Months Spent Fighting for National Monuments By Susan Torres New Mexico Wildlife Federation In April, President Trump issued an executive order calling on the Interior Department to review 27 national monuments across the country. New Mexico’s two newest monuments, Rio Grande del Norte and Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monuments were on the list. Part of the review process included an opportunity for the public to submit comments about the monuments. The public really took that to heart. More than 2 million comments were submitted to the Interior Department. By every analysis and account - including the Interior Department’s own summary of the report - comments were overwhelmingly in support of the monuments and keeping them as they are. Hundreds of New Mexico Wildlife Federation members submitted comments during the review period and attended events in both monuments showing their support for our public lands. We kicked off a busy summer rallying for our monuments on May 2nd at the Taos Fly Shop. We held a barbeque and had community leaders from across the north speak about the importance of protecting Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. With the help of our partners, hundreds showed up to voice their
support for the monument and sign petition letters to the Interior Department. The entire event was broadcast live thanks to the support of KTAOS Radio.
But this whirlwind trip was only the beginning. May would bring two Matanza events, one in the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks and one in Rio Grande del Norte. In the Organ Mountains, about a hundred community members showed up to enjoy mariachi music performed by students from a local high school, enjoy traditional Mexican dishes, and hear from elected officials, sportsmen, veterans, and community leaders about the need to protect the monument.
Next, New Mexico Wildlife Federation staff were headed even farther north to Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, the monument with the shortest review period at the beginning. In Bears Ears, we met with tribal leaders and RGDN brown trout in the monument. /Ron Sedall locals to discuss the monument. It quick“I’ve been all over the ly became clear what world, I spent ten years zure proponents claim, there isn’t a unique campaign it was to get much you can’t do in the monument. overseas and no one has public Bears Ears designated. Multiple Hunting, grazing, fishing, camping, lands like we have,” said Jeff Swantribes came together to protect this OHV use, and other recreation ac- son, veteran and member of Southarea that has special meaning to so tivites are all allowed on the monu- ern Public Lands Alliance. “Where many people. Bears Ears is a great ment, as our executive director put all Americans can share them and example of what diverse coalitions it, “the only thing you can’t do in the all Americans can hunt and fish and can accomplish. We met with Ute monument is drill and destroy the hike and camp and come out here member Malcolm Lehi and Nava- beautiful, sacred landscape.” and look at such beauty.” jo member Davis Filfred who were integral in making the monument During our two days in the monu- A week later we were prepping for designation a reality. They empha- ment our staff, along with our part- our second matanza in Rio Grande sized the importance of the area to ners at the National Wildlife Fed- del Norte. Two nights before we multiple tribes, the unprecedent- eration, successfully harvested worked with our partners prepared cooperation among community a turkey. Upon our return to New ing the pig for the traditional meal. members, and the need to protect Mexico, we gifted the pelts to stu- Held over Memorial Day weekend, this area from development. dents at the Santa Fe Indian School the matanza focused on the crucial contributions of veterans in defendPueblo Pathways Project. Despite what many public land seiing our country and our public The Outdoor Reporter is a bi-annual publication of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, a nonprofit organization working to protect the rights and traditions of New Mexico hunters and anglers since 1914. For more information or to join us, visit our website at www.nmwildlife.org. To advertise in the Outdoor Reporter, email storres@nmwildlife.org.
New Mexico sportsmen and women protecting our outdoor way of life since 1914 (505) 299-5404 • www.nmwildlife.org 6100 Seagull St. NE Suite B-105, Albuquerque, NM 87109
Page 2
New Mexico Wildlife Federation Staff
Executive Director Garrett Vene Klasen Deputy Director Todd Leahy Communications Director Susan Torres Education, Community, & Veterans Director Andrew Black Southern NM Coordinator Gabe Vasquez Finance Coordinator Wendy Sandidge Public Lands Fellow Sophie Shemas Office Manager Susan Calt
New Mexico Wildlife Federation • www.nmwildlife.org • facebook.com/nmwildlife • @nmwildlife
... “Monuments” Continued from Page 2 lands. Hundreds showed up to the Taos Mesa Brewery to eat, sign petitions, and hear from veterans about why the monument mattered to them. “When I left and came back, finding that inner peace again to find it in places like this, all that stuff, all the stress is gone when you’re out there just chillin’,” said Julian Gonzales Jr. New Mexico Wildlife Federation member and servicem ember about his time overseas serving. “That’s what I got to say, and if it’s taken away, then you don’t have that place anymore. You don’t got that inner peace anymore. And to me that’s what helped me fight a lot of the demons when I got back.” New Mexicans from all walks of life have a vested interest in these lands. After all, they belong to all of us. But our monuments aren’t just for our enjoyment today, they also
are a key to our past, a gift for future generations, and a necessary part of a healthy wildlife population.
showed up to the town hall in Las Cruces - but Secretary Zinke wasn’t one of them.
by allowing logging, oil and gas, and mining - basically nullifying it’s monument status.
The Organ Mountains have petroglyphs and are the location of many important moments in Mexican, Apache, and Mogollon history. Rio Grande del Norte is a premier trout fishery with 66 miles of public water, prime habitat for bighorn sheep, elk, deer, pronghorn, waterfowl, and contains crucial wildlife corridors for our big game. Without monument protections these unique habitats could be open to development which would forever alter and damage the landscape.
Fortunately after his trip, Zinke said he thought our monuments were settled and he didn’t see any need to change them. We continued to wait to see if he would keep his word. Then the deadline day came, August 24th - the day the Interior was supposed to release their report. News started coming out that the report had been sent to the White House. The Interior press release said some monuments would be receiving recommendations for changes but none would be rescinded completely. We waited and waited for more details, but none came.
The contents of the document prove that this review was not taken seriously and not done honestly. The review was never really about public input and not all the monuments went through “reviews.” This was especially true as Zinke would announce randomly throughout the summer that some monuments would be safe from changes - without a visit from Interior employees.
As the summer and the monument review continued, it looked like Secretary Ryan Zinke would be traveling to New Mexico. These seemed like a bad omen as his previous trips seemed to only take place at contested monuments like Bears Ears. So we got to work again, preparing rallies in Organ Mountains to show the overwhelming local support for the monument. Hundreds
Finally in late September, the report was leaked. While no size recommendations were made, the report suggested changing the management of Rio Grande del Norte and Organ Mountains Desert Peaks. If implemented these changes could seriously damage the monument
Certainly the federal government is not perfect, but that’s why there is a public post-designation planning process. Get involved with your local field offices to have a say in the management of your public lands. There is always an opportunity to speak up in support of your public lands.
Hunting in the Monument Youth hunting in the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument.
New Mexico Wildlife Federation • www.nmwildlife.org • facebook.com/nmwildlife • @nmwildlife
Page 3
Secretary Ryan Zinke Announces the Opening of Sabinoso Wilderness gion, the area’s 16,030 acres feaBy Susan Torres and Andrew Black New Mexico Wildlife Federation
In July, Secretary Ryan Zinke toured the Sabinoso Wilderenss with the New Mexico Wildlife Federation and our partners at Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, United Bowhunters of New Mexico, and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. As a sportsmen himself, we knew Zinke would understand the unique hunting opportunities available in this area. During the visit, Secretary ZInke said he wanted to see the area open by hunting season. A couple weeks after his visit, Secretary Zinke announced he was interested in completing the land donation and opening up Sabinoso, and in November the deal was finalized! On November 10th the Sabinoso Wilderness was open to hunters, hikers, and other outdoor recreationists for the first time. This is a great example of what happens when sportsmen and women fight for their access. Hundreds of NMWF members signed our petition telling Secretary Zinke to open up this wilderness - a huge victory years in the making!
Thanks to the premier hunting available in this area and the support of the local community, Congress designated the area wilderness in 2009. By designating the Sabinoso a Wilderness Area, Congress directed the Department of the Interior to manage this unique natural resource for the “use and enjoyment of the American people.” However, because the Sabinoso was entirely cut off from public roads by private land holdings, the American public couldn’t access the Sabinoso wilderness until the finalization of the deal in November. The rugged landscape of the Sabinoso supports piñon and juniper forests interspersed with stands
NMWF Executive Director, Garrett Vene Klasen and BHA CEO Land Tawney discuss the Sabinoso Wilderness with Secretary Zinke. ows, which provide ideal habitat for game species including elk, mule deer, Barbary sheep, mountain lion, black bear, wild turkey, and migratory waterfowl.
“I am proud to announce that the Sabinoso Wilderness will finally be unlocked – allowing the public to experience this stunning landscape that we all own. This is a major gain for New Mexico and would not be possible without the generosity of the Wilderness Land Trust and the dedication of the local community and sportsmen who have championed this effort for many years. Traditions like hunting, hiking, and fishing are among the pillars of Western culture and a thriving outdoor recreation economy. Through this collaborative effort to create public access to the Sabinoso we will ensure that outdoor enthusiasts from near and far can finally experience all that this special landscape has to offer and safeguard it for our children and all future generations.” - Senator Martin Heinrich
The Sabinoso Wilderness lies hidden in the plains an hour southeast of Las Vegas, NM. Unique to the re-
Page 4
ture breathtaking, sinuous canyons lined with towering sandstone cliffs that evoke classic Hollywood images of the American west.
of ponderosa pine. Within these forests lies a labyrinth of canyons that hold water and riparian mead-
Hunting the Sabinoso would give sportsmen and women a unique opportunity to pursue bountiful game in a pristine environment that offers a window into the origins of our hunting heritage.
It is not only hunters that were missing out. Outfitters, guides, and other local businesses in San Miguel County will enjoy a boost from increased hunting activity in the area, and increased sales of hunting and game licenses and
tags would mean more resources for the New Mexico Department of Game & Fish to devote to habitat and wildlife management. Opening up the Sabinoso Wilderness represents a huge economic opportunity for San Miguel County and New Mexico. Sportsmen and women, outdoor recreationists, and local businesses have waited patiently for public entry to these pristine, and we are so excited to explore this wilderness area with our fellow New Mexicans. For years, the New Mexico Wildlife Federation has worked alongside Senator Martin Heinrich, mulitiple sportsmen organizations, and local leaders to finalize this deal and open up the last inaccessible wilderness in the country. New Mexico is filled with unique landscapes, but the Sabinoso Wilderness is truly something special. We hope to see you out there on a hunt soon!
New Mexico Wildlife Federation • www.nmwildlife.org • facebook.com/nmwildlife • @nmwildlife
Rekindling Old Hunting Traditions By Gabe Vasquez New Mexico Wildlife Federation I peeked through my grandma’s window as smells of boiling beans, fresh-made masa, and roasting chile floated into the air. “That’s a lot of blood,” I thought. Outside the window, in a small 10-feet-by-10-feet dingy concrete patio with a large drain in the middle, I saw my grandfather, who has since passed, butchering a Coues deer on a wooden stump. Slicing, tearing, and peeling with ease, my grandfather Javier was preparing to stock our freezer for the winter. But not before giving away half his prized harvest to his friends, and other members of our family. That was part of why he hunted. My grandfather was a great hunter, he grew up on a ranch in Zacatecas, Mexico, and moved our family to Ciudad Juarez in search of a more prosperous life long before I was born. In Juarez, just 40 miles south of Las Cruces, he left life on the ranch behind and made a living as a postman, and later opened up a TV and microwave repair shop on the very same patio where I wit-
nessed many of his harvests as a young boy.
Despite living in the middle of the city, right next to the train tracks (the pictures at grandma’s house would often fall when the train rumbled by, and many coffee mugs were lost to Ferromex), my grandfather never left the wild of Zacatecas. It lived in him until the day he died, as did his traditions. He was a big man, 6-foot-something (we still argue about this today), a size 15 shoe, grizzly, gruff, who chose his words carefully, and occasionally flashed his radiant smile and kind, brown eyes. He was much taller and larger than his friends, in fact, for many years, I thought he was the tallest and biggest person I’d ever see. For his stature and his hunting skill, his friends called him “El Oso,” or the Bear. Providing for 10 kids wasn’t easy, let alone finding time to get away from the city to hunt and explore the Sierra Madre of Chihuahua. But hunting, camping, and fishing was not recreation for El Oso, it was a part of who he was. It was embedded into his soul. And so he found the time.
Gabriel’s brother, Alfonso Vasquez, is a landscape photographer and fishing guide in Sonora Mexico.
He hunted deer, rabbit, mountain lion, bear, pronghorn, and well -just about any animal he could find in the Sierra Madre Occidental that he could harvest. And when the fishing was bad, he hunted them too -- with a full scuba suit and a speargun. A pretty funny sight in the Chihuahuan Desert, but that was my grandfather. His dream was to spear a striper in Elephant Butte. He never got the chance. And so the years passed, and I saw many more animals harvested on the patio, I learned to burn the feathers off Javier Bañuelos, “El Oso,” with a Coues a chicken and make deer in the Sierra Madre. chicharrones in a dark room surrounded by broken TV and smashed it lives in us again. up microwaves, I helped him untangle fishing reels while he smoked From my grandfather, we learned a cigarette and watched nature that taking from the land is just shows on a small black-and-white as important as giving back. We TV, and I looked through his many learned to share our harvests, to hunting pictures while my grand- never brag, but simply lead by exmother sewed us new clothes and ample, and to conserve what we customers came in and out picking have in the landscapes that surup refurbished TVs. All right in the round us. We learned that it doesn’t middle of the city. matter if you live in a crowded, smoky, city -- you can still find the Inevitably and eventually, the wild if it’s important enough. high-traffic, the noise, and the speed and pressure of living in the And we learned that consumptive city, along with the desire to fulfill land use is a part of human history, my grandparents’ dreams of pros- it’s a part of who we are as Mestiperity, the wild in our souls eroded. zo people, as people who grew up And with my grandfather’s death, struggling to make ends meet and much of the hunting tradition did as conservationists of the land that too. was used by our ancestors. But years later, my father, on a whim, decided to take my brother and me fishing. With $10 Walmart rods, a pack of hotdogs, and a GMC Econoline with new tires, the wild in us was rekindled.
And it’s a beautiful thing.
The spirit of El Oso was back, and
New Mexico Wildlife Federation • www.nmwildlife.org • facebook.com/nmwildlife • @nmwildlife
Page 5
Nuestra Tierra: Our Southern New Mexico Program Thrives By Gabe Vasquez New Mexico Wildlife Federation The Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project is off to a great start this year, thanks to the support of the community in southern New Mexico and the Nuestra Tierra partners, Friends of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks, and Latino Outdoors. When we first came up with the concept of Nuestra Tierra, the premise was simple -- involve more of our New Mexican families and youth in outdoor recreation events and continue to expand our outdoor community in New Mexico. Through these activities, events, and targeted outreach, we can get more people to care about our land, our culture, and about conservation. The program has been a great success. So far this year, we’ve led or have partnered on more than a dozen outings on public lands and water this year, including: •
An Earth Day hike and geology exploration of Kilbourne Hole in the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument
•
• • •
•
Several community and youthgroup hikes with local anthropologists to archaeological sites in the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument A series of rafting and fishing trips to the lower Rio Grande with Las Cruces youth A youth and family dove hunt in the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument A series of public land hikes with community and elected leaders from southern New Mexico Hosting a group of Mariachi at the Dripping Springs campground
Through these activities, we’ve helped cultivate a new generation of New Mexicans to care about our land, wildlife, and natural resources. By targeting underserved youth and families, and by connecting Hispanic communities not only to the land, but to the past and to the ancestry of our common home, we’re helping ensure that our lands and waters are cared for and enjoyed by future generations.
A youth group from the Boys & Girls Club of Las Cruces gets ready to set off on a rafting trip in the Rio Grande sponsored by the Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project.
Page 6
A happy family hikes with Nuestra Tierra in Soledad Canyon in the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument/ Gabe Vasquez That’s why we’re also thankful of our community partnerships with the Boys & Girls Club of Las Cruces, the Juvenile Community Corrections program at Families & Youth Inc., the Las Cruces Green Chamber of Commerce, and the Conservation Lands Foundation -for joining us in this mission. We look forward to continuing the work of Nuestra Tierra in the years to come, and expanding the role of the program to include new partners, such as White Sands National Monument and the National Park Service, as well as continuing with the motto of the project: Our Land, Our Youth, Our Future. ------Nuestra Tierra: Nuestro programa del sur de Nuevo México prospera El Proyecto de Conservación de Nuestra Tierra ha tenido un gran
comienzo este año, gracias al apoyo de la comunidad en el sur de Nuevo México y los socios de Nuestra Tierra, Amigos de las Montañas de Órganos, y Latino Outdoors. Cuando empezamos con el con cepto de Nuestra Tierra, la premisa era simple: involucrar a más familias y jóvenes de Nuevo México en eventos de recreación al aire libre y continuar expandiendo nuestra comunidad de partidarios en Nuevo México. A través de estas actividades y eventos, podemos hacer que más gente sean aliados de nuestra misión, de nuestra cultura y que apoyen la conservación. cepto de Nuestra Tierra, la premisa era simple: involucrar a más familias y jóvenes de Nuevo México en eventos de recreación al aire libre y continuar expandiendo nuestra
New Mexico Wildlife Federation • www.nmwildlife.org • facebook.com/nmwildlife • @nmwildlife
... “Nuestra Tierra”
A través de estas actividades, hemos ayudado a cultivar una nueva generación de Nuevo Mexicanos que apoyen la conservación de nuestras tierras públicas, la vida silvestre y los recursos naturales. Al dirigirnos a los jóvenes y familias desatendidos, y al conectar a las comunidades hispanas no sólo con la tierra, sino con el pasado y la ascendencia de nuestro hogar común, estamos ayudando a asegurar que nuestras tierras y aguas sean atendidas y disfrutadas por las generaciones futuras.
Continued from Page 6 comunidad de partidarios en Nuevo México. A través de estas actividades y eventos, podemos hacer que más gente sean aliados de nuestra misión, de nuestra cultura y que apoyen la conservación. El programa ha sido un gran éxito. En lo que va del año, hemos liderado o hemos colaborado en más de una docena de salidas en tierras públicas y ríos este año, incluyendo: • •
• • • •
Una excursión y exploración de la geología de Kilbourne Hole en el Monumento de las Montañas Organ Caminatas con comunidades Hispanas y grupos de jóvenes con antropólogos locales a various sitios arqueológicos en el Monumento de las Montañas Organ Una serie de viajes de rafting y pesca al Río Grande con jóvenes y familias de Las Cruces Un evento familiar de cacería de palomas en el Monumento de las Montañas Organ Una serie de caminatas en tierras públicas con líderes comunitarios y electos del sur de Nuevo México Alojamiento de un grupo de Mariachi en el sitio de Dripping Springs
Es por eso que también estamos agradecidos por nuestras asociaciones comunitarias con el Boys & Girls Club de Las Cruces, el programa de Correcciones de la Comunidad Juvenil de Families & Youth Inc., la Cámara de Comercio Verde de Las Cruces y la Conservation Lands Foundation.
A priest from the Copper Vicariate shows off his catfish, caught in the Gila River in the GilaCliff valley, during a Nuestra Tierra and New Mexico Wildlife Federation camping trip with local faith leaders. / Gabe Vasquez
Esperamos continuar con el trabajo de Nuestra Tierra en los próximos años y expandir el rol del programa a nuevos socios, como el Monumento Nacional White Sands y el Servicio de Parques Nacionales, así como continuar con el tema del proyecto : Nuestra tierra, nuestra juventud, nuestro futuro.
Community members from Las Cruces, El Paso, and the Mesilla Valley enjoy a hike and geologic exploration of the Kilbourne Hole, a volcanic maar crater, in the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument.
New Mexico Wildlife Federation • www.nmwildlife.org • facebook.com/nmwildlife • @nmwildlife
Page 7
Mule Deer Impacted by Development on Public Lands By Todd Leahy New Mexico Wildlife Federation They don’t adapt. For years, hunters told each other that energy development only impacted mule deer for a little while. That eventually, maybe it would take a few years, but the mule deer would adapt to the development and be back. Now we know; they won’t, they don’t, they aren’t coming back. Mule deer are one of the most important game animals in New Mexico and across the West. Although the size of the mule deer population in New Mexico remains unknown, and destinies of mule deer populations are always uncertain given their migratory nature, but we know one thing for sure: energy development has caused a decrease in muleys across the West. The main reason for this decline is severe habitat fragmentation and a general loss of habitat quality. A recent study, “Mule Deer and Energy Development--Long-term Trends of Habituation and Abundance” published in Global Change Biology scientists detailed a 17 year study of the impacts of energy development on mule deer populations. These scientists found that mule deer abundance declined by
36% during the period of development, despite aggressive mitigation efforts. This coincided with a 45% reduction in muley harvest, even though Wyoming took steps to increase hunting tag availability. The study clearly shows that energy development has a long term effect on mule deer behavior and displaces animals by functionally reducing their available habitat. Another study, “Potential Effects of Oil and Gas Energy Development on Mule Deer in Western North Dakota” investigated the potential impacts of oil and gas energy development on mule deer resource selection, movements, physiological stress, and survival, in western North Dakota, 2013-2016. The study found high levels of avoidance behavior among mule deer where oil and gas development exists. This avoidance behavior results in stress on the muley populations which limits breeding and results in lower survival rates among the populations. Although the studies were focused on Wyoming and North Dakota respectively, their findings can be applied to New Mexico. In our state, hunting is the main source of mule deer mortality and control of the hunting seasons and tags manag-
Mule deer/ Tom Boylan es the muley population. But, habitat is the key to mule deer health. Muley population peaked in New Mexico in the 1940s-1970s. Habitat changes brought about by logging, overgrazing, and wildfires created a shrublands landscape favored by muleys. However, modern range management, reduced logging, and fire suppression have reduced mule deer habitat across New Mexico and the West.
The welfare of New Mexico muleys is influenced by other uses of the forests and rangelands, including energy development. Land use policies developed by land management agencies are critical to mule deer management. Only through the coordinated efforts of New Mexico Game and Fish, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Forest Service can New Mexico hunters be assured of a healthy, vital muley population.
Hunting on National Conservation Lands By Joel Gay New Mexico has long been a mecca for public land hunters and anglers. Since becoming a state in 1912, the Land of Enchantment has offered sportsmen and women unparalleled opportunity to pursue world-class elk, mule deer and other big game; to fish cold, clear mountain streams for native trout; to chase a variety of upland game as summer turns to fall – all on lands owned by every American. And with the recent designations of national monuments spanning some of the best hunting and fish-
Page 8
ing areas in northern and southern New Mexico, future generations can be guaranteed that the same opportunities for quality outdoor time will exist in perpetuity. New Mexico is blessed with more than 20 million acres of mountain forests, rolling piñon-juniper foothills and sagebrush desert owned by and open to the public. A substantial portion of that acreage is part of the National Conservation Lands system, which was created in 2000 to permanently protect the best lands held by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
These conservation lands, which include less than 15 percent of all BLM holdings, were set aside for their nationally significant recreation, wildlife, ecological, cultural and scientific values. Hunters and anglers nationwide have been Fishing licenses are available at tackle and sporting goods shops throughout the region, or online at www. wildlife.state.nm.us.
among the driving forces for protecting the National Conservation Lands to ensure that future generations of sportsmen and women have quality places to pursue fish and game. One of the newest additions to the National Conservation Lands system – and among the best areas to fish or hunt in northern New Mexico – is Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. Established by executive order in 2013, the monument covers almost 250,000 acres of peaks, plains and rushing river. It stretches from San Antonio
New Mexico Wildlife Federation • www.nmwildlife.org • facebook.com/nmwildlife • @nmwildlife
... “Conservation Lands” Continued from Page 8 Mountain on its western side to Ute Mountain on the east, and from the Colorado border to a point just south of Taos. One of the newest additions to the National Conservation Lands system – and among the best areas to fish or hunt in northern New Mexico – is Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. Established by executive order in 2013, the monument covers almost 250,000 acres of peaks, plains and rushing river. It stretches from San Antonio Mountain on its western side to Ute Mountain on the east, and from the Colorado border to a point just south of Taos.
There is good trout fishing in the Gorge nearly year-round, and, for variety, pike and smallmouth bass. But a key element is the river’s flow rate. The best fishing will occur in those periods before and after the spring runoff spikes, and again in the fall, from September into mid-November. One major event every year on the Upper Rio Grande is the caddis hatch, which can start in early April and last a month or more. Because the water is still cool, fish in the late afternoon or even early evening using a typical dry/dropper combination.
Fishing the Rio Grande Gorge, however, is not for the faint of heart nor the out of shape. It requires a long, steep hike from the rim, the canyon floor is strewn with massive, river-rounded boulders, the weather can change in a heartbeat Much of the monument encomand the water itself is fast, deep passes the Taos Plateau, with its and cold. Anglers unfamiliar with long vistas of volcanic peaks fringed the Gorge should talk to one of the by pine forest and surrounded by fly-fishing shops or guide services grassy plains. But its best-known in Taos for geographmore inforic feature mation or Hunting in Rio Grande del Norte Nais a 74-mile help navitional Monument is managed by the stretch of the gating this New Mexico Department of Game Rio Grande world-class and Fish (NMDGF). The first requireand the fishing opment for any big game hunter is a 800-footportunity. license, which are limited in number deep gorge and allocated through the state’s Big the river has Those who Game Draw lottery system every cut through don’t want spring. Pick up the annual NMDGF the black lava to trek down Hunting Rules and Info Booklet and landscape. into the you will find opportunities to apply for Designated Gorge have hunting licenses for elk, mule deer, as a National options, too. pronghorn and Rocky Mountain bigWild and SceThere are horn sheep on public land within or nic River, the good roads close to the Monument. Check the fishing on this down to NMDGF information book for details stretch of the the river at about hunts for individual species, Rio Grande John Dunn dates and weapon types. Then apply is some of Bridge (loand cross your fingers – hunting is a the best in cated north popular pastime for New Mexicans New Mexof Taos, and thousands of visitors every year! ico, where below the anglers can town of Arhook into naroyo Hontive cutthroat, brown and rainbow do) or farther south at the village of trout that occasionally top 20 inchPilar. Cast from shore and you may es. hook the fish of a lifetime.
Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep in Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. While other areas of New Mexico are well-known for their massive elk, the Rio Grande del Norte region consistently yields 6x6 and larger bulls, not to mention mule deer in the 200” plus class, pronghorn antelope, black bear and bighorn sheep. And although experienced hunters will happily show you photos of their successful hunts, they’re not likely to tell you where to go – one cagey sportsman who recently harvested a 30-1/2-inchwide, 225-inch muley buck would say only that he shot the animal “on or near” the Monument.
cense over the counter for hunts that start in mid-August and run through mid-November. Bear hunting is managed by zone, rather than by Game Management Unit. To maintain healthy bear populations, each zone can be closed to hunting once the overall limit is achieved or a separate limit on the harvest of females is reached. Again, check with NMDGF.
But big game is not the only game in Rio Grande del Norte National Monument and the surrounding public lands managed by the BLM and the U.S. Forest Service. Turkey hunters can buy a $25 license over the counter, and will find plenty of good habitat in the area to chase spring gobblers. A fall season license is also available overthe-counter, but with a harvest limit of one turkey of either sex. Check with NMDGF for details.
With all that opportunity to hunt and fish in the Rio Grande del Norte region, it should come as no surprise that hunters and anglers were among the many individuals and organizations that worked together to permanently protect the area through a National Monument designation. Their broad coalition was crucial to the designation effort, former NMWF Sportsmen’s Coordinator Max Trujillo said at the time.
Black bear hunters can buy a li-
And upland game season offers additional hunting opportunity for quail in Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument.
See “Conservation Lands” Page 11
New Mexico Wildlife Federation • www.nmwildlife.org • facebook.com/nmwildlife • @nmwildlife
Page 9
Tales of Squirrels and Squirrel Dogs By M.H. Dutch Salmon
western tree squirrels are, in that overworked term of the outdoor A few years back, after my son’s fall writer, “under-utilized.” Yet these elk hunt, I ran into the game war- colorful, two pound acrobats of den here in town (Silver City). He the pines offer many attributes as included in his range of responsibil- game. Take a weekend a few years ity Unit 15 south of Quemado, and back when Bud and I made anothhad given us a tip or two on where er hunt for squirrels in the mounto camp and look for elk. Now with tains south of Quemado. our hunt over, he was curious how we’d done. The woods were crawling with elk hunters. Actually it was more the I told him his advice was good, that forest roads; once we got back into on the last day son Buddy had shot the woods we didn’t see anybody. a cow elk in a remote canyon and Of course an elk hunt is a bigger that with help we managed to bone deal than a squirrel hunt but to go it out and pack it two miles to camp. for elk you have to get drawn and I also mentioned that on a scouting your odds on most hunts are well trip a few weeks earlier we’d had a under 50 percent. Then if you do good hunt in the same area for na- draw a permit your odds of getting tive tassel-eared squirrels (abert’s an elk are again well under 50 persquirrel). cent. Your season is less than a week long, the elk tag is expensive, “You went squirrel hunting?” He re- and many locales will be crowded marked. “I think I’ve only checked with fellow elk hunters. one set of squirrel hunters in my six years in that section.” As squirrel hunters our license is cheap, can be bought over the “There seemed to be quite a few counter or on line, and the season squirrels in that unit,” I said. “We in New Mexico is three months long. only got four but there were others The limit is eight squirrels per day we passed up and some got away.” and we seldom get skunked. Com petition from other squirrel hunters “Oh, I always see squirrels,” he is minimal and, perhaps best of all, said, “but nobody hunts them.” you can hunt them with a dog. Well, almost nobody. Our southOf course, you can hunt them without a dog, too. That’s the way I started hunting them when I moved to Catron County in 1980. I’d spot a squirrel out on the ground feeding early in the morning; he’d invariably be on the run before I could get a shot with my .22 magnum. So I’d run after him, hoping to force the squirrel to tree before he got out of sight. Squirrel gun and squirrel/ Dutch Salmon Sometimes this worked but it’s fool-
Page 10
New Mexico squirrel hunter Kathy Leyba and squirrel dog, Toccoa / Dutch Salmon hardy to run with a gun through the woods. And I had a companion at the time with a trim, smart, prick-eared mongrel. One day a light came on and I thought, “What about Toccoa?” My friend liked to hunt and was eager to try her dog, who was “just a pet,” on squirrels. Toccoa took after that first squirrel and she put him up a tree in half the distance I could have managed it; even more importantly, I didn’t fall on the run and shoot myself. Once he was up in a big ponderosa, Toccoa marked the tree and learned to keep her eye on the squirrel. She never really learned to use her nose in squirrel hunting but with her legs and good eye she was very useful and made the hunt more interesting. Alas, for reasons outside this story, both the companion and the companion’s dog were there for only two seasons of squirrel hunting. Since, my son Bud has been the perfect squirrel hunting companion as he has grown up. But that still leaves us missing the dog. I’ve tried
greyhound, coonhound, and a couple of Jack Russell terriers. All had their talents and liked hunting squirrels but none was as effective as Toccoa. But now we have “Jack.” Jack is a mostly Jack Russell terrier but too big to be a purebred specimen of the breed. We got him to be a companion to Buddy growing up – “just a pet” you might say. That’s a noble calling by itself and Jack and Buddy have shared many adventures. But a few years ago, when ground squirrels invaded the barn, Jack showed he had some hunting instincts as well. It’s an on-going battle with those incessant diggers and grain feeders but Jack has caught and killed a half-dozen that I know of. I said to Buddy, “Jack may be our squirrel dog!” Jack got the hang of it right away to push those on the ground up a tree. And he would “locate” on the tree. He was a bit gun-shy, however. So, after he treed a squirrel, I took to holding him while Bud did the shooting; the extra security seemed to work as he barely flinched at the shot and was on those squirrels as they hit the ground. And he proved
New Mexico Wildlife Federation • www.nmwildlife.org • facebook.com/nmwildlife • @nmwildlife
... “squirrels” Continued from Page 10 he could locate a squirrel by scent; i.e. one that already treed – a “layup” squirrel. One squirrel treed ahead of us but we never saw him. Jack trailed him a hundred yards or so, sniffed the trunk of a certain Ponderosa, circled the pine a time or two, jumped up and sniffed the bark, and as much as told us in plain English, “He went up this one, guys.” We circled the pine and looked up and
... “Conservation Lands” Continued from Page 9 “This was an excellent example of how a region came together to protect an area that represents both the past and the future,” Trujillo said. “There are families that have been here for 300 years, hunting, fishing, grazing their livestock and gathering herbs and pinon. There also are families who have started businesses that rely on clean water
Jack was right. No, we didn’t come home with a lot of squirrels, But we got that one and some others and it would have been maybe half that without Jack. And, as always, it was a better hunt with a good dog. Squirrel Posole: Any good pozole recipe will work; you just substitute squirrel meat for the traditional pork. The trick is the preparation of the meat before it’s cooked. Gut the squirrel in the field and keep the meat cool till you get home. Bone out the squirrel, cut away any bloodshot meat, and cut into pieces. and healthy landscapes. This designation ensures that the traditional lifestyle can carry on and that our outdoor recreation opportunity and economy will continue to benefit northern New Mexico.” A similar coalition also was successful at the opposite end of the state, where sportsmen and women joined an effort to support creation of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument in 2014. Spanning nearly 500,000 acres, the new Monument provides permanent protection for a suite of landscapes
Soak it overnight in your favorite marinade (simple tomato juice works for me) and it will take the “game” out of the meat. Then add in the hominy, onions, and the rest of the posole recipe and simmer long and slow. Abert’s dark-phase squirrel / Dutch Salmon that southern New Mexico groups and individuals deemed too valuable to lose. Hunters were among the earliest to call for protecting thousands of acres of BLM land around Las Cruces, which they had traditionally used for generations. The low-lying ranges of the West Potrillo Mountains, the Robledos Mountains and the Sierra de Las Uvas hold small numbers of mule deer and javelina, but the arid landscape is a limiting factor for wildlife and hunting pressure is light. Longtime local hunters and Monument advocates like Jim Bates of Las Cruces say their primary interest is upland game - dove and quail seasons provide an opportunity to hunt just a short drive from the state’s second-largest city. Check with NMDGF for specific quail dates and bag limits. Dove hunting is allowed statewide year round, with no bag or possession limit. A New Mexico small game license, usually valid for one year, is available at sporting goods stores or online.
NMWF’s Gabe Vasquez dove hunting in the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks
The Monument protects a large swath of Chihuahuan Desert grasslands, along with rolling hills dotted with pinon and juniper and the “sky island” canyons of the Organ Mountains – sharp peaks on the eastern flank of Las Cruces that rise nearly a mile above the
Rio Grande, to almost 9,000 feet. The entire area is an important biological link between northern Mexico and the greater Southwest that provides long-term protection for a variety of wildlife. But human history is also a major part of the story for Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. Within the Monument’s folds, canyons and flatlands are remnants of New Mexico’s past, from thousands of ancient petroglyphs reflecting prehistoric life, to traces of the Butterfield Overland Mail Route, which carried U.S. mail from St. Louis to San Francisco, to the bulldozer-carved targets in a secret World War II bombing range used to develop the famous Norden bomb sight. Unfortunately, these two monuments – both of which were decades in the making and which developed strong local support – are threatened by the report from President Trump’s executive order to “review” more than two dozen national monuments nationwide. It remains to be seen whether any president has the legal authority to reverse or amend previous presidents’ monument decisions. But sportsmen and women who appreciate the hunting and fishing opportunities these monuments provide should be prepared to speak up in support of them in the future, because their future is cloudy.
New Mexico Wildlife Federation • www.nmwildlife.org • facebook.com/nmwildlife • @nmwildlife
Page 11
Looking for Life By Garrett Vene Klasen New Mexico Wildlife Federation
can close my eyes and remember them all with equal fondness. But the one I will tell you now is my favorite of all.
There is an extraordinary place in the Carson National Forest near my home in Taos that I, and those who And so my story begins on a glorihunt with me long ago named “The ous September evening. The magic Church.” It is an expansive, hun- hour has come upon this wondrous dred plus year old aspen grove that place. That enchanting time when sweeps across a mountainside in the setting sun bathes the forest in the most magical and stunning way. a soft evening glow that illuminates It is a seemingly endless swathe of all in a stunning softness. It is the towering, shimperfect fall evemering aspens ning. That sindeeply rooted Only the hunter knows these gular moment in a fire-fertile in September secrets. Only the hunter has carpet of kneewhen fall has the patience, self-control and deep grass, culminated in mindfulness to hold still long wildflowers and its full, breathenough to watch the wild pungent osha taking beauty. unfold itself like a midnight plants. The And at this mobloom. Church’s capment the forest tivating beaubegins to stir. ty and natural It is the magic grace is impossible to explain with moment when the Church exhales mere words. You simply have to go and if you are still and patient, it there and experience its magnifi- will unveil its secret wonders to you cence firsthand to understand the one by one. enormity of its natural wonder. Only the hunter knows these seIt is here this particular hunter’s crets. Only the hunter has the pastory is told. There are many such tience, self-control and mindfulness stories over my twenty five years of to hold still long enough to watch hunting this place – one seeming- the wild world unfold itself like a ly more precious than the other. I midnight bloom.
Packing out/ Garrett Vene Klasen
Page 12
Clad in camouElk in Northern New Mexico. / Jeremy Romero flage and longbow in hand, I sit slope. A Cooper’s hawk zips by like motionless in a tree stand high in a white fir – one a tiny stealth craft hell bent on killof a cluster of conifers that runs in ing a bird or chipmunk for dinner. a band through the aspen grove. The hunters are on the move and This band of trees somehow sur- the hunted are on high alert. vived the wildfire that created the massive grove. High in this tree I And then a single plaintive elk bucan see for hundreds of yards in all gle resonates from the hillside far directions. The view is simply re- above me. It is the kind of soft markable. The tree itself also over- searching bugle that seems to say, looks a spring fed elk wallow. This “I’ve risen from my nap and it’s time place is the heart of the Church to clear my throat and let all the where all the local wildlife comes to elk on this mountainside know that water. Here over the years I have I am here and that fall is here and quietly observed innumerable bear, the rut is upon us and it is the magic turkey, grouse, mule deer, cougars, hour is upon us…” bobcats, grouse, coyotes, raptors and myriad songbirds coming and I wait for a moment and let out a series of equally plaintive and soft going. Over the years I have killed four elk cow calls to make the bull think that in this place with my longbow. On there is a small band of cow elk this glorious evening I hope to kill down at his wallow. The bull does not answer, so I stop calling and a fifth. simply wait to see what happens. The thrushes are coming and going For the elk hunter, sometimes sito water now. The squirrels have lence and patience are the most forgotten about me in the tree and profitable of virtues. finally ceased their warning calls. The breeze has died and the cool air is falling down the mountain
Fifteen minutes pass, then twenty
New Mexico Wildlife Federation • www.nmwildlife.org • facebook.com/nmwildlife • @nmwildlife
... “Life” Continued from Page 12 and still no sign of the bull. A magpie flies in to the water hole with its iridescent plumage flashing in the golden sunlight. It chatters loudly and is joined by another magpie. They both take a drink of water and fly off. I slowly look to my right and there in a hole in the conifers stands a magnificent bull elk. He has approached silently through the band of conifers and the wet ground has muffled his footfall. An astonishing feat for an 800-pound animal with such a remarkable set of antlers. By anyone’s standards, this animal is a stunning trophy. He is a perfectly symmetrical, ivory-tipped 6x6 with long, wide, heavy, dark chocolate main beams and exceptional tine length from top to bottom. This bull is a jaw dropping specimen. He’s one of the biggest bulls I’ve ever seen in 40 years of elk hunting, let alone had a chance to shoot with my longbow. The elk stands motionless some 60 yards away carefully surveying the waterhole and its surroundings. Public lands elk don’t get this big by being stupid. He stands there
for at least 15 minutes. Looking, smelling and listening. All the while my level of excitement grows. My heart pounds in my chest and my knocked arrow quivers in my nervous hands. The bull finally cautiously walks out of the trees and down to the wallow. He presents a brief 20-yard shot as he crosses in front of me, but doesn’t stop until he wades into the wallow. The bull promptly plops down into the muddy water with a heavy, satisfied sigh of relief. He is now about 12 yards below me and broadside for a perfect shot. His antlers are shockingly large. His body is thick and muscular. He is a glorious specimen in all ways. He suddenly throws his head back and releases a thundering bugle that raises the hair on the back of my neck.
But for some odd reason I do not let the arrow fly. Instead I slowly let down the bow’s tension and lay it to rest on my knees. There is simply something far too perfect about this moment, in this magical place and about this singularly magnificent bull. Letting that arrow fly would have for some strange reason broken the magic spell of the moment. Of course the great bull is oblivious to me and my decision to spare his life. He rolls about in the wallow and thrashes his antlers in he grass at the waters edge. In his wallowing and thrashing he slings a sizeable chunk of mud and grass onto my lap. This is how close he is. His sweet, pungent rutting perfume fills my lungs. I simply sit there and marvel at his majesty and the majesty of the place in which I am privileged to be. And in the memory of this moment that is really all my soul seems to crave.
bull lived to foster another generation of its remarkable genetics also meant something to me and certainly to the elk. To this day I am still not so sure. The bull wallows and thrashes about for another few minutes and then saunters back out of the muddy water onto the opposite side of the wallow with his belly dripping and sides slick with mud. Another bull bugles far downhill from the wallow and he tosses his head back and roars back at the bull in defiance. He then turns his gaze directly at me and stares me down. I am not sure if he actually sees me or even knows I am there in the branches, but he seems unthreatened by my presence if he does know. He then slowly ambles down the hillside in the direction of the other bull.
That bull was indeed a trophy. But what after all constitutes a trophy? To each hunter that word means something different. But to me I suppose its greater value was in the magic of the moment. The bull is a superlative icon of moment and place. I suppose its living value meant more to me at that moment than another set of antlers on the wall. And maybe knowing that that
Earlier that summer I was walking down a logging road with a friend from Taos Pueblo. We were talking about our love of hunting and somehow the subject of the Tiwa translation of the word “hunting” came up. He told me the the literal translation for the word “hunt” in Tiwa translated to “looking for life.” Maybe that’s what I was doing in that tree when I had my encounter with that magnificent bull. Maybe that’s why I didn’t let that arrow fly. Maybe I was just looking for life.
cess to the streambeds creates a disincentive for landowners to improve or even maintain river conditions. The consequences of public access, they argue, will be overuse, abuse, degradation, vandalism, and contamination. In short, the public cannot be trusted with such a precious resource.
the simple adoption of a prior appropriation system. The New Mexico Supreme Court has interpreted the constitution (Art. 16, Sec 2) as providing the public with the right to float and wade into any stretch of stream that passes through private land, so long as the public has legal access to the stream.
the fight for public lands and the desire by some to keep the public out for their own profit The New Mexico Wildlife Federation hopes to reduce the potential for on-the-water conflicts between recreationists and private landowners while ensuring that the rights of New Mexicans aren’t stripped away bit by bit.
However, the basis for the public right has been largely established by federal navigability law and the equal footing doctrine, both of which were later codified into federal statute. Additionally, state constitutions, including New Mexico’s, support a management of water resources in favor of the public by
In 2015, the state legislature superseded the Court’s ruling, closing previously open rivers and streams. This legislative decision overrides centuries of New Mexico traditions and law. The rights of private landowners should obviously be honored, but this rule is about more than land ownership. This is part of
I am above and out of his line of sight. I slowly raise my bow and in a single fluid motion draw back my arrow. The broadhead glistens in the sunlight. His vitals are at the perfect angle and all I need to do is let the arrow fly. To be sure, I am a cold blooded killer. I have done this act dozens of times before. Although my heart pounds wildly in my chest, this is a practiced and natural action for me.
The Next Public Lands Battle: Stream Access By Todd Leahy New Mexico Wildlife Federation
Across the West there is a raging storm. That storm is privatization. State legislatures and courts are turning over centuries of law to hand our public lands, waters, and wildlife to powerful, monied interests. In the world of water, the issue is whether a landowner can block public access to a stream for recreational purposes, including fishing and boating. This is not an issue of private property rights, but rather an issue of years of ill-defined rights both public and private. Landowners have argued that allowing the public ac-
New Mexico Wildlife Federation • www.nmwildlife.org • facebook.com/nmwildlife • @nmwildlife
Page 13
NMWF Partners with Project Healing Waters and Trout Unlimited to Help New Mexico Veterans By Andrew Black New Mexico Wildlife Federation
This fall NMWF staff joined members from Project Healing Waters and Trout Unlimited’s Enchanted Circle Chapter in leading a group of veterans from Taos, Santa Fe, and Las Vegas on a two-day fishing and camping trip to the world famous San Juan River. Walking into the Float’N Fish Fly Shop in Navajo Dam, all the veterans were eager to pick out the flies needed to battle a trophy trout. Although we had warned the group that the renowned 18-26 inch rainbow and brown trout of the San Juan were notorious for only eating the smallest of flies, all of the veterans were amazed when Ray Johnston, Float’ N Fish’s owner, handed them a size
to give me half a fly, then it would only make sense to charge me half price.” All the veterans laughed as they contemplated how they were going to land a huge trout on such a small fly.
While the group laughed and joked throughout the weekend, there were also some more serious conversations as the vets recounted the combat they had seen in Vietnam or Iraq, about the friends they had lost during and after the war and about some of the challenges they faced upon returning home. As we sat around the campfire that first night and listened to stories of those who had served in the Army, Air Force, and Marines, I realized that we were on sacred ground—
the veterans and volunteers.
With a motto of “healing those who serve,” Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing is dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled veterans and active military personnel through fly-fishing outings and education. With over 200 chapters throughout the nation, Project Healing Waters currently has three chapters in New Mexico—Taos, Albuquerque, and Las Cruces. Over this past year, the New Mexico Wildlife Federation has worked with the Taos Project Healing Waters chapter to help guide an all veterans fly fishing team in Trout Unlimited’s annual Enchanted Circle Fishing Tournament as well as helped lead fishing trips to the Los Pinos and San Juan. While many of the veterans simply enjoy the camaraderie of fishing or fly-tying with their peers, others told us that they are involved in Project Healing Waters because of the opportunity to learn new outdoor skills or because they feel a great sense of serenity, mindfulness, and a chance to reset while fly-fishing. Other veterans told us that they are involved with the program because fishing the beautiful rivers on New Mexico’s public lands makes them remember and continue to appreciate what they fought for.
Fishing the San Juan with veterans and Project Healing Waters. 26 bubble-wing emerger. Holding up the micro-fly and squinting to even see it, Ruben Roybal, a veteran and marine from Las Vegas, NM asked Johnston, “Are these flies half price?” Johnston replied, “why would they be half price?” Without missing a beat Roybal quipped, “well if you are only going
Page 14
ground where one could feel as welcome and comfortable recounting the story of the big one that got away as the story about the challenges faced in combat or readjusting to life back home. As the vets spoke about the visible and invisible wounds of war, it became apparent to all of us just how important these outings truly are to both
As Ruben Roybal reminded the group on the San Juan, “as a combat vet and after experiencing many dark days and nights in my life, I needed to dig deep within myself and remember why I wanted to serve my country to begin with. I love the outdoors and all the activities possible, the outdoors has lots of healing powers, all vets should try this. It takes strength and courage for a warrior to ask for help.” As we wound up around the campfire, all the veterans acknowledged that a day on the river had done wonders for their mental, physical, and spiritual state.
Standing in the cold waters of the San Juan helping these veterans land fish after fish while taking photos of them smiling alongside their catch, I realized that the transformation wasn’t just occurring in the vets, but also in us volunteers. Paul White, Program Lead for Project Healing Waters Taos, sums it up nicely saying, “as an avid fly fisherman, I have more fun teaching disabled veterans to fly fish than catching fish myself. It is both a rewarding and humbling experience to watch these heroes put aside their issues and have fun.” As I pulled into my driveway from our weekend on the San Juan, I received this text from Ruben: “this weekend inspired and rejuvenated my emotional state. I felt catching my first trout on a fly rod was amazing. As I looked at the colors on that trout, I saw all the colors of the rainbow and I thought I had found the treasure at the end of the rainbow. All in all, this weekend was a ray of sunshine in my life, thank you!” While a few days on the San Juan may not wash away the wounds of war, as both the vets and volunteers found, the waters of the river can be a great source of healing, wholeness and transformation. After Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, NMWF members raised over $600 for Team Rubicon in an online raffle sponsored by the Taos Fly Shop. Team Rubicon deploys veterans across the world after natural disasters. Our work supporting veterans doesn’t stop at state lines. Thank you to all who donated! If you want to get involved in veterans work, email andrew@ nmidlife.org
New Mexico Wildlife Federation • www.nmwildlife.org • facebook.com/nmwildlife • @nmwildlife
Felix Canyon Road: The Fight to Keep It Public By Gabe Vasquez New Mexico Wildlife Federation
In the seemingly never-ending battle to keep public lands in public hands, those who would rather see public lands privatized or inaccessible to the general public consistently find new ways to close or lock up access to the public. Closing public, taxpayer-owned and taxpayer-maintained roads is not a new tactic for public land foes -- but it’s one that’s dangerously gaining steam across New Mexico. The premise to lock up or restrict access is simple: get a private property owner with a public access route on their land to petition their County Commission to vacate a section, or all of a road that provides access to large sections of public land. That’s the case today in Chaves County, where a longtime rancher with a stretch of public road on his property successfully petitioned the County Commission to vacate and close a 5-mile stretch of the historic Felix Canyon Road to restrict public access to Unit 32. Now these “movidas” are often suc-
cessful for many reasons, the primary reason being that public land users, including sportsmen and women, don’t show up or participate in the public process to protest the closure. So unknowingly, roads and routes that provide primary access to public lands in New Mexico are closed in haste and with little public knowledge until a family drives up for their annual hunt and encounters a locked gate, and disappointed kids and parents. But that’s not the case in Chaves County, in fact, sportsmen and women showed up in droves to protest the closure of Felix Canyon Road. We showed up, too. During the County Commission’s mandatory inspection of the road to be closed, we showed up to support local sportsmen and women and to talk to the Chaves County Commissioners and private land owner. Rather than a civil discussion about the facts and about the importance of keeping the road open, local sportsmen and women were shut out, not even allowed to talk to their County Commissioners about the road they pay to maintain.
The entrance to the Lloyd Treat ranch on Felix Canyon Road, the private property owner who petitioned to choke off access to Unit 32. So we asked all those in attendance -- over 25 sportsmen and women -- for a show of hands of who wanted to keep the road open. All of the sportsmen and women in attendance raised their hands, a move that prompted someone to yell “We’re not voting on anything, and we’re not taking public comment.” The Commissioners jumped in their SUVs and hurriedly sped off, it was clear to us their mind was made up. This prompted us at the New Mexico Wildlife Federation to send a strong letter to the Chaves County commission vehemently opposing the closure of Felix Canyon Road and asking them to reconsider. We did not receive a response.
During the Chaves County Commissioner viewing of the proposed road closure, the Commissioners took no public comment.
And at the following Chaves County Commission meeting, sportsmen and women again packed the County chambers to protest the road closure, only to have their voices and opinions completely disregarded. The Commission -- as we all knew they would -- voted to close the road, primary access to Unit 32 for sportsmen from Artesia and Roswell. Unit 32 is enjoyed by local families, and sportsmen
and women from around the state, and is known for its trophy mule deer and abundant barbary sheep. We’ve hunted there and harvested a barbary sheep ourselves. So it’s clear to us that those who seek to close off public lands, to restrict or eliminate access, have found a successful way to do so, and it’s up to us as sportsmen and women and public land users to get involved in the local process. We hear that more road closure petitions are coming, and we’ll be ready, as will a new group of sportsmen and women in the area that recently formed to protect their interests called ACCESS New Mexico. The fight for Felix Canyon Road isn’t over yet. We are working with our partners at ACCESS New Mexico to gain primary access back to this important swatch of public lands, for the benefit of our families and future generations, and hope to have a positive update in the next edition of the Outdoor Reporter. Please join us as the fight to keep it public continues! This is your land. If you’d like to help or get involved, please contact me at gabe@nmwildlife.org.
New Mexico Wildlife Federation • www.nmwildlife.org • facebook.com/nmwildlife • @nmwildlife
Page 15
A Midwesterner Reconnects With The Outdoors By Sophie Shemas New Mexico Wildlife Federation “I think the real question here is, do you know how to camp?” At first I just laughed because it seemed ridiculous. Of course I know how to camp. How could I work here if I don’t know how to camp, right? But that question didn’t go away. It sat in the pit of my stomach, carving its own little corner out of my self-confidence because I knew that I couldn’t quite convincingly reply “yes”. Growing up in Ohio, my exposure to outdoor recreation was limited to summer camps and whatever heavily sanitized field trips my teachers planned to nearby parks and ponds. I wasn’t all that great at fishing, though my mother tells me that I did, in fact, catch a fish on my first outing with my Girl Scout troop at Camp Ken-Jockety. Along the way though, I found a love for digging in the dirt and rolling in the grass. I learned the best techniques for making dandelion bracelets, and I even grew an appreciation for plenty of creepy, crawly things, as long as they had less than eight legs. Driving through the rolling hills of eastern Ohio to visit family, I also developed a longing for the solitude of open spaces, something
I couldn’t find in my suburban hometown. I stared out onto acres and acres of tree-studded farmland with melancholic envy, thinking how peaceful it must be to escape from the noise and sit in the middle of everything, with the cows, the corn, and even the bugs. As I grew older and traded away much of my time outdoors for academic extracurriculars and eventually, college in a big city, I noticed that feeling would never truly subside.
slowly becoming an amateur nature photographer (heavy emphasis on the word amateur) and though I’m still not sure I have a knack for fishing, I’ve discovered that for some reason, I really enjoy putting worms on fishing hooks . I’ve made some mistakes along the way—most notably, the 4am chill of a night in the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument taught me that I do indeed sleep cold enough to justify splurging on a 15-degree sleeping bag. I’m hardly a sportswoman, but in Sophie Shemas in the Valles Caldera National Park me, New Mexico has unand Preserve. / Christine Gonzales earthed a newfound apThere are countless preciation for our nation’s with students from Albuquerque reasons I feel grateful natural landscapes and to be living in New Mexico. Number and Santa Fe. Though simply liv- sparked a quest to explore them. one on that list—with green chile ing in a state with extensive public coming in at a close second—are lands has given these kids a leg I’ve always had a love for nature our public lands and the endless up on the outdoor knowledge I had and open spaces, but as I approach outdoor recreation opportunities at their age, many of them had no one year of living in New Mexico, they provide. I’ve been given a access to the guidance or opportu- I’m thankful for the places and the chance to rediscover my childhood nities needed to become immersed people who have helped me fall in passions and finally enjoy the sol- in outdoor recreation. Some hadn’t love with outdoor recreation. I’m exitude of our open spaces. But as I even touched mud before. So it cited not only to grow this new passtart this journey, I’m realizing how gave me pride to not only provide sion, but to inspire it in others who much I still have to learn, and I’m what will hopefully be a formative may also be asking themselves, experience for them, but to learn “Do I even know how to camp?” Afhardly alone. alongside them as well. ter all, we all start somewhere, and This summer, we held a handful I couldn’t be luckier to be starting of outings to fish, hike, and camp As for my individual journey, I’m here.
Send NMWF Your Lightly We’re gearing up for lots of outdoor events this spring and summer and we need your help! Send us any slightly used fishing, camping, or outdoor gear you no longer use and you’ll go a long way in making it easier for us to bring more people out on their public lands! Many of the communities we are working with do not have the means to purchase gear or licenses. Your donation will go a long way in introducing a new generation to the outdoors.
send you a receipt for tax purposes. Mail donations to: 6100 Seagull St. NE., Albuquerque, NM 87106
Include your name and address so we can
Page 16
New Mexico Wildlife Federation • www.nmwildlife.org • facebook.com/nmwildlife • @nmwildlife
Funding the Future of Wildlife By Todd Leahy New Mexico Wildlife Federation A century ago, the future for wildlife was looking bleak. Once common species like white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, elk, and waterfowl were teetering on a precipice from which the passenger pigeon had so recently fallen. But Americans, facing a future without wildlife, rallied to find creative ways to fund conservation efforts that pulled these species back from the edge. By dedicating excise taxes on hunting and fishing equipment (as well as revenues from license fees and permits) for conservation, state fish and wildlife agencies were able to recover many game populations. Today, 80 percent of state fish and wildlife agency budgets comes from hunters and anglers. This model of funding conservation has been successful for decades, but this funding model has reached its limits. While some of the wildlife that were once on the edge are thriving, many others are facing increasing challenges and are in steep decline. Emerging diseases, invasive species, and extreme weather threaten wildlife at a scale inconceivable just a few decades ago. Thousands of species of birds, mammals, fish, frogs, turtles, butterflies, and plants are slipping through the cracks. In many cases, no action is taken until a species is officially listed under the federal Endangered Species Act, a bill originally intended to be an “emergency room” measure. Once a species reaches that point
it is much harder and more expensive to recover. All Americans benefit from healthy fish and wildlife populations – proactive wildlife conservation is good for wildlife, good for businesses, and good for taxpayers. Healthy lands and waters create billions of dollars in economic value. Natural landscapes filter our drinking water, protect communities from storms, and improve our mental and physical well-being. Our nation has a proud history of bringing wildlife back from the brink, like the Bald Eagle, the Grizzly Bear, and the Gray Wolf. It is time to once again make a stand and rally to fund our wildlife legacy. A bipartisan group in the U.S. House of Representatives drafted the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (H.R. 5650) that would help avert this crisis. The bill implements the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Sustaining America’s Diverse Fish and Wildlife Resources, a nonpartisan panel with representatives from outdoor recreation retailers and manufacturers, the energy industry, sportsmen’s groups, and other conservation organizations. If enacted, the legislation would dedicate $1.3 billion annually from
could also use a portion of the funds for wildlife-related recreation such as wildlife viewing, nature photography, and trails. And these funds can improve conservation education that will activate the next generation of wildlife stewards, paying dividends far into the future. Importantly, it will also protect the interests of hunters and anglers by ensuring that existing funding streams are used for recovering game species, as originally intended.
existing energy and mineral leases on federal lands and waters to states to solve this conservation challenge. The new revenue would be used by each state to safeguard wildlife and their habitat as laid out in existing, but severely underfunded, State Wildlife Action Plans. These plans provide accountability and oversight because they must be updated every ten years with the latest science, require public input, and are approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This legislation has the potential to be the next victory in the long history of America’s wildlife conservation legacy. The new funding to the states will allow us to proactively conserve the more than 12,000 species that states have identified as being at greatest risk. States
In New Mexico this means an additional $27,076,062 for protecting those species the Department of Game and Fish have identified in the State Wildlife Action Plan. Game and Fish is responsible for developing a State Wildlife Action Plan, which identifies imperiled or declining species in the state and lists actions that would assist with their protection and recovery. Currently, the plan identified 1,183 species in need of conservation efforts. Adequate funding to take proactive steps is the key to conserving wildlife long before they become endangered. Allowing state wildlife agencies to step in earlier will create new jobs, foster regulatory certainty for businesses, and ensure that our children and grandchildren inherit the full diversity of our nation’s fish and wildlife.
New Mexico Wildlife Federation • www.nmwildlife.org • facebook.com/nmwildlife • @nmwildlife
Page 17
Conservation and the Individual Sportsman in New Mexico I see some of these new hunters, really make By Brian Thompson NMWF Member and Hunter
As of 2017 there are more bow hunters than ever before, and we’re hearing about them more than ever before. Through social media, hunting channels and shows, movies like Hunger Games, and organizations like the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Mule Deer Foundation, and the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, there is a new generation increasingly interested in the outdoors, and specifically in bow hunting. I have been bow hunting for more than 26 years, and for most of that time, bow hunting was a low-profile activity. But now, thanks largely to Facebook, Instagram and other social media, we’re seeing people who claim to be hunters and great conservationists in just one or two short years.
who are members of these conservation and hunting organizations or claim to support them on social media, at the gatherings and events these groups put on. But where are they with the real fight against the attack on our public lands and access?
Where are these individuals and all the other sportsman on the problems here in New Mexico with the A-Plus and E-Plus systems? What about fighting for access to public lands, and the broader issue of public lands transfer outside of just showing support on a social media pages? It is good that we go to shooting events and attend banquets and buy raffle tickets or donate money to these organizations that help pay the salaries of their full time employees, but is that really helping the cause enough? I don’t see many of these new hunters doing anything on their own.
I don’t see them at the state capitol talking to our representatives or our governor. I don’t see or hear about the mass calls, letters, and emails supporting our public lands and fighting all the talk to transfer our public lands at the state or federal level. We have these new hunters and conservationists out there, and that is awesome. L a r g e groups of people is what it Brian Thompson with his Boy Scout Troup. takes to
This growth is great for the sport and for the hunting industry - bows, arrows, hunting gear, clothing, camping and all that goes with it.
Page 18
a difference. And when these conservation groups call for all to come out and support our public lands or other important issue at a rally or event, barely a hundred or so sportsman show up. That’s out of the tens of thousands of New Mexico hunters and sportsman, and the hundred or so who do show up are always the same few.
What difference is the growth of bowhunting making? Is this influx of archery hunters just a temporary fad? Can we as a group take advantage of this new, larger community? How can we get these new bow hunters more involved and making a difference for everyone, instead of simply enjoying individual, personal glory through social media – “See me, look at what I am doing because now I shoot a bow, go hiking, hunting and catch fish.” Or can we actually do some of the hard work as individuals and communicate with, work with, and push the decision-makers who really affect us – the State Game Commission, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and even county commissioners where we love to hunt? Sure, all of the conservation groups need our help and support and they do good things, but the local, state, and federal entities know them, and are used to them. They see these
Brian Thompson and mule deer. organizations as a single entity. What they should see is dozens, or hundreds, or even thousands of us hunters and anglers as individuals, not just as members of this organization or that. We need the sportsmen’s groups and we need to support them, but I think hunters and anglers are perhaps even more powerful acting as individuals. The politicians listen to large numbers of people speaking up for their rights. My advice to the new generation of bow hunters is simple: Be that public figure out there on social media but honor our heritage, our sport with some real behind-the-scenes conservation work. Fight for our sport and fight for our public lands. Don’t be the fake conservationist with just pictures of you shooting, you prepping, you hunting, or socializing or volunteering at a sportsman event. Do what others don’t see for our sport. Building or closing a trail, adding a water catch, or removing an old fence is good stuff to do out in the field but real conservation is what protects the whole sport and the ecosystem and that’s protecting our public lands, the game animals
New Mexico Wildlife Federation • www.nmwildlife.org • facebook.com/nmwildlife • @nmwildlife
The Legend, Legacy and Transformation of Earnest Thompson Seton and Aldo Leopold By Andrew Black New Mexico Wildlife Federation From the Kiowa National Grasslands and wide-open prairies of Union and Colfax Counties in far northeastern New Mexico to the scenic vistas of the Gila Wilderness in the far southwest, sportsmen conservation runs deep within New Mexico’s history and identity. At the heart of this history and shaping the ethic of sportsmen conservation were two of the nation’s most prolific hunters, Earnest Thompson Seton and Aldo Leopold, whose mystical encounters with New Mexico’s native wildlife forever changed them and the nation’s understanding of conservation. Earnest Thompson Seton Earnest Thompson Seton first arrived in New Mexico in 1893 in pursuit of a wolf that would forever change him and the way the world understood wildlife. Although Seton had been born in England in 1860 and raised in Canada, Seton’s heart lay in the American West. Shortly after his 21st birthday, Seton moved to the United States to further his career as a naturalist, writer and artist. By the age of 33, Seton had nationally established himself as a widely sought-after bounty hunter and trapper. Seeking to fulfill a bounty on wolves and
... “Individual Sportsmen”
coyotes put out by a New Mexico rancher, Seton traveled to Clayton in October 1893 in pursuit of a formidable opponent, a legendary wolf known as “Lobo, the King of the Currumpaw,” (an area west of Clayton near Capulin Volcano National Monument). Although Seton had an expansive reputation as a wolf hunter, which had derived largely from hunting Timberwolves in Canada, New Mexico’s locals were dubious of an outsider’s ability to track and hunt Lobo, who had wreaked havoc on Anglo and Hispanic ranchers for years. In the fall of 1893, Seton’s journal noted that everyone had heard of the notorious Lobo, the leader of a remarkable pack of native gray wolves and who was “a giant among wolves, and was cunning and strong in proportion to his size” Although an expert tracker, Seton quickly found himself outmatched by Lobo, who was as elusive as a ghost and impervious to conventional hunting and trapping techniques. After repeated failure and with his reputation on the line, Seton turned to “trickery and treachery against an animal whose weaknesses were loyalty and fidelity.” Although he was yet to lay eyes on the leg-
ed here, participated in their campaigns, helped with fundraising and conservation projects. He has also pursued his own conservation interests and issues by working with the Continued from Page 18 New Mexico Department of Game and the science-based rules by and Fish, Santa Fe National Forest, which they are managed. and with the BLM. In doing this, my passion for hunting. Because of his So I ask, what do you want to do? many years of hunting and fishing Don’t wait until it’s gone and ask in the Jemez Mountains, he chose what the hell happened! to get involved with the Santa Fe National Forest travel management Brian Thompson has been a hunter plan, working to protect elk calving and angler for more than 33 years, and the migration route between all over New Mexico. He has joined the San Pedro Parks Wilderness all the conservation groups listand the Valle Calderas National
endary wolf, Seton observed smaller wolf tracks running ahead of the pack leader, tracks he attributed to Blanca, a white wolf known to be Lobo’s mate. Recognizing Blanca as Lobo’s weakness, Seton set traps for Blanca. Finally, in January 1864, Seton successfully trapped Blanca, who he found whining in a trap with Lobo by her side. As Seton approached, Lobo ran to a safe distance to watch Seton and his men kill Blanca. Seton dragged Blanca back to his ranch house leaving a scent trail to lure in Lobo. For two days, Lobo was heard howling in the distance and Seton described the haunting howl as having “an unmistakable note of sorrow in it…
no longer the loud, defiant howl, but a long, plaintive wail.”
Preserve.
backpacking and teaching them to be self-sufficient and leaders. HIs passions are bow hunting big game and conservation in our awesome state, because he wants his children and grandchildren to have and experience what we all seem to take for granted. His request to the up-and-coming generations of bow hunters – get involved. It’s not easy, but isn’t that why we all chose to hunt with a bow?
Brian has worked hard to improve the A-PLUS program, helping battle countless access and conservation issues around the state over the years. He has personally fought the public land transfer issue in New Mexico for the past six years, making countless calls, sending emails and letters to our state and federal decision-makers. He has spent more than 15 years as a Boy Scout leader, taking his own two boys and many other young men camping every month to pass on outdoor skills, fishing, shooting, archery, forestry,
With fierce loyalty, Lobo followed Blanca’s scent trail to Seton’s house where the hunter had traps set for him. On January 31st, 1894, Lobo, with each of his four legs clutched in a trap, was caught. Despite severe injuries, Lobo stood and howled when Seton approached. Moved by the wolf’s bravery and loyalty, Seton removed Lobo from the traps and took him to his house. Sitting
See “Transformation” Page 20
New Mexico Wildlife Federation • www.nmwildlife.org • facebook.com/nmwildlife • @nmwildlife
Page 19
... “Transformation” Continued from Page 19 next to the dying Lobo Seton noted: Poor old hero, he had never ceased to search for his darling…I set meat and water beside him, but he paid no heed. He lay calmly on his breast and gazed with those steadfast yellow eyes away past me down through the gateway of the cañon, over the open plains—his plains—nor moved a muscle when I touched him…A lion shorn of his strength, an eagle robbed of his freedom, or a dove bereft of his mate, all die, it is said, of a broken heart…this only I know, that when the morning dawned, he was lying there still in his position of calm repose, his body unwounded, but his Spirit was gone—the old King-wolf was dead. In 1894, Scribners Magazine published Seton’s story on Lobo, which became a national bestseller. The story of Lobo, proved more powerful than Seton could have guessed to both the author and audience as it began to open the eyes and consciousness of America to the inherent value of wildlife and what it could teach us. Speaking to this, scholar Andrew Isenberg notes: Seton reflected the perspective of the nine-
teenth century, which sought the destruction of most wildlife, particularly predators, in order to domesticate the environment: he unapologetically killed Lobo and Blanca in order to protect the Currumpaw livestock. Yet, his characterization of Lobo and his pack heralded a new representation of wildlife. Seton’s animals inhabit a moral universe of honor, love, and choice. Seton regards Lobo not as a varmint but as a worthy adversary. As Seton scholar David Witt notes, “Seton came away from New Mexico with more than just blood on his hands. His contention that animals are related to humans in a moral sense would soon lead him to the logical conclusion that we are therefore responsible for their preservation.” Aldo Leopold Following in Seton’s footsteps in New Mexico was a young ambitious forester and ecologist named Aldo Leopold. Born in Iowa in 1887, Leopold also developed an interest in the natural world from a young age and spent hours writing about his surroundings and reading outdoor adventures, including the works of Seton. In 1909, Leopold graduated from the Yale School of Forestry, where he had heard Seton as a guest lecturer, to pursue a career with the newly established U.S. Forest Service in Arizona and New Mexico. Seeking to appease local ranchers and hunters who viewed predators as a nuisance and competition, Leopold was assigned to hunt and kill bears, wolves, and mountain lions throughout the southwest. As an expert marksman with a bow and rifle, Leopold was a natural born hunter who believed it was his duty to wage a “steady war” on these predators in order to domesticate the Wild West. However, like Seton it was an experience with one of New Mexico’s wolves that forever changed Leopold’s thinking about humanity’s relationship to nature. While leading his forestry crew on a mission near the New Mexico/Arizona border, Leopold spotted a wolf and her pups crossing a river. Leopold shot into the pack and scrambled down the mountain to see what damage he had done. A pup and the mother lay wounded and the protective mother snapped and growled when Leopold approached. Watching the wolf die, Leopold later wrote: In those days we never heard of passing up a chance to kill a wolf. In a second we were pumping lead into the pack, but with more excitement than accuracy…We
Page 20
Earnest Seton / Academy for the Love of Learning reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes—something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean a hunters’ paradise. But seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view. Like Seton’s experience with Lobo, watching the green fire die in the wolf’s eyes began to slowly transform Leopold in ways that would forever change him and the nation’s understanding of conservation. The Transformation of Seton and Leopold While the hunt of Lobo and the green fire experience served as significant turning points in the lives of Seton and Leopold, it would take years for both men to internalize and articulate what these experiences meant to them and what they required of humanity. In 1907, while hunting in the Artic, Seton came across a lynx that he had shot. In a moment of transformation, Seton noted: It sounds all right and clear, but to this day I cannot forget the kitten-like wonder of
New Mexico Wildlife Federation • www.nmwildlife.org • facebook.com/nmwildlife • @nmwildlife
... “Transformation” Continued from Page 20 those big, mild eyes, turn on me as I fired. He fell without a sound, and when I came up, he still gazed without a moan, without a sign of resentment, with nothing but pained surprise, which my conscience translated into: ‘So this is your love of wild things.’ As David Witt notes, through this mystical encounter and continued transformation, Seton “had at last fully internalized the meaning of Lobo’s death. After his return from the Artic, he dedicated himself almost fully to the cause of wildlife conservation” and outdoor youth education. Like Seton, Leopold’s transformation was slow and subtle. In 1912, Leopold was promoted to the supervisor of the Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico. While awaiting this assignment, Leopold had met an attractive girl from Santa Fe, Estella Luna Bergere, whose prominent Hispanic lineage dated to early Spanish shepherds and was deeply rooted in New Mexico’s land. As the love of Leopold’s life, Estella’s New Mexico Hispanic culture and traditions played a strong role in their relationship. Each night the family would gather around a songbook written by Estella to sing traditional songs in Spanish about the land and her Hispanic culture and values. New Mexico’s Hispanic culture, heritage, traditions and land ethics began to shape Leopold and his understanding of conservation. As Leopold’s transformation continued, he developed an ecological ethic that replaced his earlier perspective, which stressed the need for human dominance. He also began to rethink the importance of predators in the balance of nature. Reflecting on this, Leopold noted: Since then I have lived to see state after state extirpate its wolves. I have watched the face of many a newly wolfless mountain, and seen the south-facing slopes wrinkle with a maze of new deer trails. I have seen every edible bush and seedling browsed, first to anemic desuetude, and then to death. I have seen every edible tree defoliated to the height of a saddlehorn. Such a mountain looks as if someone had given God a new pruning shears, and forbidden Him all other exercise. In the end the starved bones of the hoped-for deer herd, dead of its own too-much, bleach with the bones of the dead sage, or molder under the high-lined junipers … So also with cows. The cowman who cleans his range of wolves does not realize that he is tak-
ing over the wolf’s job of trimming the herd to fit the change. He has not learned to think like a mountain. Hence we have dustbowls, and rivers washing the future into the sea. Synergizing the transformative wolf experiences of both Seton and Leopold, Andrew Isenburg further explains: Seton’s wolf Lobo was a bandit… doomed to be destroyed by the inevitable progression of the laws of property and profit. By contrast, Leopold’s wolf was, like Leopold himself, a kind of forest ranger, enforcing the moral ecology of wildlife…it is hard to imagine Leopold’s wolf, with the ‘fierce green fire’ in her eyes, without the precedent of Seton’s lobo. Seton made wolf ecology a world of conscience and reason; Leopold invested that world with moral purpose. Seton and Leopold’s Lasting Legacy on New Mexico and Conservation It is difficult to capture the vast legacy of Earnest Thompson Seton and Aldo Leopold and their impacts on New Mexico and conservation. Yet, one of the greatest impacts of these two sportsmen was changing the way America understood conservation, land, water and wildlife. Earnest Thompson Seton sought to change America’s consciousness about wildlife and was one of the first people to write about the science of animal behavior and the importance of conserving wildlife. Through his writings and sketches, Seton challenged humanity to be more contemplative and intentional in the way we approach nature and our relationship with it. Seton believed in Charles Darwin’s principal that humanity is an integral part of nature and we must be conscious of what we are doing and how it impacts nature. Seton believed that if humans are going to be hunters, fishermen, timber harvesters, cattle growers or nature users, then we have a moral obligation to work and recreate with intentionality. Seton concluded we must be mindful of how we use natural resources and the implications of our actions on the present and future. We cannot solely make decisions impacting land, water and wildlife based on utilitarian principals, but must base such decisions in morality and long-term thinking. Another major contribution Seton made was his understanding of the importance of protecting wildlife corridors and connectivity. While in the Artic in 1911, Seton observed hundreds of an-
NMWF’s founder, Aldo Leopold. telope lodged against a fence built by the Canadian Pacific Railroad blocking the antelope from reaching their summer range. Watching massive herds of antelope die, over 100 years ago Seton recognized the importance of protecting wildlife movement and that if corridors are not protected from mindless human development it can lead to the demise of a whole species. Recognizing the wisdom and science behind Seton’s perspective, the New Mexico Wildlife Federation is actively engaged in working with federal and state agencies, native tribes, and private landowners to identify corridors and protect wildlife connectivity. Expanding upon Seton’s perspectives and creating his own ethical framework, Aldo Leopold developed what became known as the “Land Ethic.” Reflecting on his time in New Mexico and writing as a Professor at the University of Wisconsin, Leopold articulated this new ethic boldly proclaiming, “we abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.” Coupling this ethical perspective with science, Leopold became a pioneer in both game and land management. In calling for us to ‘Think like a Mountain’ and deepen our understanding of the interconnected relationship we have with the land and with each other, Leopold also reminded us that we are to “examine each question in terms of what is ethically and esthetically right, as well as what is economically expedient. A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” See “Transformation” Page 22
New Mexico Wildlife Federation • www.nmwildlife.org • facebook.com/nmwildlife • @nmwildlife
Page 21
... “Transformation” Continued from Page 21 The impacts of Seton and Leopold on New Mexico and conservation cannot be understated. Following his trip to New Mexico and believing deeply in educating youth about conservation and the outdoors, Seton, formed the Woodcraft League, whose teachings were rooted in Native American wisdom, crafts and traditions and would ultimately result in Seton becoming a founder of the Boy Scouts of America. Philmont Scout Ranch near Cimarron now houses the Seton Memorial Library and since it’s opening more than 1 million scouts and leaders have experienced the outdoor education offered through the Ranch. Early in the 1900s, Seton also be-
came one of the first Anglo defenders of Native rights, culture, and tribal values. In 1930, Seton bought 2,000 acres of land outside of Santa Fe, now known as Seton Village. Today Seton Village is home to the Academy for the Love of Learning, housing the Seton Legacy Project, which includes a gallery containing Seton’s writings and art and focuses on the connection between Seton’s teachings and contemporary environmental issues. As a forest superintendent, Aldo Leopold moved the headquarters of the Carson National Forest from Colorado to Tres Piedras, New Mexico, where his and Estella’s cabin (‘mi casita’) remains and houses an annual writer in residence program focusing on applying Leopold’s teachings to modern environmental issues. In 1914,
Aldo Leopold formed the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, a sportsmen organization whose mission for the past hundred years has been to inspire New Mexicans to conserve public lands, watersheds, and wildlife for our children’s future. In 1924, Aldo Leopold was instrumental in developing a landmark proposal to make the Gila National Forest the nation’s first Wilderness area. While Leopold’s ecological legacy shaped land and game management across the country, Leopold’s teaching on conservation continues to shape children throughout the nation including at schools like the Aldo Leopold Charter School in Silver City. Visit our website to see citations for this article.
OMDP: A monumental place for history, hunting, and recreation By Gabe Vasquez New Mexico Wildlife Federation I grew up traveling to Las Cruces as a youth to fish the Rio Grande with my Dad and Brother, with a sense of adventure and wonderment that was amplified by one of the world’s most majestic backdrops -- the Organ Mountains. I remember having the spires of this grand mountain range etched into my head when we drove away from the Mesilla Valley. The splendor of these mountains is hard to forget, and it draws in thousands of new tourists, visitors, and permanent residents to Las Cruces every year. But the wonderment and magic of the Organ Mountains is not a recent development, people have been living with these mountains as their backdrop for thousands of years. And that’s just one of many reasons why protecting these mountains and the surrounding peaks as a national monument is incredibly important. For me, these mountains are a symbol of home. They’re a symbol of community, and a symbol of freedom. They’re New Mexico. For the Jornada Mogollon, a pre-historic Pueblo people that lived in the area and left their mark here for more than a thousand years, the mountains were perhaps a symbol of sustenance. In the desert grasslands of the Mesilla Valley, adjacent to the Rio Grande, the Mogollon people likely hunted large game animal here -- antelope, deer, and maybe even Elk. In fact, these traditions and practices are inscribed in the hundreds of petroglyph sites found throughout the
Page 22
Desert Peaks.
So it’s fitting that we too, as modern people, look to this land for hunting opportunities. Today, sportsmen and women can find healthy herds of Mule deer here, plentiful Oryx in the Organ Mountains range, javelina, Gambel’s quail, dove, and plenty of other desert critters to shoot with a camera instead of a bow or rifle. That’s part of the appeal of the monument -- no matter how you engage with our public lands, you can likely do it in the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument. For example, in the monument, you can: • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Hike Hunt Go off-roading Rock climb Backcountry camp Bikepack Mountain bike Sightsee Public grazing Conduct research Explore archaeological sites Hanglide .. and so much more.
And many of these activities, including hunting and grazing, are protected and preserved in the existing presidential proclamation that declared these beautiful mountain ranges and Chihuahuan Desert flats a national monument. These include the Potrillo Mountains (Potrillo is a type of horse), the Sierra de las Uvas (wild grapes once grew here), the Robledo Mountains
(named after the first casualty of the Oñate expedition), and the Doña Ana Mountains (named in honor of a Spanish matron). These ranges not only collectively protect our unique Indigenous, Spanish, Mexican, and American history in New Mexico, but also provide important wildlife habitat and corridor connectivity. The New Mexico Wildlife Federation believes it’s incredibly important to protect not only the land and public access of the monument, but the heritage and integrity of the history that lives here -- history that reflects a wide variety of cultures and traditions. Over the last year, the New Mexico Wildlife Federation has played an important in protecting this special place, by organizing or participating in public events such as the Matanza for the Monument, the Apache Flats Family Dove Hunt, the Community Town Hall for Secretary Zinke’s visit, dozens of organized hikes, the Every Kid in a Park program, and many, many more. We look forward to organizing more events in the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument and in the rest of the year and in 2018, highlighting more opportunities for sportsmen and women to hunt on our newest national monument. To get involved or to participate in a future event on the monument, contact me at gabe@nmwildlife.org.
New Mexico Wildlife Federation • www.nmwildlife.org • facebook.com/nmwildlife • @nmwildlife
A Summer of Fun at the New Mexico Wildlife Federation
New Mexico Wildlife Federation • www.nmwildlife.org • facebook.com/nmwildlife • @nmwildlife
Page 23
Page 24
New Mexico Wildlife Federation • www.nmwildlife.org • facebook.com/nmwildlife • @nmwildlife