In an article published in the Santa Fe New Mexican and posted on nmpolitics.net Garrett VeneKlasen, executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, emphasizes the value of the Sabinoso wilderness as a site for hunting exotic African wildlife, namely Barbary sheep. Hunters’ organizations including NM Wildlife Federation and Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, which counts Donald Trump, Jr, as a life member, misleadingly describe their campaign for increased hunting as “public access.” VeneKlassen, who … Read full post
Hail Trump, Those who are about to die salute you!
Shortly after Donald Trump claimed victory in the Presidential election, the Alt-Right held a conference in Washington, DC. The Atlantic distributed a video clip of the conference showing Nazi salutes, accompanied by shouts of “Hail, Trump!” (Some heard it as “Heil, Trump.)
Alt-Right founder Richard Spencer claimed that the salutes were not Nazi salutes but “Roman salutes,” in the same vein as his keynote address at the conference, which he titled Long Live the Emperor… Read full post
No Refuge for Wildlife
The armed hunter-rancher occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge shows the need for the Federal Government to enforce wildlife protection laws. Unfortunately, wildlife refuges were designed from the outset to benefit hunters, not wildlife, in accordance with principles the Boone and Crockett Club developed a century ago.
Theodore Roosevelt, a notorious big game hunter, co-founded Boone and Crockett with George Bird Grinnell (who founded one of the first Audubon societies). Membership in the Boone … Read full post
Protect Wolves from NM Maim and Squish
At its latest meeting the New Mexico Game and Fish Commission, not so affectionately known as Maim and Squish, voted against further reintroduction of Mexican wolves in New Mexico. This follows the previous month’s decision to expand mountain lion hunting and trapping. With leadership like Paul Kienzle, the Mountain States Legal Foundation’s vice chairman for litigation, and Elizabeth Ryan, a member of Safari Club International, the decisions by Maim and Squish did not … Read full post
NM Game Commission: No “Game” for Wildlife
At the NM Game Commission hearing on August 27th, Opponents of increased mountain lion and bear killing outnumbered the hunters, trappers, ranchers, at least 4 to 1. Yet, while some of the environmental/animal groups were allowed to speak, many of us individual citizens were not. It was obvious to many that the commission was changing the rules to fit their biased needs. Not only are numerous ranchers & hunters on this commission, but … Read full post
The Last Rhodesian Politicians
The murder of Cecil in Zimbabwe has revealed to the world the true nature of trophy hunting.
Whatever feeble excuses hunters make about feeding their families or the homeless clearly has never applied to lion hunting. Who seriously thinks that Palmer planned to feed Cecil to his own family, or to poor Africans?
In accordance with the hunter-conservation ethic embodied in the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, Walter Palmer rationalized his kill as a … Read full post
World’s oldest professions
As the June meeting of the New Mexico Game Commission approaches, the so-called wildlife biologists of Game and Fish have modified their proposal on cougar trapping. Facing widespread opposition from editorials and letters in the Santa Fe New Mexican and Albuquerque Journal, culminating in a rally at the state capitol, they dropped their proposal to set cougar traps on public land. The new proposal would allow unrestricted cougar trapping on private land, while … Read full post
Thinking Beyond the Animal Factories to Save This Planet
Those out there who are concerned about this planet, the wildlife, the wild places, really need to understand how very destructive the Livestock Industry is, and not just for the factory farming aspects (as horrendous as they are).
Even many Vegans, who rightly abhor what goes on in animal factories, ignore, (or are unaware of), the plight of billions of native wild species in the U.S. and around the world. Wild species’ populations are in
… Read full post
Armed Agriculture
The current issue of New Mexico Stockman, the official publication of the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association, shows the close connection between hunting and public lands ranching. In an article titled “Hunting – Another Arm of Agriculture,” the executive director of the New Mexico Council of Outfitters and Guides describes the New Mexico Game and Fish Department’s E-plus and A-plus programs allowing ranchers to profit from elk and pronghorn (“antelope”) hunting, respectively. “While it’s … Read full post
What’s Left for Wildlife
The recent rushed passage of the National Defense Authorization Act with numerous anti-environmental riders exposes the sham of representative democracy. The Public Lands Council correctly describes the overwhelming vote for NDAA as clear case of Congress siding with ranchers. The act overturned grazing regulations which have been in effect over 30 years. Valles Caldera in northern New Mexico became a livestock operation funded by the National Park Service. As Congress would not dare to question, … Read full post
