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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, Second Regular Session
public monies; Mexican wolf; prohibition
Purpose
Prohibits the Arizona Game and Fish Commission (Commission) from transporting, or from spending or using public monies or resources to transport, Mexican gray wolf puppies into the boundaries of Arizona.
Background
The Mexican gray wolf has been protected as an endangered subspecies of gray wolf since 1976 under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. Following the near extinction of the Mexican gray wolf, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Mexico and partner agencies initiated a binational captive breeding program and began efforts to reestablish Mexican gray wolves in the wild in the United States in 1998. The Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) has entered a memorandum of understanding between the USFWS and several other federal, state and tribal agencies for the primary purpose of establishing a framework to exchange views, information or advice relating to the management or implementation of reestablishing a viable population of Mexican gray wolves in Arizona and New Mexico within the Mexican Wolf Experimental Population Area to contribute to the long-term conservation and recovery of the Mexican gray wolf (USFWS: Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan and Memorandum of Understanding).
The memorandum of understanding between the USFWS and the Commission specifies that a Mexican gray wolf release, translocation or cross-fostering may not occur within three miles of state trust land or private property and without a full DNA profile on each Mexican gray wolf. The AZGFD must report to the Commission at every Commission meeting: 1) any known death of a Mexican gray wolf in Arizona and, if known, the reason for the death; 2) the number of Mexican gray wolves that are supplemented with feed in Arizona and the cost of the supplementation; 3) the number of Mexican gray wolves that are captured in Arizona by the AZGFD or a federal agency partnering with the AZGFD, the reason for the capture and the full DNA profile on each Mexican gray wolf capture; 4) the location of all collared Mexican gray wolves in Arizona; and 5) all human and domestic animal incidents in Arizona that involve a Mexican gray wolf (A.R.S. § 17-253).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Prohibits the Commission from:
a) transporting Mexican gray wolf puppies into the boundaries of Arizona; or
b) spending public monies or using public resources to transport Mexican gray wolf puppies into the boundaries of Arizona.
2. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Prepared by Senate Research
January 30, 2026
SB/SF/hk