New Mexico rancher Craig Thiessen will not be allowed to graze his cattle on public lands. The Catron County cattleman killed an endangered Mexican wolf in Gila National Forest six years ago where his cattle were grazing. He pleaded guilty in 2018 to killing the wolf and was sentenced to a year of probation and a $2,300 fine.
Later that year the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service revoked his permit to graze cattle on the public land. Thiessen challenged that ruling in court, but a federal judge on Friday upheld the USFWS decision to bar him from public grazing.
Thiessen has been grazing 286 cows and 143 calves on the 48,000 acres, according to court documents. The USFWS has sued Thiessen to remove his cattle.
Representatives from four conservation groups said in a statement that Thiessen had given up his privileges to use the public land after his actions.
Greta Anderson from the Western Watersheds Project accused Thiessen on Friday of animal cruelty by killing the wolf. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that numerous accounts said the young wolf’s leg was caught in a trap and it was then struck with a shovel.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the wolves as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1976.
