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HB2787 - 572R - H Ver
House Engrossed
federal
nullification; Mexican wolf; reintroduction
State of Arizona
House of Representatives
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
HOUSE BILL 2787
AN
ACT
Amending title 1, chapter 2, article 4,
Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 1-273; relating to sovereign
authority.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Title 1, chapter 2, article 4,
Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 1-273, to read:
START_STATUTE
1-273.
Sovereign authority; Mexican wolf reintroduction; exception
A. Pursuant to article II, section 3,
Constitution of Arizona, this state, any agency or political subdivision of
this state and any employee of this state or an agency or political subdivision
of this state acting in the employee's official capacity may not use any
personnel or financial resources to enforce, administer or cooperate with the
Mexican wolf reintroduction program pursuant to the endangered species act of
1973
(P.L. 93-
205; 87 Stat.
884; 16 United States Code sections 1531 through 1544).
B. This section does not apply to the
livestock loss program that is administered and enforced by the livestock loss
board established by section 17-491.
END_STATUTE
Sec. 2.
Legislative findings
The legislature finds that:
1. In 1998, the United
States fish and wildlife service initiated the Mexican Wolf Reintroduction
Project and began introducing captively bred Mexican wolves into Arizona and
New Mexico. Pursuant to the Endangered Species Act, the United
States fish and wildlife service determined that the release of Mexican wolves
in the United States was for purely experimental purposes and that one hundred
percent of the Mexican wolves currently located in the United States are not
essential to the continued survival of the species.
2. In 2014, the population
of Mexican wolves in the United States met and exceeded the United States fish
and wildlife service's original goal of 100 wolves, yet the Mexican wolf was
not delisted from the endangered species list, prolonging uncertainty for local
communities and perpetuating greater legal protections for wolves than private
property rights.
3. By the end of 2024,
there were 286 Mexican wolves in the wild in the United States and another 356
Mexican wolves in captivity, marking an 11 percent increase in wild Mexican
wolves in the United States over year-end 2023 and the ninth consecutive
year of growth.
4. The Mexican wolf is a
vicious predator that requires large populations of natural ungulate prey such
as deer and elk to sustain its diet.� Southeast Arizona does not include a
large population of natural ungulate prey, demonstrating that, without cattle,
the Mexican wolf population would not have been able to reach 286 wolves.� The
increasing reliance on livestock and expanding encroachment of Mexican wolves
into southeast Arizona has resulted in violent attacks in local communities and
concerning incidents near residential homes, including incidents involving pets
and children, which threaten rural families and have forced some communities to
install caged bus stops for children.
5. One Mexican wolf can
cause between $69,000 and $162,000 in direct and indirect losses to a local
rancher, with total indirect losses ranging from $1.4 million to $3.4 million,
creating significant economic damage to local communities and substantial
financial devastation to ranching families but the losses are unverified due to
burdensome federal procedures that fail to recognize all forms of livestock
loss and Mexican wolf predation.
6. Over $220 million has
been spent on the Mexican wolf reintroduction project in the United States
to-date, representing approximately $500,000 to $1 million per Mexican wolf,
despite 90 percent of the species' historical range lying in Mexico, while
local governments like Cochise county have spent hundreds of thousands of
dollars to protect their citizens against the Mexican wolf.
7. The projected cost to
American taxpayers of maintaining the Mexican wolf reintroduction project
through 2030 is estimated to be between $47 million and $59 million, not
including compensation funds or administrative overhead, and is not justified
when the original population goal of 100 wolves was met and exceeded in 2014.
8. Based on the best
scientific and commercial data available, including the current population
count, the maximum population that likely could have been sustained by
historical non-livestock sources of prey alone, and the lack of overt government
predator control programs that seek to extirpate the Mexican wolf once it is
delisted, the Mexican wolf in the United States has met and far exceeded the
minimum population necessary for delisting, has sufficiently recovered, is no
longer at risk of extinction in its historical range and is no longer in need
of the protections afforded by the Endangered Species Act.