The post Recent incidents highlight trapping as a statewide problem appeared first on TrapFree New Mexico.

State wildlife managers suggested they tried to strike a balance, but trappers argued the changes will be burdensome, requiring them in some instances to walk a mile round trip to set a trap.

Environmentalists also were displeased with the decision, calling the practice inhumane and indiscriminate. They had pushed for the commission to end trapping altogether, saying pets and endangered species such as the Mexican gray wolf have been inadvertently caught.

Friday was the first time the State Game Commission, charged with overseeing hunting and fishing regulations and managing wildlife across New Mexico, had met following a shakeup over a dispute on a rule limiting public access to rivers and streams that flow through private property.

Former Game Commission Chairwoman Joanna Prukop ran afoul of Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in the fall when she and other commissioners voted to reconsider the contested rule.

The commission under Prukop’s leadership had the support of sportsmen groups, conservationists and members of Congress when it voted in November to begin sorting out the quagmire. However, the Governor’s Office told Prukop she would not be reappointed when her term expired at the end of 2019.

Sharon Salazar Hickey was tapped by the governor this week to replace Prukop.

Hickey, a program manager at Los Alamos National Laboratory, was elected chairwoman of the commission Friday.

Given the shakeup, it’s unclear how soon the commission could began moving again on the stream access issue.

The new trapping prohibitions, designed largely to reduce the hazard of traps to hikers and their dogs, include mountainous areas east of Albuquerque, along with swaths of national forest along mountain highways leading to ski areas near Santa Fe and Taos. In the southern part of the state, it includes the eastern portion of the Organ Mountain-Desert Peaks National Monument.

Trapping and snaring triggered emotionally charged debates during last year’s legislative session. A bill dubbed “Roxy’s Law” after a dog that was strangled by a poacher’s illegal snare on a trail near Santa Cruz Lake would have banned traps, snares and animal poison on public land with few exceptions. It never came to a floor vote.

Jessica Johnson, chief legislative officer for Animal Protection of New Mexico and Animal Protection Voters, said until the Legislature acts, “our outdoor recreation, tourism industries and the well-being of New Mexico’s families and ecosystems remain under threat by trapping on public lands.”

The state doesn’t allow trapping that would create a long-term decline of any species and the types, sizes and designs of traps are limited. There also are requirements for the frequency in which traps must be checked.

Trappers told the State Game Commission on Friday that they’re frequently called on to help protect private livestock from coyotes or other predators and that harvesting the pelts of coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions, badgers and beavers is part of their rural heritage.

Commissioner Jimmy Bates, who voted against the changes, said trappers don’t view the practice as recreation or sport.

“They see it as a means of species population management, disease control, heritage, a way of life, and yes it’s a means of income,” he said.

“I understand they’re a minority but we live in the United States of America, a country which prides itself on defending rights of minorities.”

Commissioner Jeremy Vesbach described the issue as a rural-urban divide. He said he looked through thousands of public comments received by the commission and many mentioned the need to protect domestic animals.

Vesbach said he believes closing high-traffic areas to trapping and providing trapper education will help reduce illegal trapping and conflicts with other public land users.

Read this article in the Santa Fe New Mexican

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There clearly has been inadequate consideration of the damaging proposal from the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish to allow concealed trapping on 95 percent of recreational public lands, which (need we be reminded) draw tourists and residents to New Mexico.

The governor and legislators must be aware that so much of our revenue is generated from tourism that is dependent on safe use of public lands. Isn’t that the state’s implicit promise in ads to attract tourism? And this tourist market can easily turn to enjoying nearby states where public land safety can be expected. Moreover, I would suggest that new residents are strongly attracted here for safe enjoyment of public land recreation.

New Mexico is great, but we should never forget that it’s competing with other states for these new residents and tourists who generate considerable direct and indirect contributions to the state economy. As this public trust is compromised by the state’s direct action to undoubtedly diminish safety, how many residents and what amount of tourism can political leaders claim is unnecessary?

State-endorsed danger to public land use constrains our most reliable revenue from tourism, risks discouraging current and future new residents, reduces state income, and diminishes use of one of the greatest natural resources that any state would desire. I am surprised that New Mexico leaders think we can afford to reject all this.

Finally and importantly, please note that I refrained from even discussing the great harm people and their beloved animal companions incur.

Susan Mertes moved to Santa Fe nine years ago from a career as an attorney and lobbyist in Washington, D.C.

Read this article in the Santa Fe New Mexican

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The TrapFree New Mexico map, unveiled Monday, includes 23 documented incidents of trapping violations between 2015 and 2018, and says at least 78 pets were reported snared in traps during that period.

Most of those animals survived with wounds, but an Española dog named Roxy gained national attention in November 2018 after being caught in a snare and fatally strangled while walking with her owner at Santa Cruz Lake.

In January 2017, an endangered Mexican gray wolf was caught in a commercial trap and released, according to a news release on the mapping initiative.

“The wolf was recaptured 19 days later and was euthanized due to extensive damage and necrosis on the trapped foot,” the release said.

The map comes just weeks after a Santa Fe County Magistrate Court judge dismissed the case against a Chimayó man who faced 34 counts of illegal trapping, including the one that took Roxy’s life. The judge ruled that the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish had failed to serve the man, Marty Cordova, with a search warrant and failed to preserve evidence in the case.

Chris Smith of Santa Fe-based WildEarth Guardians, one of the groups that created the TrapFree map, said, “The map is equal parts of awareness and empowerment.”

He said he hopes it draws attention to the issue and encourages people to report any incidents of illegal trapping.

The information used in the map came from several sources, Smith said, including a public records document from Game and Fish, data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, media reports and people “self-reporting to TrapFree New Mexico.”

“Of course, we can’t verify everything, but I have no reason to doubt the veracity of the self-reporting data,” he said. “Could people abuse it? Yes. Do I suspect they will? I hope not.”

The incident reports on the map include violations of trapping laws, such as one trapper’s failure to check traps every day at a site north of Carlsbad, and incidents in which pets and people have been caught in traps.

Roxy’s death led to legislative efforts earlier this year to ban trapping on state trust land, but the measure failed. Smith said he did not think lawmakers would introduce such a bill again when the Legislature convenes in January because the 2020 session will last just 30 days and focus primarily on the state budget.

State Rep. Matthew McQueen, D-Galisteo, who introduced Roxy’s Law last year, said in an email Monday, “We’re not planning on reintroducing trapping legislation in the upcoming short session, but I’m sure it will come back in the future. There is broad public support for banning this cruel practice in New Mexico.”

He said he was “appalled” by the dismissal of charges against Cordova stemming from Roxy’s death.

“If someone dropped the ball, they need to figure out how that happened and identify concrete steps to make sure it never happens again,” he said.

Read the article in the Santa Fe New Mexican »

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The post Tragedy for a Dog and Her Family Proves Traps Have No Place in Our State appeared first on TrapFree New Mexico.

Read the article in the Albuquerque Journal

The post Albuquerque Journal Editorial: Another 4-legged reason NM should ban traps appeared first on TrapFree New Mexico.