Cochise County supervisors direct revisions to Mexican wolf resolution, seek sheriff reports and training

Cochise County supervisors on July 15 directed staff to revise a draft resolution addressing Mexican wolf management, instructing the county attorney's office to clarify legal language, pursue a memorandum of understanding with wildlife agencies, require the sheriff to compile reports of livestock incidents, and explore funding training for local ranch-patrol personnel.

The board discussed the draft resolution in a work session for the Cochise County Board of Supervisors. Supervisor Crosby pressed for sheriff involvement and for incident reports that could serve as a record if the county later pursued litigation or reimbursement. “We got to have the power of the sheriff’s office to do investigations,” Crosby said, adding that reports would create evidence the county could use “if we decide to file a federal lawsuit.”

Dylan Hendel, civil-division attorney in the Cochise County Attorney’s Office, said his office generally preserves the sponsor’s intent but had proposed one substantive legal change: “The only substantive legal change that I propose is on page 3 and it is on paragraph number 8,” Hendel said, describing language to harmonize local action with federal enforcement by adding an entry condition tied to a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Why it matters: board members said an…