Enforcement News
Here is the latest in conservation enforcement news & press releases from the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. For Operation Game Thief there is a list of solved cases and cold cases. And see the Featured Officer page for Officer of the Month and Career Advancement news.
Department-wide news can be found under Home → NMDGF News.
Game wardens find motorist stranded overnight on remote forest road
New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Public contact, Information Center: (888) 248-6866 Media contact: Karl Moffatt: (505) 476-8007 karl.moffatt@state.nm.us FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, DEC. 1, 2016: Game wardens find motorist stranded overnight on remote forest road RUIDOSO – New Mexico Department of Game and Fish game wardens helped save a 63-year-old Alto woman stranded overnight in her car on a remote, rugged road in the Lincoln National Forest. The driver recently got lost while traveling in a 2013 Chevrolet sedan on Forest Service Road 496 near the Capitan Mountains Wilderness. While traversing the rocky road she punched a hole in her oil pan and then got stuck in a sandy wash. The woman called 911 on her cell phone and state police radio dispatchers determined her general location, but then her cell phone battery died. Searchers couldn’t find her that evening and she spent the night in her car without [...]
Flagrant poaching case results in 10-year revocation
New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Public contact, Information Center: (888) 248-6866 Media contact: Zen Mocarski, (505) 476-8013 zenon.mocarski@state.nm.us FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Nov. 23, 2016 Flagrant poaching case results in 10-year revocation SANTA FE – An investigation that spanned more than two years and led to the filing of 26 poaching charges has resulted in a decade-long revocation, just the second time this has occurred in New Mexico’s history. The State Game Commission revoked the hunting, fishing and trapping privileges of Esequiel Mascarenas, 36, of Las Vegas, N.M., for 10 years. He and a partner, Nick Jaramillo, now deceased, were the subject of an investigation that began in January 2012. A search warrant was served later that year and culminated in charges being filed in 2014. Mascarenas was found guilty of killing deer out of season, exceeding the bag limit of deer, use of artificial light while hunting and [...]
Six new game wardens graduate from law enforcement academy
New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Public contact, Information Center: (888) 248-6866 Media contact: Karl Moffatt: (505) 476-8007 karl.moffatt@state.nm.us FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Nov. 18, 2016: Six new game wardens graduate from law enforcement academy SANTA FE – Six New Mexico Department of Game and Fish game wardens graduated from the San Juan County Criminal Justice Training Authority Law Enforcement Academy in Farmington Thursday. The department’s graduates of the 16-week law enforcement training academy are: Logan Eshom of Capitan and a graduate of New Mexico State University. Barkley McClellan of Lubbock, Texas and a graduate of Texas Tech University. Lonie Morales of Cuba and a graduate of Adams State University in Colorado. Trevor Nygren of Carlsbad and a graduate of New Mexico State University. Isaih Reynolds of Kurtistown, Hawaii and a graduate of Western New Mexico University. Garrett Silva of San Angelo, Texas and a graduate of San Angelo State [...]
New Mexico game wardens rescue horseback rider injured in back country
New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Public contact, Information Center: (888) 248-6866 Media contact: Karl Moffatt: (505) 476-8007 karl.moffatt@state.nm.us FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, NOV. 18, 2016: New Mexico game wardens rescue horseback rider injured in back country CHAMA – Game wardens helped rescue Randy Van Zant, a 64-year-old Chama area man thrown from his horse while riding in a remote, rugged area of the Humphries Wildlife Management Area. Van Zant suffered a badly broken arm and had to be airlifted from the field after it was determined that he couldn’t be transported across rough terrain by vehicle. The man’s horse apparently spooked at the sight of a trailside stone marker and threw the man to the ground during a Nov. 3 outing. “Apparently the horse didn’t know what it was and jumped sideways and the rider spun in the other direction,” said New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Conservation [...]
Cloudcroft homeowner kills bear attacking dogs
New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Public contact, Information Center: (888) 248-6866 Media contact: Karl Moffatt: (505) 476-8007 karl.moffatt@state.nm.us FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, JULY 23, 2016: Cloudcroft homeowner kills bear attacking dogs CLOUDCROFT – A man shot and killed a bear after it attacked two of his dogs outside his home Thursday. The adult female bear had two cubs which were captured at the scene and placed in the care of Dr. Kathleen Ramsay, an Española area veterinarian specializing in rehabilitating sick and injured wildlife. The incident occurred when the man’s wife heard her two small dogs barking and went outside to discover two cubs on her patio, said New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Conservation Officer Marcelino Peralta. The startled cubs bawled out for their mother who then came running around the corner. The woman fled into her house, but her two small dogs slipped out the open [...]