Seeking to force an environmental group to follow existing federal law in line with the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) filed an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit case, Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project (GCWRP) v. Burgum.

More than 25 years ago, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) reintroduced the Mexican gray wolf in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico as a “nonessential experimental population” under Section 10(j) of the ESA, which authorized a more relaxed and flexible approach to regulating reintroduced populations to mitigate conflict and build goodwill with cooperating states and landowners. Today, the population tops 300.

As a result of that growth, GCWRP filed a lawsuit calling on USFWS and the State of Arizona to reclassify the population as “essential,” meaning tighter regulations and heavier government oversight at a time when Mexican wolves are nearing recovery levels that could lead to delisting.

“Changing the regulatory ground rules originally agreed upon by states and communities would punish progress, undermine cooperation and greatly delay management opportunities for state wildlife agencies in line with other wildlife species,” said Blake Henning, RMEF chief conservation officer. “It would also jeopardize positive results for any future 10(j) reintroduction actions.”

H2C agrees with RMEF and PERC that 10(j) rules should be followed for the benefit of wildlife management.

Click here to read the brief.

RMEF has a long conservation history in the Southwest, supporting nearly 100 research projects that concern or could benefit Mexican gray wolf recovery efforts, at a cost exceeding $1.3 million. Since 2020, RMEF contributed nearly $100,000 to support research assessing the impacts of the Mexican wolf reintroduction on elk. RMEF has also been involved in wildlife management and other efforts associated with nonessential experimental populations under 10(j) of the ESA, including gray wolf recovery in parts of the Northern Rocky Mountains, grizzly bear recovery in the Northern Continental Divide, Greater Yellowstone and Bitterroot Ecosystems, and the forced introduction of gray wolves into Colorado.

Who is GCWRP?

The Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project is an environmentalist group that claims “state-level wolf management is a bad idea.” It is an alignment with more well-known anti-hunting, environmental groups like the Sierra Club, Western Watersheds, WildEarth Guardians and Defenders of Wildlife. It also supports another such group, the Center for Biological Diversity, in its quest to create a national wolf recovery plan, which biologists and professional wildlife managers ruled is not necessary. GCWRP refers to wolves as “sentient beings,” a popular talking point for animal rights groups, and consistently seeks to personify wolves by applying human traits to them. It also promotes outdated research, like the presence of wolves automatically trigger widespread trophic cascade effects that exaggerate benefits for vegetation, landscapes and other wildlife – propaganda dispelled via scientific, rigorous research many times over recent years, including in 2025.

About Hunt 2 Conserve

Hunt 2 Conserve is a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization affiliated with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Its mission is to advance a legacy of hunting and conservation by educating, activating and developing stewards and defenders of these fundamentally American ideals. For more information, go to hunt2conserve.org.

(Photo credit: Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation)