D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
November
2008
The Better to See You With, My Dear
Making the pitch for a Mexican Wolf Center in Grant County to galvanize lobo-tourism.
By David A. Fryxell
Kevin Bixby came to Silver City last month to talk about wolves, but wound up finding out what it's like to be the proverbial elephant in the room. After his presentation to the Grant County Commission about a proposed Mexican Wolf Center here, plenty of onlookers wanted to comment. But commissioners shut down any discussion, clearly wanting no part of the controversy over wolf reintroduction.
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The proposed Mexican Wolf Center
in Grant County would be modeled on the International Wolf Center in
Ely, Minn (above). |
"I'll be honest with you," Commission Chairman Henry Torres told attendees who'd waited until the end of the meeting for the public-input portion, "I don't want to get into this because it's controversial. I don't want to get into any controversies. If we need a public hearing, we can call one."
Bixby, executive director of the Southwest Environmental Center in Las Cruces, concedes that he's pro-wolf, but maintains the Mexican Wolf Center idea is not intended as part of the controversy, either. In fact, he says, "I see the proposal as a way to move beyond the polarization and paralysis on the wolf issue — a third way."
Quickly learning his way around the Silver City coffeehouse circuit, Bixby made his pitch one-on-one to state Rep. Diane Hamilton, MainStreet head Frank Milan and other movers and shakers. He garnered at least 20 business supporters for a letter to the state legislature backing the center, although most he contacted — like Torres, wary of the controversy — didn't want their names used. Bixby even found a potential site for the Mexican Wolf Center, at least in its start-up phase — the former Workshops of Carneros storefront on Bullard Street.
Walrus-mustachioed and soft-spoken, mild-mannered even after several cups of coffee, Bixby quietly insists that the proposed center is about dollars and cents, not promoting wolf reintroduction. "Whether you're for or against the wolves, this represents economic development and tourism," he says. "This is fruit waiting to be plucked. It doesn't have to be at anybody's expense.
"If you look at a map of the US, there are very few communities that have what Grant County has: proximity to the wilderness with a population of wild wolves. There's northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, and there's the northern Rockies, Yellowstone."
Bixby cites a University of Montana study showing that wolves in Yellowstone added $35 million to the local economy, though he concedes, "There are not those numbers here." Wolf lovers could combine a trip to Grant County with birdwatching, he adds, noting this area's status as an international birding destination with more than 200 species.
"People are fascinated by wolves," he says, "and willing to travel and spend money for the opportunity to experience them."
As Bixby envisions the Mexican Wolf Center, however, it's not clear how readily lobo-tourists would actually be able to experience anything other than some educational exhibits and 7,000 square miles of wilderness. The proposal is modeled on the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minn., which attracts 50,000 visitors annually, employs 23 people and has an annual budget of $1.3 million, generating an estimated $3 million in economic activity. But unlike that education center and tourist attraction, the Mexican Wolf Center wouldn't have a captive wolf population. After enjoying the museum-like exhibits, visitors would be on their own to spot any of the roughly 60 wolves scattered through the Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona. "Long odds," Bixby allows.
The Mexican Wolf Center could range from a modest 5,000 square feet to as big as 20,000 square feet, similar to the Ely facility. Bixby estimates the cost of such an "educational and tourism facility focused on the wildlife and wetlands of the Gila region (including 'El Lobo' — the Mexican wolf)" as $200,00-$500,000 if an existing building is renovated, or $2 million-$6 million for new construction. The annual operating budget would be $500,000-$1 million.
"I'd see a combination of state and private funding," Bixby adds, "with initially more state funding. It could possibly operate as a state museum. We hope to go to the legislature in the next session to request capital funding."
Despite the vehement opposition to the wolf reintroduction program by ranchers and others, Bixby says, "The center could actually help ranchers. Its mission would be to present the facts, so there would have to be an exhibit about interaction with wolves. It wouldn't be all glossy.
"It can only help the situation," he goes on, "to bring down the noise. It would be a place where ranchers' legitimate concerns could be heard. It's very polarized now, so it's hard to know the facts."
Lif Strand, a frequent critic of the wolf-reintroduction program and, until recently, president of the Catron County Citizens Group, says she'd welcome a center that was truly educational. "Most of what's out there is propaganda," she says. But Strand, an independent economic developer, is skeptical about the Mexican Wolf Center's bottom line: "The whole notion that this would add to tourism is a joke. Successful tourism involves people coming from one place to another to be entertained — even if it's also educational. If it's just dry facts and pictures of pretty wolves, how is it going to compete against the Internet? Most people would rather go to Disneyland than learn about Mexican wolves."
What's more, Strand argues, given the uncertain economic times, it wouldn't be smart for taxpayers to invest in "something that would suck up money and not deliver. It's just not that interesting a premise."
But Bixby suggests that even ranchers — such as those in Catron County who have been so critical of the wolf program — could benefit, as the center catalyzes the development of eco-tourism in the area: "Who's better situated to take advantage of this opportunity than ranchers?" They might have spare rooms to rent to wolf-seeking tourists, he suggests, or double as outfitters.
Strand snorts at this notion. "Ranchers have enough to do just trying to ranch," she says.
In any case, Bixby says, "The wolves will be out there whether there is a Mexican Wolf Center or not. The idea for a center tacitly endorses the wolves, but creating such a center doesn't affect what happens on the ground."
For more information on the Mexican Wolf Center, contact the Southwest Environmental Center, 275 N. Downtown Mall, Las Cruces, NM 88001, 522-5552, swec@zianet.com
David A. Fryxell is editor of Desert Exposure.