Background Information about Wolves

When settlers first colonized Arizona, a large contingent of military troops and miners needed food. Merriam’s elk were available in mountain country and readily provided fresh meat. By the middle of the 1900s, elk were extirpated from Arizona, and many other animals including deer and other small animal populations were reduced.

As the settlers moved west, and much of the prey gone from parts of their range, wolves turned to what was available – livestock. Of course, that put them at odds with the cattlemen. In the mid-1890s, a devastating drought hit the state, creating significant problems for cattle growers. With little forage for their livestock, and the threat of cattle depredation by wolves, the early ranchers and federal government began their “war on wolves” in earnest.

Over 100 years later, attitudes toward wolves have changed dramatically. We no longer consider wolves to be "bloodthirsty critters that will attack anything." In addition, habitat conditions have changed dramatically since the last time we lived with wolves in the Southwest. Elk herds have recovered and are abundant and cattle stocking rates have been reduced through modern range management practices. Many advocates now are working for the return of the wolf to the wildlands of Arizona and have assisted with its recovery in a number of ways. In fact, a cooperative effort between state, federal, and tribal agencies reintroduced the Mexican wolf in the late nineties and is now working to bring it to a viable population.

There are still those who do not like the idea of wild and free-ranging wolves. However, their concern is generally not fear of the animals, as it was during the late 1800s and early part of the 1900’s. Rather, their concern is for their economic livelihood: cattle. Many ranchers are descendants of early cattle growers in Arizona who enjoyed access to public lands for grazing privileges. The reintroduction of wolves onto some of that land has the potential to impact the grazing privileges they have enjoyed for several generations.

Quotes in Support of Free-Roaming Wolves in Arizona

"We'd like wolves reintroduced into- onto the ranch. Wolves are part of the ecosystem, part of the biodiversity. The wolf plays a very important part of this whole scheme of things."

- The Holders, Arizona ranchers

"Wolf restoration has a positive economic impact. The Yellowstone region sees millions of dollars annually in increased tourism dollars as a result of people visiting specifically to view wolves. Visitation to Algonquin Park in eastern Canada increases substantially every August when people come from far and wide for weekly "wolf howls." Ely, Minnesota, home to the International Wolf Center, realizes three million dollars annually from this enterprise."

- Rodger Schlickeisen, Defenders of Wildlife

"In addition to being critical players in various eat-or-be-eaten schemes, large carnivore are valuable as 'umbrella species.' Simply put, if enough habitat is protected to maintain viable populations of top predators like wolves, then most of the other species in the region will also be protected."

- Dave Foreman, President, Sierra Club

"We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes—something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view."

- Aldo Leopold, famous naturalist and author

"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world."

- John Muir, famous naturalist and author

Quotes Against Free-Roaming Wolves in Arizona

"But now there is a new twist to the wolf's story. The Mexican gray wolf is being reintroduced, at a cost to taxpayers of millions of dollars, into a completely different Southwest. There are many more people now, and even if they don't live where the wolves roam, they hike and camp there."

- Stewart Truelsen, American Farm Bureau

"If the public wants the wolf, then they should pay for the loss of ranchers. Many, many ranchers have lost their ranches. Something must be done."

- Jake Flake, AZ State Representative

"We've got to contend with bear, or we've got to contend with lions, and we've got to contend with coyotes. The last thing we need is another predator. I don't know where the idea that we have to have wolves back in the forest or back in the wilderness or whatever. Our forefathers spent a lot of time and a lot of money and energy exterminating them because of what they were. I don’t see any reason to ever bring them back. I think they belong in a zoo some place; people want to look at them, they can go look at them."

- Jim Cook, Foreman, Pueblo Creek Ranch

"Their vision is to crowd people into cities and force people off the land so that there will be room for these large carnivores."

- Al Schneeberger, New Mexico Cattle Growers Association

"Each year, predators kill millions of dollars' worth of lambs, calves, and goats."

- Wildlife Services, a program in the U.S. Department of Agriculture