Two Congressmen from New Mexico and Arizona have introduced legislation that they say would protect farmers, ranchers and rural communities in Arizona and New Mexico from economic losses stemming from the reintroduction of Mexican gray wolves.
But environmentalists argue that the legislation would be a death sentence for the endangered predators.
U.S. Reps. Steve Pearce of New Mexico and Paul Gosar of Arizona introduced the bill this week.
The two Republicans say the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has ignored public safety concerns and has failed to establish recovery goals for the wolves.
They also criticized a recent decision to expand the wolf reintroduction area in the two states.
A subspecies of the gray wolf, the Mexican wolf was added to the federal endangered species list in 1976. Reintroduction started in 1998.
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