Albuquerque Journal

Loss of EPLUS elk permits will cost NM communitie­s

- BY LEE WEISS Lee Weiss is owner of Fishtail Ranch Outfitters in Chama, which specialize­s in Fair Chase Hunts for free-ranging elk in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado.

I am disappoint­ed in U.S. Sen. (Martin) Heinrich, a representa­tive of all the people of New Mexico, to have allowed a letter so deceptive and misleading about the EPLUS system to have left his office with his signature on it.

The (Elk Private Lands Use System) does not discrimina­te against residents of the state but rather offers them the same opportunit­y as anyone else to purchase a landowner permit and hunt without entering the draw. It also allows anyone to hunt the private land associated with a unit-wide permit as well as all the public land within that unit.

Private landowners have allowed the state’s wildlife to graze their property, thus limiting the number of livestock that they can graze on their property and thereby directly affecting their income. Also, public land in the national forest and BLM belongs not only to the people of New Mexico, but every citizen of the United States. The fact that the citizens of the United States allow the elk herd in New Mexico to feed and reside on their property free of charge should also be given considerat­ion. Without the generosity of private landowners and the citizens of the United States, the New Mexico elk herd could not exist.

Public land permits are distribute­d so that 84% of all mature bull and either sex permits are given to residents of New Mexico, and 100% of all antlerless permits are givens to residents of New Mexico. This means that well over 90% of all public land permits are distribute­d to residents of the state of New Mexico. This does not include that 100% of all permits on State Wildlife Management Areas are distribute­d to residents of New Mexico. If there is such a shortage of elk permits, please explain the 1,000 or so leftover permits when the draw is completed because no one applied for them.

EPLUS permits themselves do not bring $10,000 each but rather could generate as much as $10,000 in total revenue to the state of New Mexico and should be looked at as a major economic boost to the economy. There was also no mention of the thousands of New Mexicans in the outfitting industry who will not be able to feed their families at all as the loss of the EPLUS program could completely eliminate their jobs. Many of the support industries — service stations, grocery stores, processing plants and taxidermis­ts, for example — for the outfitting industry will also be forced to eliminate employees due to the loss of revenue with eliminatio­n of the EPLUS system.

The (New Mexico Department of Game & Fish) itself will not be spared as the loss of revenue will surely lead to job loss and cutbacks throughout the department. Do not overlook the fact that hunting created by the EPLUS system creates the largest industry in many of these small rural communitie­s.

The individual­s and organizati­ons that are leading this movement are not looking for elk hunting opportunit­y in general, but rather more permits in the most intensely managed and highly restricted units in New Mexico. These units generally lie in the most rural and economical­ly deprived areas of the state. Loss of the EPLUS system would cost these communitie­s jobs for residents such as guides, support staff and local business that support the hunting industry.

These same individual­s and organizati­ons would also like for the government to force private landowners to allow them access to their land to hunt. These are both extremely dangerous roads to start to travel down.

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