Current work in wildlife, rivers, public lands, and climate

Date: Wednesday, December 6th at 1:00pm

Time: 1:00 pm MDT

Location:  New Mexico Capitol Building, East Entrance, 411 S Capitol St, Santa Fe, NM 87501 

SANTA FE, N.M. – WildEarth Guardians invites the media to attend a petition delivery for Asha the lobo at the New Mexico Capitol. This event will provide an opportunity for media representatives to talk to WildEarth Guardians staff working on Mexican gray wolf recovery and keeping Asha free as she roams the Jemez Mountains in Northern New Mexico.

WildEarth Guardians will deliver a petition—signed by over 8,500 people who want to see Asha the lobo continue to roam freely in northern New Mexico—to Governor Lujan Grisham. Asha is one of roughly 250 critically endangered Mexican wolves who live in the U.S. Southwest. Twice this year, Asha has traveled north of the arbitrary boundary of Interstate 40 where wolves are not allowed to be according to the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In January, Asha was captured near Angel Fire and returned to southern Arizona. In late November she was located in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico, where she has been for over a month. Conservation and wildlife groups are urging state and federal officials to allow Asha to remain wild and free.

Chris Smith, WildEarth Guardians’ southwest wildlife advocate says, “Asha’s incredible journeys are about the freedom that all wildlife should enjoy. But they also are indicative of the future for New Mexico’s iconic lobos. These wolves need access to suitable habitat in the northern Rockies in order to recover. Asha is living out what peer reviewed science has long suggested.”

We invite members of the media to join us for this opportunity and look forward to your participation and coverage of this event. 

Wild Mexican gray wolf, USFWS

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WildEarth Guardians is a conservation nonprofit whose mission is to protect and restore the wildlife, wild places, wild rivers, and health of the American West. Guardians has offices in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington, and over 179,000 members and supporters worldwide.