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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, Second Regular Session
Mexican wolf; delist; urging support
Purpose
Urges the U.S. Congress to delist the Mexican wolf from the Endangered Species List and turn over management of the Mexican wolf to the states and local authorities.
Background
The Mexican 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 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 wolves in the wild in the United States in 1998. The Arizona Game and Fish Department has entered a memorandum of understanding between the USFWS and several other federal, state and tribal agencies committed to establishing and maintaining an ecologically and socially appropriate balance between the interests of recovering the Mexican wolf and preventing or alleviating negative impacts that wolf predation might have on livestock or wildlife (USFWS: Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan and Memorandum of Understanding).
Introduced in the U.S. Congress, H.R. 4255: 1) contains legislative findings; 2) removes the Mexican wolf from the lists of threatened and endangered species published under the Endangered Species Act; 3) nullifies final rules issued by the USFWS relating to the Mexican wolf; and 4) prohibits the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the USFWS, from referencing or otherwise considering the status of the Mexican wolf under the Endangered Species Act. H.R. 4255 is pending consideration of the full U.S. House of Representatives (U.S. Congress).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Urges the U.S. Congress to:
a) pass H.R. 4255 and delist the Mexican wolf from the Endangered Species List;
b) defund the nonessential 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; and
g) fully and promptly compensate ranchers for all direct and indirect economic losses related to the Mexican wolf.
2. Directs the Secretary of State to transmit a copy of the memorial to the President of the U.S. Senate, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and each Member of the U.S. Congress from Arizona.
House Action
LARA 2/16/26 DP 5-2-0-1
3rd Read 2/26/26 31-23-6
Prepared by Senate Research
March 6, 2026
SB/SF/hk