ELEPHANT BUTTE, N.M. – Sen. Crystal Brantley, R-Elephant Butte, today welcomed a new push from U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins for states to review their wolf management policies and work more closely with livestock producers. She called on New Mexico to act on it. 

Rollins' outreach, issued Monday, follows President Donald Trump's Executive Order 14425, "Supporting America's Ranchers." It urges states to listen to their producers, review state-specific wolf protections and work with USDA to protect livestock, including through lethal removal when requested by the appropriate authorities and authorized by law. USDA also said the Farm Service Agency has raised Livestock Indemnity Program payments for qualifying predation losses to 100% of market value. 

"This reintroduction has been an experiment for nearly three decades, and the experiment has given us its results," Brantley said. "The Mexican gray wolf is a genetically distinct wolf, and its population has grown well past original recovery targets. A program with no off-ramp isn't recovery. It's time to manage wolves the way we manage mountain lions and bears." 

Brantley has been working with federal officials in the Trump administration on the question of management of the Mexican gray wolf. Alongside Rep. Gail Armstrong, R-Magdalena, she also secured state funding for a livestock loss indemnity program for wolf depredation. Catron, Sierra and Socorro counties have each since declared a public safety disaster over Mexican wolves. 

"Indemnity will never be enough," Brantley said. "You can't put a check in an envelope and make a family whole for their herd, their safety or their peace of mind. This isn't abstract for me. A wolf bedded down in my daughters' playhouse on our ranch and had to be removed for their safety. When my staff traveled to Reserve this summer, the outfitters, guides, game processors and ranchers there told me the same thing: it's time to reevaluate how we manage this species going forward." 

"Secretary Rollins is asking states to start by listening, and that's the right place to start. As Interior weighs its determination, I urge the Department of Game and Fish and the State Game Commission to review where New Mexico's protections stand and sit down with the ranchers, hunters, and local leaders who live with this every day." 

Read the full USDA announcement here.