Speaking up for wildlife on the frontline of the climate crisis
Asha the Mexican wolf has again eluded game managers and roamed into Northern New Mexico, likely on her way to Colorado.
Although still referred to as the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the ESA is no longer the act that President Nixon signed fifty years ago. President Reagan signed a 1982 amendment adding Section 10 to allow James Watt, his Interior Secretary, to designate wildlife populations as experimental, denying them full ESA protection. Current Interior … Read full post
The annual report of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish acknowledges that their operations depend on “the combined support of hunters, trappers and anglers.” Together with the State Game Commission, they have opposed trapping restrictions. For years they opposed Mexican wolf reintroduction, but now they participate in the program to restrict wolves to to a limited experimental area.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service, currently run by … Read full post
Some wildlife trapping in New Mexico will be technically illegal as of April 1. But it will be up to the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF) to enforce the new state law, known as Roxy’s Law in memory of the dog who suffered a cruel death at the hands of a trapper. NMDGF, which opposed the passage of Roxy’s Law, “lost” the evidence needed to convict Roxy’s killer. There is no … Read full post
The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (officially abbreviated NMDGF, also known as “Maim and Squish”) is reviewing its policy on mountain lion hunting. Mountain lions, known to game managers as cougars and to biologists as pumas, are not legally classified as a federal endangered species, although California, which has already banned mountain lion trophy hunting, is considering classifying the species (Puma concolor) as a state endangered species. Trophy hunting is the greatest threat … Read full post
In the fall of 1909 Aldo Leopold notoriously killed wolves in the Apache National Forest in Arizona, acting in his official capacity as a hunter and trapper for the newly established U.S. Forest Service. Decades later, in his 1944 essay “Thinking like a Mountain,” he described the “green fire” he recalled seeing in the eyes of one of the … Read full post
Predator-killing contests and killing Yellowstone wolves have become an embarrassment to self-styled “ethical” hunters who promote their North American Model of wildlife conservation. The Santa Fe New Mexican reported a “Record number of Mexican wolves found dead in 2018,” one notoriously dying at the hands of rancher Craig Thiessen. The Federal government, which otherwise has not been protecting wolves,at least managed to revoke Thiessen’s permit to run cows on public land.
State game departments … Read full post
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has proposed drastic reductions in wildlife protection. Proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act (ESA) would severely reduce protection for threatened species and their critical habitat. While Congress is considering various laws to weaken the ESA and to eliminate protection for gray wolves, Zinke’s plan would use his current legal authority to remove protection for threatened species.
Since the original ESA was passed in 1973, Congress has passed numerous laws … Read full post
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
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
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
