Input sought on proposed trapping rule changes

Meetings to be held by Game and Fish seeking comments

Wildlife traps and snares on public lands in New Mexico continue to spark debate, and the public will have the chance to comment on proposed changes to the state’s trapping and furbearer rule this month.

The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish will host four public meetings about the new rule, which could take effect in 2020.

Proposed changes are based on public comment and reports from New Mexico hunters and trappers and Game and Fish biologists.

The new rule would require mandatory education courses for trappers. Traps would need to be set at least half a mile from designated trailheads, picnic areas and public campgrounds.

Land traps and snares would be prohibited in the Sandia Ranger District, the eastern portion of Organ MountainDesert

Peaks National Monument, and on certain areas of the Santa Fe and Carson National Forests — all popular places for outdoor recreation.

Some wildlife activists insist traps should be banned on all public lands in New Mexico. A bill in the state Legislature which would have accomplished that was heard on the House floor this year, but failed to pass.

Mary Katherine Ray, wildlife chair for the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra

Club, rescued her dog from a leg-hold trap on the Cibola National Forest last February. Ray thinks the Game Commission’s proposed changes are insufficient.

“I don’t think these devices are compatible with public use on these lands that belong to all of us,” she told the Journal. “Trappers walk away and have no way of predicting what will come into that trap. It’s like walking away and leaving a land mine.”

The trap that ensnared Ray’s dog would still be legal under the new rules, as it was far enough away from any trailheads or roads. “That the commission is moving at all on this issue is not a bad thing, but they are not moving enough,” Ray said. “I know how to open a trap, but many people don’t. It’s an injustice, especially when we’re trying to get people to explore our woods and outdoors.”

While some environmental groups believe the new rules are too lenient, some hunting and trapping organizations in New Mexico believe the new rules are an overreach.

“Wildlife management has no room for politics, and clearly some of the state’s current politicians have their sights set on ending trapping,” Luke Houghton, associate director of state services for Sportsmen’s Alliance, said in a statement in September after the rule changes were proposed. “The department isn’t able to say how many acres of land will be lost for trappers, and they can’t legitimize why the quarter-mile set-backs require such a drastic increase in distance. It’s all completely unfounded.”

The proposals are available online at wildlife.state.nm.us. Comments can be mailed to New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, Attn: Furbearer Rule Development, P.O. Box 25112, Santa Fe, NM, 87504; emailed to dgf-furbearer-rules@state.nm.us; or submitted in person at one of the public meetings.