REFERENCE TITLE: Mexican wolf; delist; urging support

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

HCM 2011

Introduced by

Representatives Diaz: Biasiucci, Blackman, Bliss, Carbone, Carter P, Chaplik, Fink, Gillette, Gress, Griffin, Heap, Hendrix, Keshel, Kolodin, Livingston, Lopez, Marshall, Martinez, Montenegro, Nguyen, Olson, Peña, Pingerelli, Powell, Rivero, Taylor, Way, Weninger, Willoughby, Wilmeth

A CONCURRENT MEMORIAL

Urging the United States Congress to delist the Mexican Wolf as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

To the Congress of the United States of America:

Your memorialist respectfully represents:

Whereas, in 1998 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) initiated the Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Project under section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and began introducing captively bred Mexican wolves into Arizona and New Mexico; and

Whereas, pursuant to section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the USFWS determined that the release of Mexican wolves in the United States was purely for "experimental" purposes and that 100% of the Mexican wolves currently located in the United States are not essential to the continued survival of the species; and

Whereas, in 2014 the Mexican wolf population in the United States exceeded the original goal of the USFWS 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 Mexican wolves than private property rights in the name of forced coexistence and radical environmentalism; and

Whereas, in 2017 the USFWS set a new threshold for delisting the Mexican wolf that was not based on the best scientific and commercial data available, that required an eight-year moving average of 320 Mexican wolves sustained over three years and that forced ranchers to continue to feed wolves without their consent; and

Whereas, as of the end of 2024, there were 286 Mexican wolves in the wild in the United States and another 365 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; and

Whereas, the increased reliance of Mexican wolves on livestock and their expanding encroachment into southeast Arizona has resulted in violent attacks in local communities and concerning incidents near residential homes involving pets and children, which threaten rural families and have forced some communities to install caged bus stops for the safety of children; and

Whereas, compensation programs currently exclude indirect losses due to Mexican wolves, such as reduced weight gain, veterinary care, breeding impacts or long-term herd disruptions, leaving ranchers to absorb much of the financial burden; and

Whereas, the projected cost to American taxpayers for 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 Mexican wolves was exceeded in 2014; and

Whereas, the purpose of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 is to recover species to the point at which the measures afforded under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 are no longer required; and

Whereas, based on the scientific and commercial data available, 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 of 1973; and

Whereas, on June 30, 2025, Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar introduced H.R. 4255 that, if passed, would remove the Mexican wolf from the list of threatened species and endangered species published pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973.

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

1. That the United States Congress:

(a) Pass H.R. 4255 and delist the Mexican wolf from the endangered species list.

(b) Defund the Nonessential Experimental Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Project.

(c) Turn over management of the Mexican wolf to the states and local authorities.

(d) Allow ranchers to protect their private property on all lands, including federal leased lands.

(e) Modify operating procedures to give ranchers real time data on Mexican wolf locations.

(f) Reinstate operating procedures that restore standards for reverifying Mexican wolf kills.

(g) Fully and promptly compensate ranchers for all direct and indirect economic losses related to the Mexican wolf.

2. That the Secretary of State of the State of Arizona transmit copies of this Memorial to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and each Member of Congress from the State of Arizona.