Sierra Co. pulls out of wolf program

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - Officials in one southern New Mexico county are withdrawing their support for the federal government's effort to reintroduce Mexican gray wolves to the Southwest.

Sierra County Manager Janet Porter Carrejo sent a brief letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service earlier this month outlining the county's position.

She says residents don't feel the reintroduction program is worthy of the federal money spent so far.

More than $12 million has been spent since 2003, and a recent survey puts the wolf population in New Mexico and Arizona at about 58.

Porter Carrejo says residents believe there are more wolves in the wild.

The state of New Mexico withdrew its support from the program last summer.

The federal government has been working since 1998 to reintroduce the wolves. The animals were added to the federal endangered species list in 1976.