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Residents urge supervisors to seek broader expert testimony before drafting wolf policy
Summary
A resident asked the Board to hold another work session on the Mexican gray wolf reintroduction and urged supervisors to hear conservation biologists and ranch-protection experts before drafting policy; the speaker said prior presentations favored lethal-removal options.
A Portal resident told the Cochise County Board of Supervisors during the call to the public that a May 8 work session on the Mexican gray wolf gave extended time to a single speaker who advocated removing 10–15 wolves annually, without presenting alternative viewpoints or depredation-prevention options.
Allison Morris said the executive director of the Eastern Arizona Counties Organization was allotted nearly an hour and a half and that local briefings followed, but the session offered no alternatives such as nonlethal livestock-protection measures that have been successful elsewhere. Morris asked the board to schedule another work session to hear from additional experts, including conservation biologists, reintroduction facilitators and representatives of funding sources that assist ranchers with preventative measures.
Morris said constituents are divided and argued the county should hear multiple perspectives before drafting a resolution on the matter. The board did not act on the request during the meeting; the comment was recorded during the call to the public.
