employee, State Police spokesman Lt. Rick Anglada said.
State Police and New Mexico Game and Fish Department officers are working with Catron County on the investigation.

 

[nenmrancher]

another newspaper article, the bullsh*t is starting to get very deep.

http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/577739nm07-12-07.htm



Thursday, July 12, 2007

Biologist Reports Threat at Wolf Shooting

By Rene Romo
Copyright © 2007 Albuquerque Journal; Journal Southern Bureau
LAS CRUCES— A former state Game and Fish Department biologist says a federal employee leveled a rifle at her and told her she had "no business" being around when she tried to halt the recent shooting of a problem wolf in Catron County.
Angela Dassow, who encountered three Wildlife Service employees and a ranch hand at the scene, said in an interview with the Journal that Game and Fish "sent me out to let them know that the lethal removal order was not valid and there was a problem with it, and they weren't supposed to kill her that day."
She arrived after the female Mexican gray wolf had been killed.
Ranch hand Mike Miller disputed Dassow's claim that she was threatened. He is a cowboy who works on the Adobe Ranch where the wolf was killed on July 5 and was present during the encounter.
"Nobody pointed a gun at her," Miller told the Journal on Wednesday.
Miller said Dassow was "off in la-la land" after she saw the already-dead female wolf on the ground.
Dassow, a 26-year-old biologist who left her job after the incident, talked about the incident as she drove home to Wisconsin on Wednesday.
One of the Wildlife Service employees "walked up to the front of his truck and picked up his rifle and pointed it at me and said I had no business being there," Dassow said in the telephone interview.
"If he just simply wanted to tell me I didn't have the right to be there, he could have just told me. He didn't need to pick up a gun. It wasn't like I had a gun."
Miller said, "Nobody did nothing to her ... The rifles were laying against a fence."
Dassow's allegation was the latest flare-up over the controversial, nine-year-old program that has reintroduced endangered Mexican gray wolves to the wilds of southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona.
Catron County Sheriff Shawn Menges said Wednesday that the July 5 incident is still under investigation.
Dassow said she also has been interviewed by State Police, the New Mexico Game and Fish Department and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officers.
The dead wolf, the two-year-old alpha female of the Durango pack and known as AF924, had been targeted for removal from the wolf reintroduction program for repeatedly killing cattle.
Under a program rule known as Standard Operating Procedure 13, a wolf can be removed from the program— trapped or killed— after it is linked to three livestock kills in a year.
After the slaying of the Durango pack female, which left her pups to be raised alone by her mate, Gov. Bill Richardson called for suspension of SOP 13 to help the growth of the endangered wolf population, which now numbers around 50 in New Mexico and Arizona.
Earlier, on July 3, an inter-governmental group, including U.S. Fish and Wildlife and N.M. Game and Fish, had agreed to issue an order to kill AF924.
Then Game and Fish Director Bruce Thompson requested and received a "brief, temporary hold" on the order "to ensure adequate communication had occurred regarding the circumstances of this removal," said spokesman Marty Frentzel.
Fish and Wildlife, the reintroduction program's lead agency, approved of the temporary hold, Frentzel said.
When officials could not reach Wildlife Service personnel in the field by phone to tell them the lethal removal order had been halted, Dassow was dispatched in person to deliver the message.
By the time Dassow caught up to the Wildlife Service employees, AF924 had already been shot and killed.
Dassow said she was calm, if a little out of breath, when she first caught up with the men on the Adobe Ranch. She said she became flustered only after she was threatened.
"Having a gun pointed at you doesn't give you a warm, fuzzy feeling inside," Dassow said.
She said that later that day, on July 5, she fainted in her residence and was transported to a hospital in eastern Arizona for observation. She was released that same night. Dassow attributed her reaction to the stress of the day.
Dassow, who was hired June 6 on temporary assignment as a wolf biologist until Aug. 13, said she decided to leave the job early because of the conflict.
Since the Durango pack female was released into the Gila Wilderness in late April, Catron County officials had pressed federal officials to remove her from the wild because she had a history of killing cattle. A county agent tried trapping the wolf before a removal order was issued.
Laura Schneberger, head of the Gila Livestock Growers Association, said in a news release Wednesday, "We support Wildlife Service officers completely and have never had any problems with their professional demeanor."



JUST GOT THIS TODAY. Sure sounds closer to the story that has been filtering out of the Gila area.


Catron County Sheriff's Department
Sheriff Shawn Ménages
P.O. Box 467
Reserve, N.M. 87830

Press Release

July 12, 2007



The Catron County Sheriff's department is finalizing the investigation into the allegation that a USDA Wildlife Services Officer pointed a firearm at a New Mexico Game and Fish employee while in the field on July 5, 2007.

The incident now under investigation occurred after the USFWS issued a lethal take order July 3, 2007, on a Mexican Grey wolf. Three wildlife services officers were in the field on July 5, 2007, serving the lethal take order when Angela Dassow, a NMDGF employee, was instructed by a Supervisor to drive to the location and contact the three officers to stop the order.

According to Ms. Dassow's statement she arrived to discover four unattended vehicles and left a hand written note on one of the windshields and drove away. Soon thereafter, Dassow returned and walked into the area to locate the three USDA Wildlife Services Officers. Upon making contact, she was informed that the order had been carried through without any knowledge of a change. According to Dassow one of the men retrieved a rifle and pointed it toward her and said she didn't have a right to be there. When asked if she was in fear for her life, Dassow stated, "I did not think he would shoot me; since I was only there to deliver a message." As of 4:30 p.m. Law Enforcement had not been contacted. It was then, approximately five hours after the alleged incident had occurred, that Deputy Snyder discovered an unattended car crashed into the right of way fence of state road 12 in Apache Creek. Nearly one hour later Snyder was contacted and told that the driver was Angela Dassow and that she was at her nearby residence. Snyder, along with an Arizona Game and Fish biologist arrived to find Ms. Dassow lying on the floor in her house. They learned that she had punched a window out of her residence to gain access since the key would not work. Consequently, she sustained cuts that caused her to be transported to an Arizona hospital for treatment. While awaiting the ambulance, Dassow said she was in her car and traveling out of town for a few days, when she decided to return for something that she had forgotten. Upon arriving to the turn-off, she was traveling too fast and crashed into the right of way fence. Dassow had to be reminded by the Arizona Game and Fish Officer to report the alleged aggravated assault to Deputy Snyder from earlier in the day.

During the alleged incident also present, in addition to the three Wildlife Services Officers, was Mike Miller, a Ranch employee. According to all four men, there was never a firearm handled around Dassow nor were there any threats made. Instead, they alleged that Dassow was out of control, was screaming at them, became very upset when she learned of the wolf being shot, and at one point stated "you killed my wolf." They also stated Ms. Dassow took possession of the grey wolf and carried it towards her Department issued truck, stopping at one point under a tree and was crying while holding and petting the dead wolf. They stated she declined assistance from Wildlife Services to transport the wolf, placed it into her Department truck and left.

Once completed the case will be forwarded to the Seventh Judicial District Attorney's office for review.


These are some comments from a Las Cruces News paper that has a answering machine on a phone line open to anyone who wants to call in and gripe about anything. Everything left on the sound off line is anoynomous.

The following are comments by soundoffers on Michael White's editorial in the Las Cruces Sun News on Mexican wolf and how badly the program has been mismanaged.

you can read it at www.wolfcrossing.org/blog



You can soundoff too, but keep it short, by emailing [email protected]



Don't get too offended by the following drivel, our diversity friends in Silver City have alliances in Las Cruces with the southwest environmental center. Laura



49. I was appalled to read Michael White of the Farm and Livestock Bureau rant about how he and his allies have scared the heck out of children in the wolf reintroduction area with tales, which I'm sure he knows are bogus, of how dangerous the wolves are. It seems to me like a form of child abuse. How low will people sink to protect their economic interests?



38. Could someone please tell me how I can become a welfare rancher? I would like nothing better but to have the government subsidize me to live in the national forest. I'll even shoot a wolf with my camera.



17. I have never heard of most of the types of vicious wolf attacks on other animals mentioned by the Farm Bureau's Michael White in Tuesday's paper, but most discerning is his hysteria about the danger to people. Only a rabbit wolf might attack a human.



Here is my contribution, we shall see if they print it

Thanks Sun news for allowing Michael White to enlighten urban New Mexicans on the reality of living with wolves that their rural neighbors face. All too often the smaller rural communities are ignored in the media especially when the subject is controversial. There have been far too many wolf dog, wolf human, wolf cattle encounters in this program as it is now managed, for it to be of any value towards restoring a species long gone from this region. Time to re-plan re-vamp and make an effort to consider the folks along the way. People first always.