A CUTTHROAT WITH A CAUSE
Newest N.M. license plate, featuring state fish, to help fund Share with Wildlife program
Cutthroat drivers are about to have a new mascot to adorn their license plates: the Rio Grande cutthroat trout.
The state fish appears on the newest license plate design released by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish as part of the agency’s Share with Wildlife fundraiser. The effort funds nongame species that don’t get support from other sources, program coordinator Ginny Seamster said in an email.
Two previous wildlife license plate designs, a quail and a mule deer, raised more than $130,000 that went toward projects such as habitat enhancement, wildlife research and rehabilitation efforts. Seamster said the Share with Wildlife program has spent more than $1.5 million on projects in the past decade.
The trout design on the license plate might be familiar to local anglers. The original commissioned artwork by painter Don Radovich dates back to 1964, Williams said, and it was originally used as the stamp anglers would buy with their fishing license if they wanted to catch trout.
The Rio Grande cutthroat trout was designated as the state fish in 1955. The species seems to be a popular political pick — at least six other states have chosen a cutthroat of some variety, including Colorado, Idaho and Nevada.
The Rio Grande cutthroat, one of more than a dozen subspecies of cutthroat trout in the U.S., according to the Forest Service, is native to water-
ways in the Rio Grande Basin, including 150 miles of rivers and streams in the Santa Fe National Forest. The species has seen its population dwindle, partly because of a severe decline in its natural habitat. It was listed as a candidate for the federal endangered species list in 2008 but was removed from the list in 2014.
The cutthroat license plates are only available to order by mail and cost $27. The Game and Fish Department receives $15 from the initial plate order and another $10 from the state’s annual $12 plate renewal fee. The plate can be purchased through an order form on the state Motor Vehicle Division website, mvd.newmexico.gov, or through wildlife.state.nm.us/share.
The cutthroat license plates come just months after the state issued new plates declaring New Mexico the “chile capital of the world.” The chile plates quickly proved popular, prompting the Motor Vehicle Division to open a mobile license plate vending station in Albuquerque in August.
In an unscientific poll conducted by The New Mexican on Wednesday, the teal-and-yellow trout license plate seemed to be polling behind the black-and-yellow chile plate. By 6 p.m., more than 120 people had participated in the vote, with nearly half choosing the chile plate as their favorite and a third favoring the trout. The remaining voters rejected both designs, instead selecting “something else.”