Sierra County has joined Catron County in calling for an end to reintroducing wolves and a start to removing those that kill cattle.
The resolution passed unanimously by the Sierra County Commission on Tuesday, April 22, like the one passed unanimously by the Catron County Commission on April 8, declares a public-safety disaster and asks the governor, state and federal agencies “to immediately respond with funding, personnel and emergency resources.”
“The introduction and proliferation of Mexican grey wolves have led to sustained livestock losses in Catron County, which have increased exponentially in recent months to disaster levels, decimating the local ranching economy and causing growing impacts regionally,” says the Sierra County resolution.
Sierra Commissioner James Paxon, who serves on the County Livestock Loss Authority for Sierra, Catron and Socorro counties, said the last meeting of the authority focused on Catron County’s recent spike in “depredations” — livestock lost to predators.
“One rancher has lost seven cows or calves in one pasture,” Paxon said.
An “alpha male” leading a pack in Hells Canyon Park, north of Luna, is known to be responsible, he said, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service “is very hesitant to issue wolf removals. They get such an extreme negative reaction from the environmental groups and the wolf advocates. it’s been two years and three months since they’ve removed a wolf.”
So far this year, Paxon said, Sierra County has recorded three wolf depredations — all three near the Continental Divide, two by wolves fitted with collars that record their positions and known to have been released on Ted Turner’s Ladder Ranch. He said another release of wolf pups there this summer is likely to result in more depredations in Sierra County.
Catron County’s resolution goes beyond the Sierra County’s by attacking the federal government as well as the New Mexico Game and Fish Department for insisting the reintroduction of Mexican wolves would little affect the livestock industry because these wolves mainly prey on elk.
“The official narrative … is blatantly false, as Mexican wolves are increasingly habituated and, with dramatic frequency, are stalking our children, roaming our communities, threatening those who venture into our forests, snatching and killing our pets from our front porches, killing our horses and killing our cattle,” says the Catron County resolution.
The Turner Endangered Species Fund declined to comment on the resolutions. But four years ago, following the release of a pair of grown wolves and their pups on the Ladder, the fund’s director credited the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and New Mexico “for taking yet another positive smart step in the direction of advancing wolf recovery.”
Mexican gray wolves, a subspecies of gray wolves that once roamed the U.S. southwest and parts of Mexico, were largely eradicated in the wilds by the early 20th century, even before they were listed as an endangered species in 1976. In 1998, a few survivors were brought to the Ladder Ranch’s newly constructed wolf management facility — a “halfway house” between holding facilities, like zoos or wildlife sanctuaries, and the wild. About 140 wolves have passed through the facility so far, according to the fund’s website. Once the wolves are released on the 156,439-acre ranch, they roam freely in all directions.
According to Commissioner Saxon, there are at least 286 Mexican gray wolves in wilds today, and when the population gets to 320, they may be “down listed” to something other than endangered.
Sierra and Catron counties aren’t the only ones concerned about wolves. Catron County Manager Deborah Mahler, also the administrator of the County Livestock Loss Authority, said Socorro County and Acoma Pueblo also are considering resolutions. Apache County in Arizona, just to the west of Catron, also has passed such a resolution.
Cattle and sheep are occasionally killed and eaten by coyotes, mountain lions, bears and other predators, but those certified by a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector as the victims of Mexican gray wolves qualify for compensation from the federal government, based on the sex, age and weight of the animal, and the market value. Currently, compensation averages $1,870 for a calf, $2,850 for a cow and $4,900 for a bull. Sheep draw much less: $230 for a ewe and $245 for a ram.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has no figures for depredations so far in 2025, but says they have fallen in New Mexico and Arizona in recent years — from 160 in 2020 to 127 in 2021, 137 in 2022, 117 in 2023 and 98 in 2024. This is despite a increase in the number of Mexican gray wolves in the wilds in both states — from about 170 in 2020 to 290 in 2024.
Good article, Tom. I applaud Sierra County, Catron County, and Jim Paxon. It is high time to remove the wolves. They should have never been introduced in the first place. It is part of the self-destructive mentality of those who idolize nature while having no sympathy for ranchers and people who consume their products, meat, milk, cheese, etc. They are similar to the lefties who do not want human predators (criminals) to go to jail and thus have no real sympathy for justice for their victims. And they are similar to those who do not want to haverst trees to protect from wild fires spreading. In this case, they idolize trees.
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