Carter Niemeyer clued me in tonight on what I am calling the "cowardly decision" by New Mexico Game Commission to bail out of the Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Program that they have been a partner in with USFW since 1999.......Now it is suddenly ok for the handful of people in the few regions across the continental USA that still have a small population of Wolves, Cougars and Grizz to feel it is ok to roll back the steady progress of rewilding that we have achieved since the middle 1960's?...........Have we all forgotten that the Wilderness Act, Endangered Species Act, Clean Water and Air Acts were all passed with Bi-Partisan support????............That Republican Nixon as well as Democrats Kennedy and Johnson all felt the environment needed to be restored..............that just 50 years ago, the environment was not an issue that was associated with conservative or liberal or independent thinker.......................It was an American issue, just like National Defense...............That Republican Teddy Roosevelt put aside more land for National Parks and Wildlife Preserves than any democratic President ...................That even being the big game hunter that he was, Roosevelt had an open mind and came to embrace the Aldo Leopold land ethic that stated that Carnivores as well as hoofed browsers should roam this great Country of ours.........And where is the alleged forward thinking President Obama on this issue???? In my opinion, he should be speaking out strongly against this Nazi-like propaganda snowball that a minority group of folks are ramming down our throats as it relates to ridding the land(again) of wolves, grizz and cougars............Time to get off our duffs and get back in the game...........I am not going to apologize for craving a "WILD AMERICA"..............Make the minority fringe apologize for them not craving a Wild America!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!........Let it be our task to get them to be "Roosevelt-like", exhibit some emotional inteligence and embrace wild carnivores as not being evil competitors, but instead being beneficial partners of ours in making the land healthier and truly "alive" with diversity(and all the genetic possibility for medical and food advancement that comes with diversity) for our childeren, grandchildren and all the generations to come over the millenia ahead

By Reyes Mata III/

LAS CRUCES - 
The New Mexico State Game Commission voted unanimously today

 to suspend the Mexican Wolf Reintroduction program in the state.
"I would like to suspend it for a while, lets see how it lays out," said

Commissioner Thomas "Dick" Salopek. "Both sides have been

unhappy about the wolf recovery program. We have been keeping

peace between all people. So, you know what, if both sides are

 unhappy, then let's suspend it and let the federal government do it.
I am frustrated at both sides, especially with thefederal government."

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department - following the requirements

of the federal Endangered Species Act - looks for partners throughout

 the state to protect endangered species, like the Mexican wolf. The

 New Mexico State Game Commission has been a partner to protect

 the Mexican wolf since 1999. Today's regular meeting, which for the

 first time this year was in Las Cruces, sought to gather public opinion

 to help guide the state's wolf protection policy.
About 50 Mexican wolves are spread over New Mexico and Arizona.
 Dan Williams, public information officer for the New Mexico

 Department of Game and Fish - a partner in coordinating the

 Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Program - said it was a "balanced"

 public comment session.

"But we will no longer be participating in the Mexican Wolf

reintroduction program," he said. "It's an argument that's been

 going on since 1999." June 30 will be last day the New Mexico

 Game and Fish Department participates in the program, he

 said. The sentiment expressed at the meeting was passionate.

"Hunting is under fire from every front," said Tom Klunke director

of the Southwest New Mexico Outfitters. He said the federal

 Endangered Species Act was used as a way to further a hidden

agenda."It's not about the endangered wolf, or the spotted owl,

" he said. Environmentalists "use that, very successfully, as a tool

 to remove humans from the land. They view the wilderness as

 something aesthetic, like a utopian playground. They want

 humans out of those areas."
Michael J. Robinson, a conservation advocate with the Center

 for Biological Diversity, bristled at that characterization.
"That's paranoid ranting," he said. "Animals, like the Mexican wolf,

 that are on the brink of extinction play an important role in the

 balance of nature. New Mexicans - both urban and rural - support

 the recovery of this beautiful, intelligent and social animal. These

 animals have been gravely persecuted."
Carol Fugagli, of Cliff, N.M., said she and her son were recently

 camping in the Gila Hot Springs when they "heard the mysterious

 and beautiful" howl of a wolf."I instantly got chills of excitement and

was stunned and filled with the beauty of the sound," she said.

"Unfortunately I have not heard the wolf cry again, but I don't want

 this to be a distant memory for my son. I want him to grow in an

environment where there is a full spectrum of biological diversity

so he can share similar experiences with his children.

"I feel (the wolves) are a highly valued and needed element (of nature).

My family does not feel that wolves are a threat to our safety in any way

. I don't think humans can pick and choose which animals should or

should not be in the wilderness."