Contributed Article/Courtesy Greenlee County BOS
GREENLEE COUNTY – At a special meeting of the Greenlee County Board of Supervisors held on July 7, 2025, the Board voted unanimously to pass Greenlee County Resolution 25-07-01 supporting H.R. 4255, also known as the Enhancing Safety for Animals Act, which was recently introduced in Congress by Representative Paul Gosar. The Act takes the bold approach of delisting the Mexican Gray Wolf legislatively.
Supervisor Ron Campbell, in whose district the first wolf releases occurred over 25 years ago, commented, “It is not uncommon when meetings are held to take public comment on wolf reintroduction, that those in favor of wolf reintroduction outnumber those who are opposed to it. But none of those folks have had to live with the repercussions of the wolf. Our citizens, on the other hand, have borne the cost of this program for decades. That inequitable cost shows up as lost production with both calf kills and cattle injuries, slow and inadequate compensation, and having to adapt their business operations to accommodate an artificially introduced apex predator.”
Will Wearne, Supervisor for District Three, added, “Although I am new to this problem, it is patently unfair for our small group of cattle producers and those in neighboring counties in Arizona and New Mexico to have to shoulder all of the burdens that this program has created.”
“Greenlee County has been at the table trying to mitigate wolf impacts ever since the wolves were introduced,” observed Chairman David Gomez. “Our efforts have been helpful, but have not solved the problem. By all accounts, it appears that the wolves are thriving, and the population is growing each year. That’s why we support this legislative effort (to) rein in this program and delist the wolf.”
The first wolf releases occurred in Greenlee County in 1998, and the county has been actively involved since before the first releases, attempting to prevent such releases from happening. Since reintroduction began, the county has collaborated with all relevant agencies and interested groups to mitigate the impact of the wolves on behalf of its cattle ranchers. The county is not naïve about how difficult it is to get any legislation through Congress in the current environment, let alone legislation that pits urban areas against rural ones, and eastern states against western states with vast stretches of unoccupied public land. However, it is long past time for someone to make an effort, and the County is proud to support this legislative attempt to address the problem directly.
A copy of the Board’s Resolution can be found on the Greenlee County website under Public Notices.
