In 1998, the Service reintroduced the first Mexican wolves into Arizona, designating them as experimental and non-essential populations under the Endangered Species Act. Wolves that disperse from the recovery area onto White Mountain Apache lands may remain on those lands under a tribal resolution passed that same year.

The Indian Self-Determination Act, Presidential executive orders and 50 years of formal agreements attest to the Service’s established role in tribal fisheries, where the development of recreational and subsistence fisheries is an important cultural and economic mainstay.

Since this resolution was passed, the tribe has worked with the Service and has drafted a multi-year Mexican Wolf Management Plan. In 2000, the Service and the tribe entered into a formal cooperative agreement to provide interim support for the wolf management plan until multi-year funding for the plan is secured. When funds are acquired, the tribe and Service will enter into a long-term cooperative agreement to implement the White Mountain Apache Tribe Wolf Management Plan.

Located adjacent to the western boundary of the current recovery area, the 1.6-million acre Fort Apache Indian Reservation contains excellent Mexican wolf habitat. The White Mountain Apache Tribe Mexican Wolf Management Plan allows up to 30 wolves to establish themselves on reservation lands. Currently, 6 groups of Mexican wolves—representing a total population of approximately 26 wolves— live in the recovery area in Arizona and New Mexico. None currently occupy reservation lands.

To date, wolves have traveled through the reservation. This type of movement is not unusual in new, establishing wolf populations. Wolf biologists expect that as the reintroduced population grows and more wolves disperse, the 30 wolves currently anticipated in the tribe’s wolf management plan will become established on the reservation.