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Bringing an endangered species back from the brink of extinction is usually cause for celebration but in the Southwest, wolves may be the exception.

Champions of the Mexican gray wolf are watching a bill introduced in Congress by Representative Paul Gosar, R-N.M., to remove the wolf from the Endangered Species Act. It is supposed to remain there until there is an average of 320 wolves for eight years, and right now there are only 286. Gosar and others argued the wolves threaten livestock, game animals and human lives.

Brian Bird, Southwest director for Defenders of Wildlife, said livestock deaths are still rare.

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"While wolf numbers continue to grow, the ratio of confirmed depredations per 100 wolves is declining," Bird explained. "The recovery program has shown a growing wolf population for at least eight years now."

Based on recent counts, there are 162 Mexican gray wolves in New Mexico and 124 in Arizona. Last year, New Mexico's Catron County Board of Commissioners declared a "state of emergency" due to increased encounters with the wolves and appealed to the state's Game Commission to take immediate action to manage the population. The Commission has yet to act on the request.

The Game and Fish Departments of New Mexico and Arizona count wolf populations using remote cameras, scat collection and visual observation.

Jesse Duebell, executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, is optimistic the state's gray wolf population can achieve long-term viability.

"The Endangered Species Act is very, very important but success is being removed from the list," Duebell noted. "That's ultimately what the New Mexico Wildlife Federation really wants to see, is the success of the Wolf Recovery Program, so that the management of this iconic species can be returned to the state."

Gosar has been trying to remove federal protections for the Mexican gray wolf for a decade. In Arizona's legislative session last week, Republican lawmakers pushed forward a bill which would require the state's Game and Fish Department to issue permits to landowners to allow them to kill Mexican gray wolves on their property. It would also remove the wolf from the endangered category.