New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
Media contact: Dan Williams, (505) 476-8004
Public contact: (505) 476-8000
dan.williams@state.nm.us
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, MARCH 19, 2007:
GAME COMMISSION TO HEAR COMMENTS ABOUT MEXICAN WOLF PROGRAM
LAS CRUCES - The New Mexico Game Commission will conduct a two-hour listening session at its March 28 meeting in Las Cruces to hear prepared comments from groups and individuals about the Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Program. This will help the State Game Commission continue its efforts to support reintroduction of the Mexican wolf while balancing agricultural interests, public safety, and conservation values.
The meeting will be Wednesday, March 28, starting at 9 a.m. at the Best Western-Mesilla Valley Inn and Columbus Conference Center, 901 Avenida de Mesilla. The listening session is a specific agenda item, scheduled from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Those wishing to address the Commission about the wolf program are encouraged to prepare comments in advance and designate a spokesperson to represent organizations or interest groups. Emphasis will be given to hearing perspectives from people living in the Blue Range Mexican Wolf Reintroduction Area. Comments will be limited to nine minutes and speakers are asked to respect the Commission's time schedule. Topics to be considered are:
- Achieving clear statements of the wolf program's goals and objectives.
- Understanding specific economic effects of wolves.
- Awareness of human behavioral and psychological concerns.
- Understanding human safety concerns.
- Wolf distribution and frequency of human encounters with wolves.
- Concerns about wolf recovery program procedures.
- Identifying unmet information needs.
- Challenges to achieving a sustainable wolf population.
- Concerns about public agency responsiveness.
- Management flexibility during direct wolf encounters.
- Compensation for domestic animal losses to wolves.
- Effects of wolves on wildlife-associated recreation opportunities.
For more information about Mexican wolves and the reintroduction program, please visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website, http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/mexicanwolf/index.shtml .
The March 28 Game Commission meeting agenda also includes:
Proposed changes to the state's fishing regulations to allow limited angling opportunities for Gila trout, which recently were downlisted from federally endangered to threatened.
- A report on wildlife depredation for the second quarter of 2007.
- A presentation of the Department of Game and Fish financial statements and audit for 2006.
- A proposal to sell at auction obsolete or worn out computers, vehicles and other equipment.
- A proposal to open for public comment hunting rules for upland game and waterfowl for the 2007-2008 season.
- An update on plans to restore native Rio Grande cutthroat trout to the Rio Costilla watershed in northern New Mexico.
- A report on the Department's Open Gate Access Program, in which the Department leases property from landowners to allow recreational hunting on private lands or to provide access to public lands.
- A report on the management of Commission-owned lands used to benefit the Lesser Prairie Chicken.
- A summary of the 2007 Legislature and bills that affected the Department of Game and Fish.
The New Mexico Game Commission is composed of seven members who represent the state's diverse interests in wildlife-associated recreation and conservation. Members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate. Current members are Alfredo Montoya, chairman, Alcalde; Tom Arvas, vice-chairman, Albuquerque; Leo Sims, Hobbs; Sandy Buffett, Santa Fe; M.H. "Dutch" Salmon, Silver City; Terry Riley, Tijeras; and Jim McClintic, Albuquerque.
If you are an individual with a disability who is in need of a reader, amplifier, qualified sign language interpreter, or any other form of auxiliary aid or service to attend or participate in the meeting, please contact Shirley Baker, (505) 476-8030. Public documents, including the agenda and minutes, can be provided in various accessible forms.
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