Though we ourselves are not in the wolf recovery
area, we have quite a few long-standing friends in Catron County
(HCN, 12/24/07).
So even though wolves
haven’t eaten my dogs in my yard, or killed my horse in my corral,
or stalked my children while waiting for the school bus, I have
followed the issue closely, mindful of the hysteria and closed
minds on both sides. After several readings of your article, my
primary reaction was of dismay, as much for the sources and
opinions that were offered, as for those I felt were conspicuously
absent.
Perhaps I should offer here my own disclaimer. A
farmer/rancher in Colorado and New Mexico since 1992, I am a
transplanted New Englander, and a graduate of one of those elite,
liberal, “ivory tower” colleges that many people in this part of
the country love to hate.
I was dismayed, however, at
your author’s portrayal of the people of Catron County. Of course
the people there have a resentment of the federal government; one
of the community’s primary sources of income was logging, which was
pretty much shut down by the legislation regarding the spotted owl.
The other major source of income is ranching. Now that marginal
lifestyle is threatened by wolf depredation. There are not a lot of
opportunities to “make up” this lost income. In an economy where
input as opposed to income is calculated to the pound of feed,
every loss is significant. In my case, I run registered cattle.
Besides a value per pound, every cow on this ranch represents
sometimes generations of genetics that cannot be duplicated. If the
numbers of cattle lost are so insignificant, as your author claims,
then why are people in Catron County losing their ranches because
of their diminished income? It is even hard for them to sell out,
since property values there have taken a hit as a result of the
presence of the wolves.
Your author describes public
lands being “controlled” by the ranchers. Granted, cattle were
grazed on those lands long before the U.S. Forest Service became a
federal entity, but now theirs are the rules by which we all play.
Our ranch has a 14,000 acre grazing allotment in the Gila National
Forest. I’ll tell you how much “control” we have. We can run as
many cows as the government tells us, between the dates the
government tells us they can be there. In the meantime, we are
responsible for fence and water maintenance. We also endeavor to do
erosion control, not required by the government, because of the
“public” that has access to these same lands. This “public”
relentlessly rides ATVs up and down sand washes, and anywhere else
they might be interested in going, regardless of whether there is a
road there or not. Naturally, once one yahoo rides somewhere that
looks like it might make a good road, a half dozen others have to
go see what was so interesting up there, and pretty soon there is a
road where there wasn’t before. We also have to put up with hunters
and trappers, who cut our fences, or leave gates open. Sure, we
could report all of this, but there is only one enforcement officer
for the entire 3.3 million acres of the Gila.
Your author
omitted quite a few sources for his article. Two years ago or so,
Audubon magazine wrote an article about the
wolves being reintroduced to the White Mountain Apache reservation
in Arizona. I believe it was last year that this same reservation
asked the federal government to remove the wolves because of
livestock depredations. This fact was noted in the author’s
timeline, but the reason for the removal was omitted. There is also
in southwest New Mexico a woman named Laurie Schneberger who has
done extensive reporting on the wolf issue in this area. Her
documentation is fact-based and not hysterical, and her photos
speak for themselves. Your author neglected to speak to her. Your
author did not speak to the Mark Miller family near Mimbres, who
had a full-grown, healthy horse killed in a corral right outside
their house, as well as other encounters. I think he could have
found quite a few sources in Catron County who would have spoken
about personal experiences with wolves. Yet he chose to emphasize a
single individual and his family, and I can only say that I am
extremely dismayed to find that this person is the face of those
who oppose the wolf in New Mexico. Certainly, I can’t think of
anyone I know who would behave in the manner that he has.
I just wanted to remind you that when you write “for people who
care about the West,” that takes in a very wide range of people and
circumstances.
Erin Evans
Silver City, New
Mexico
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Standing up for catron county.
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