Federal Agency Ordered to Release Data on Wolf Program

Conservationists won a battle with the federal government over information they say will help improve a program aimed at returning the Mexican gray wolf to the Southwest.

A judge ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services (WS) to release information on the locations of conflicts between livestock and the Mexican gray wolves in New Mexico and Arizona.

WS turned over the documents but not information that would have shown the specific locations of livestock-wolf conflicts. The agency cited concerns for landowner privacy.

The groups argued that grazing allotments can cover thousands of acres and simply knowing the city where the ranch gets its mail would not help in determining where the conflicts were happening.

In light of the public's interest in how the government manages the wolf program, the judge ruled that releasing the specific coordinates of conflicts would not violate landowner privacy.

Reprinted in part from firstamendmentcenter.org