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House Engrossed
federal nullification; Mexican wolf; reintroduction |
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State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-seventh Legislature Second Regular Session 2026
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HOUSE BILL 2787 |
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AN ACT
Amending title 1, chapter 2, article 4, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 1-273; relating to sovereign authority.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Title 1, chapter 2, article 4, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 1-273, to read:
1-273. Sovereign authority; Mexican wolf reintroduction; exception
A. Pursuant to article II, section 3, Constitution of Arizona, this state, any agency or political subdivision of this state and any employee of this state or an agency or political subdivision of this state acting in the employee's official capacity may not use any personnel or financial resources to enforce, administer or cooperate with the Mexican wolf reintroduction program pursuant to the endangered species act of 1973 (P.L. 93-205; 87 Stat. 884; 16 United States Code sections 1531 through 1544).
B. This section does not apply to the livestock loss program that is administered and enforced by the livestock loss board established by section 17-491.
Sec. 2. Legislative findings
The legislature finds that:
1. In 1998, the United States fish and wildlife service initiated the Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Project and began introducing captively bred Mexican wolves into Arizona and New Mexico. Pursuant to the Endangered Species Act, the United States fish and wildlife service determined that the release of Mexican wolves in the United States was for purely experimental purposes and that one hundred percent of the Mexican wolves currently located in the United States are not essential to the continued survival of the species.
2. In 2014, the population of Mexican wolves in the United States met and exceeded the United States fish and wildlife service's original goal of 100 wolves, yet the Mexican wolf was not delisted from the endangered species list, prolonging uncertainty for local communities and perpetuating greater legal protections for wolves than private property rights.
3. By the end of 2024, there were 286 Mexican wolves in the wild in the United States and another 356 Mexican wolves in captivity, marking an 11 percent increase in wild Mexican wolves in the United States over year-end 2023 and the ninth consecutive year of growth.
4. The Mexican wolf is a vicious predator that requires large populations of natural ungulate prey such as deer and elk to sustain its diet. Southeast Arizona does not include a large population of natural ungulate prey, demonstrating that, without cattle, the Mexican wolf population would not have been able to reach 286 wolves. The increasing reliance on livestock and expanding encroachment of Mexican wolves into southeast Arizona has resulted in violent attacks in local communities and concerning incidents near residential homes, including incidents involving pets and children, which threaten rural families and have forced some communities to install caged bus stops for children.
5. One Mexican wolf can cause between $69,000 and $162,000 in direct and indirect losses to a local rancher, with total indirect losses ranging from $1.4 million to $3.4 million, creating significant economic damage to local communities and substantial financial devastation to ranching families but the losses are unverified due to burdensome federal procedures that fail to recognize all forms of livestock loss and Mexican wolf predation.
6. Over $220 million has been spent on the Mexican wolf reintroduction project in the United States to-date, representing approximately $500,000 to $1 million per Mexican wolf, despite 90 percent of the species' historical range lying in Mexico, while local governments like Cochise county have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to protect their citizens against the Mexican wolf.
7. The projected cost to American taxpayers of maintaining the Mexican wolf reintroduction project through 2030 is estimated to be between $47 million and $59 million, not including compensation funds or administrative overhead, and is not justified when the original population goal of 100 wolves was met and exceeded in 2014.
8. Based on the best scientific and commercial data available, including the current population count, the maximum population that likely could have been sustained by historical non-livestock sources of prey alone, and the lack of overt government predator control programs that seek to extirpate the Mexican wolf once it is delisted, the Mexican wolf in the United States has met and far exceeded the minimum population necessary for delisting, has sufficiently recovered, is no longer at risk of extinction in its historical range and is no longer in need of the protections afforded by the Endangered Species Act.