U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Grant for Collaborative Mexican Wolf Recovery Efforts

The objective of this agreement is to have MWF contribute to the administration and facilitation of the recovery planning efforts on the MWRP, with the ultimate goal of recovery of this subspecies of the endangered gray wolf in the southwestern United States. The administration and facilitation of recovery planning efforts will assist the Service in gathering the appropriate expertise to develop recovery goals and objectives for Mexican wolves in the southwestern United States. Without an updated recovery plan, the Service will not be able to recover Mexican wolves because the 1982 recovery plan did not list objectives for recovering the subspecies. The development of an updated recovery plan for the Mexican wolves is clearly in the public interest as authorized in the Endangered Species Act of 1973, 16 USC 1361 et seq., esp. 1535(c).
Since 2006, the MWF has worked in cooperation with state and federal agencies to fund projects and programs involving Mexican gray wolves in the southwest United States. The MWF purpose is not advocacy, but to help support and fund solutions to problems and challenges on the ground. These challenges include conflict prevention, management and dissemination of information. The physical and intellectual infrastructure the MWF has developed with respect to Mexican wolf recovery during the past four years is of value to the MWRP. The Cooperative agreement will establish a new framework for collaboration between the MWF and the MWRP. In doing so, the MWRP will maximize the effectiveness of limited funding available for Mexican wolf recovery, while at the same time implement the mission of the Service.

The MWF will provide administration and facilitation of the recovery planning efforts by reimbursing travel expenditures with members of the Mexican Wolf Recovery Team during planning efforts. The amount of money, and individuals designated to receive funds will be at the discretion of the Service, based on established travel costs for the area of individual meetings and cost of flights from various locations. In addition, the MWF voluntarily seek grants and funding to assist the Mexican wolf project with conflict prevention, management, recovery planning documents (EIS), and research on Mexican wolves. Independent grants will be spent at the discretion of the MWF, but have been used in the past to minimize impacts of Mexican wolves within the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area (BRWRA). The MWF has voluntarily garnered in excess of $300,000 in grants to assist in conflict resolution for a series of Interagency Field Team (IFT) prioritized projects related to the Mexican wolves. The MWF administers and provides expertise in establishing contracts associated with their grants at no cost to the Service.

The MWF also possesses staff expertise that may be engaged in the MWRP for assistance in various field activities such as wolf monitoring, captures, trapping, tracking, and outreach. Likewise, the MWF also allows Service personnel to attend training at associated captive facilities.

The Service recognizes the contribution and value that MWF brings to Mexican wolf recovery in staff expertise and voluntarily grant applications. The Service also recognizes the non-advocacy position of the MWF, which allows the non-profit to function in a fashion that does not create any perception of a conflict of interest. As part of this agreement, MWF will reimburse recovery team members for travel based on Service direction. In addition, MWF may choose to seek grants from private foundations to assist with conflict prevention, management, research, or recovery planning documents. The Service, in turn, and via this Agreement, will provide funding necessary to pay for travel by Mexican wolf recovery teams.