Senate Engrossed

State of Arizona Senate Fifty-third Legislature First Regular Session 2017

SENATE CONCURRENT MEMORIAL 1009

 

A CONCURRENT MEMORIAL

 

urging the director of the united states fish and wildlife service to delist the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act.

 

 

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

 

To the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service:

Your memorialist respectfully represents:

Whereas, wolves are not an endangered species and do not merit federal protections; and

Whereas, the full delisting of the species and the return of the management of wolf populations to state and local governments are long overdue; and

Whereas, state and local governments are fully qualified to responsibly manage wolf populations without being burdened by the impediments of federal bureaucracy; and

Whereas, the original objective of the 1982 Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan was the establishment of a viable, self-sustaining population of at least 100 Mexican wolves in the wild; and

Whereas, according to the Arizona Game and Fish Department, as of December 31, 2015, there were a minimum of 97 wolves in the wild in Arizona and New Mexico, all of which were conceived and born in the wild as a direct result of previous wolf introduction efforts; and

Whereas, the introduction of wolves into Arizona and New Mexico has resulted in significant adverse impacts on private landowners and resource users as well as hunting and other recreational activities that are vital to our local and regional economies; and

Whereas, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service has documented over 15,500 gray wolves recovered in the United States.

Wherefore your memorialist, the Senate of the State of Arizona, the House of Representatives concurring, prays:

1.  That the United States Fish and Wildlife Service delist the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act.

2.  That the Secretary of State of the State of Arizona transmit a copy of this Memorial to the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the President of the United States and each Member of Congress from the State of Arizona.