Bush-appointed sportsmen offer conservation ideas
An advisory group appointed by the Bush administration says hunters and fishermen - touted as the nation's first conservationists - ought to continue to play an important role as advocates for conserving wildlife and habitat.
But the Sporting Conservation Council says conflicting government policies, dwindling interest in hunting, and growing threats to big game, fish and fowl populations have made that role a more challenging one.
The council recently released a package of draft reports outlining those concerns and possible long-term policy solutions. Drawn from expert testimony at a conference in Denver in April, the reports will be the starting point for a planned presidential conference on wildlife policy in Washington, D.C., this fall.
The goal is a 10-year, national wildlife management policy.
Council members said such long-term planning will require bipartisanship - and they've even reached out to both the John McCain and Barack Obama campaigns with the assumption that one of the two will soon be in a position to enact their recommendations.
"I hope succeeding administrations will take a look at this and say, `Here are some people who dug into this and here are some of the things they said could be done. Why don't we tackle four or five of them, or 10 or 20 of them?'" said council member John Tomke, president of Ducks Unlimited-Mexico.
Former Interior Secretary Gale Norton created the 12-member council in 2006, drawing mainly from representatives of hunting groups. President Bush signed an executive order last year asking the council for ideas to promote hunting and wildlife conservation.
The council looked at threats to wildlife habitat and wildlife populations, including from energy development in the West. One report suggested that state and federal wildlife agencies collaborate to set goals for big-game populations and for protecting habitat before and during energy development, such as on Wyoming's Pinedale Anticline.
The report by Steve Mealey, a former supervisor of Wyoming's Shoshone National Forest, also suggested that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management exercise its ability, when necessary, to put land temporarily off-limits to oil and gas drilling.
Mealey also was behind a report that examined how global warming could affect hunting and fishing. The report called for more research into how climate change could affect wildlife.
An environmental group, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, issued a press release Wednesday characterizing the Sporting Conservation Council's reports as critical of Bush administration policies. The release quoted the oil and gas report, which said that drilling had become "a major wildlife concern."
"Principles of ecosystem management are the exact opposite of the Bush approach, which reduces natural resources to the special interests dedicated to their exploitation," the group's executive director, Jeff Ruch, said in the release.
But council members said their reports were scrupulously nonpartisan.
"We saw this as an opportunity to add real value to some good intent on the administration's part," Mealey said. "They were very sincere about asking how can we do things better and we took that very, very literally. We weren't a bunch of stone-throwers."
The premise of all of the Sporting Conservation Council reports is that hunters and fishermen have played an important role in modern conservation. They helped create what's now called the "North American Model of Wildlife Conservation," which provides that anyone - not just the wealthy elite - should have the right and be able to hunt and fish, according to the report.
But the council worries that as interest in hunting declines, Americans are also becoming less concerned about maintaining wildlife and habitat.
A decrease in hunting could mean less revenue generated for wildlife management through taxes on the sale of hunting gear and through the sale of state hunting licenses, the report said.
Tomke, with Ducks Unlimited, said a possible solution is encouraging youngsters to take up hunting and fishing - even though children nowadays are more involved in structured activities such as organized team sports.
"One of the recommendations of our group is to create more structured activities for outdoor recreation - hunting, recreational shooting, fishing - on federal lands," Tomke said.
In another of the reports, council member Daniel Dessecker, a biologist with the Ruffed Grouse Society, recommended improving collaboration between federal, state and tribal land management and wildlife agencies. His report on habitat conservation said government agencies often have different goals for habitat and wildlife populations.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
Focus on elk as disease persists near Yellowstone
Federal officials are considering a tentative proposal that calls for capturing or killing infected elk in Yellowstone National Park to eliminate a serious livestock disease carried by animals in the area.
Government agencies have killed more than 6,000 wild bison leaving Yellowstone over the last two decades in an attempt to contain brucellosis, which causes pregnant cattle to abort their young.
Cattle in parts of Wyoming and Montana where bison haven't roamed for decades are being infected, and livestock officials in both states are now targeting elk as the cause.
"We've got way too many elk," said John Scully, a rancher living in Montana's Madison Valley. "Clearly with so many elk, the risk rises. We need to reduce their numbers."
A tentative proposal, drafted by federal officials, sets a goal of eliminating the disease — not just controlling it in bison and in elk.
Livestock officials say infected elk herds around Yellowstone must be culled — an explosive proposition for a prized big game species that has thrived under the protection of a dedicated constituency of hunting groups. Nevertheless, pressure is mounting to kill or capture more of the animals.
Outfitters and hunters are digging in against the prospect of killing elk, concerned that too much culling could shrink herds. They contend wildlife managers should focus on vaccinating cattle or eradicating the disease in bison.
"I will fight that tooth and nail. As a sportsman, those wildlife are a public resource," said Bill O'Connell of the Gallatin Wildlife Association.
An estimated 95,000 elk populate the greater Yellowstone area in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Experts estimate only a small percentage carry brucellosis.
There is no effective brucellosis vaccine for wildlife, and cattle vaccines are only 60 to 70 percent effective. Humans are susceptible to the disease, but cases are rare and usually limited to those who work with infected cattle.
Eradicated everywhere else in the nation, brucellosis surfaced seven times in the Yellowstone area this decade, including twice since mid-June. With the recent cases, Montana ranchers near Yellowstone face severe restrictions on out-of-state cattle sales, and Wyoming ranchers could face a similar fate if another cow in the state tests positive for brucellosis in the next two years.
For bison, the strategy to prevent transmissions has been brutally straightforward. When deep snows prompt large numbers of the animals to migrate outside Yellowstone, they are rounded up and sent to slaughter or herded back into the park.
An estimated $19 million has been spent on those efforts since 2002. Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer said the recent brucellosis infections exposed the program as a failure.
"Managing a disease means more than chasing buffalo back into the park," Schweitzer said.
In terms of sheer numbers, the Yellowstone region's 25 elk herds dwarf the three herds of bison. And unlike bison, which move in groups, elk move freely over the region's numerous mountain ranges, often alone or in small numbers.
Since late 2006, federal officials and the governors of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana have been trying to negotiate a regional brucellosis plan that would deal with different species. But prospects for an agreement remain uncertain given the states' divergent approaches to wildlife.
Wyoming's use of artificial feedgrounds, for example, remains a sticking point among the states. Researchers say the feedgrounds concentrate elk herds and foster the spread of disease.
But Wyoming officials say the elimination of the feedgrounds could make the brucellosis problem worse, if hungry elk scattered into areas where cattle range. Near Pinedale, Wyo., the state has begun capturing elk and slaughtering any that show signs of the disease.
In Montana, state officials hope to increase elk hunting and hazing near Yellowstone and expand a testing program to gauge which herds are badly infected.
Federal officials are considering a tentative proposal that calls for capturing or killing infected elk in Yellowstone National Park to eliminate a serious livestock disease carried by animals in the area.
Government agencies have killed more than 6,000 wild bison leaving Yellowstone over the last two decades in an attempt to contain brucellosis, which causes pregnant cattle to abort their young.
Cattle in parts of Wyoming and Montana where bison haven't roamed for decades are being infected, and livestock officials in both states are now targeting elk as the cause.
"We've got way too many elk," said John Scully, a rancher living in Montana's Madison Valley. "Clearly with so many elk, the risk rises. We need to reduce their numbers."
A tentative proposal, drafted by federal officials, sets a goal of eliminating the disease — not just controlling it in bison and in elk.
Livestock officials say infected elk herds around Yellowstone must be culled — an explosive proposition for a prized big game species that has thrived under the protection of a dedicated constituency of hunting groups. Nevertheless, pressure is mounting to kill or capture more of the animals.
Outfitters and hunters are digging in against the prospect of killing elk, concerned that too much culling could shrink herds. They contend wildlife managers should focus on vaccinating cattle or eradicating the disease in bison.
"I will fight that tooth and nail. As a sportsman, those wildlife are a public resource," said Bill O'Connell of the Gallatin Wildlife Association.
An estimated 95,000 elk populate the greater Yellowstone area in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Experts estimate only a small percentage carry brucellosis.
There is no effective brucellosis vaccine for wildlife, and cattle vaccines are only 60 to 70 percent effective. Humans are susceptible to the disease, but cases are rare and usually limited to those who work with infected cattle.
Eradicated everywhere else in the nation, brucellosis surfaced seven times in the Yellowstone area this decade, including twice since mid-June. With the recent cases, Montana ranchers near Yellowstone face severe restrictions on out-of-state cattle sales, and Wyoming ranchers could face a similar fate if another cow in the state tests positive for brucellosis in the next two years.
For bison, the strategy to prevent transmissions has been brutally straightforward. When deep snows prompt large numbers of the animals to migrate outside Yellowstone, they are rounded up and sent to slaughter or herded back into the park.
An estimated $19 million has been spent on those efforts since 2002. Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer said the recent brucellosis infections exposed the program as a failure.
"Managing a disease means more than chasing buffalo back into the park," Schweitzer said.
In terms of sheer numbers, the Yellowstone region's 25 elk herds dwarf the three herds of bison. And unlike bison, which move in groups, elk move freely over the region's numerous mountain ranges, often alone or in small numbers.
Since late 2006, federal officials and the governors of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana have been trying to negotiate a regional brucellosis plan that would deal with different species. But prospects for an agreement remain uncertain given the states' divergent approaches to wildlife.
Wyoming's use of artificial feedgrounds, for example, remains a sticking point among the states. Researchers say the feedgrounds concentrate elk herds and foster the spread of disease.
But Wyoming officials say the elimination of the feedgrounds could make the brucellosis problem worse, if hungry elk scattered into areas where cattle range. Near Pinedale, Wyo., the state has begun capturing elk and slaughtering any that show signs of the disease.
In Montana, state officials hope to increase elk hunting and hazing near Yellowstone and expand a testing program to gauge which herds are badly infected.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Possible gray wolf seen on northern NM ranch
A possible gray wolf has been sighted on a ranch in northern New Mexico, raising the prospect that wolves may have migrated into the state from the Northern Rockies where they were reintroduced more than a decade ago.
There's been no confirmed gray wolf in the wild in New Mexico since the animals were exterminated from the state in the early and mid-1900s.
The animal was seen several times and photographed on Vermejo Park Ranch, which is owned by media mogul Ted Turner. It was first spotted about a month ago, but government biologists have not been able to capture the animal to obtain genetic material to confirm whether it's a wolf.
“We don't know what it is. It looks like a gray wolf. It looks like a big black gray wolf. Where did it come from? We don't know,” Mike Phillips, executive director of the Turner Endangered Species Fund in Bozeman, Mont., said Monday in a telephone interview.
“It's not a coyote. It doesn't mean it's not a socialized gray wolf that somebody let go and it just wandered around and ended up in Vermejo. And it doesn't mean it's not a gray wolf that came out of the northern Rockies.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been reintroducing the Mexican gray wolf, a subspecies of the larger gray wolf, in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona.
But the markings on the animal seen on Turner's ranch were not that of a Mexican gray wolf, according to Elizabeth Slown, a spokesman for the agency in Albuquerque.
Slown said the agency took the sighting seriously enough to send one of its wolf biologists from Arizona to the ranch last week. Traps were put out but nothing was caught. The New Mexico Game and Fish Department also participated.
“Our biologists have seen photos, but they haven't seen the animal,” said Slown.
Game and Fish spokesman Marty Frentzel said the government agencies hoped to capture the animal on the ranch, attach a radio collar and then track it. A gray wolf in New Mexico would be protected by the federal Endangered Species Act.
Turner's ranch covers more than 900 square miles near the New Mexico-Colorado border and offers prime habitat for a wolf – large populations of elk and deer along with diverse ecosystems ranging from forests and nearly 13,000-foot peaks along the ranch's western flank to prairie along its southern and eastern borders.
Phillips said he's confident the animal isn't a coyote because it's not gray and tawny, but biologists and ranch workers have not found any scat that's confirmed from the animal.
“The mystery may never be solved,” said Phillips.
Phillips knows wolves. He worked on reintroducing the gray wolf in Yellowstone National Park in the mid-1990s before joining Turner's organization.
Because the animal is black, he said, “that just significantly reduces the odds that it's anything but a wolf or wolf-dog hybrid or a socialized wolf.”
Wolves have thrived in the northern Rockies – Idaho, Montana and Wyoming – since their reintroduction. The federal government earlier this year removed wolves in that region from the endangered species list. That allows Idaho, Wyoming and Montana to manage wolves and the states are planning public hunts.
Phillips said wolves can travel great distances. Although they typically move in packs, it's not uncommon for lone animals to explore new territory, he said.
In 2004, a dead wolf was found in Colorado along Interstate 70 west of Denver and its radio collar showed that it was from Yellowstone National Park.
“Northern New Mexico and southwestern Colorado is a motherlode for gray wolves,” said Phillips, because of its terrain, big tracts of public and private lands and plentiful elk and deer.
A possible gray wolf has been sighted on a ranch in northern New Mexico, raising the prospect that wolves may have migrated into the state from the Northern Rockies where they were reintroduced more than a decade ago.
There's been no confirmed gray wolf in the wild in New Mexico since the animals were exterminated from the state in the early and mid-1900s.
The animal was seen several times and photographed on Vermejo Park Ranch, which is owned by media mogul Ted Turner. It was first spotted about a month ago, but government biologists have not been able to capture the animal to obtain genetic material to confirm whether it's a wolf.
“We don't know what it is. It looks like a gray wolf. It looks like a big black gray wolf. Where did it come from? We don't know,” Mike Phillips, executive director of the Turner Endangered Species Fund in Bozeman, Mont., said Monday in a telephone interview.
“It's not a coyote. It doesn't mean it's not a socialized gray wolf that somebody let go and it just wandered around and ended up in Vermejo. And it doesn't mean it's not a gray wolf that came out of the northern Rockies.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been reintroducing the Mexican gray wolf, a subspecies of the larger gray wolf, in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona.
But the markings on the animal seen on Turner's ranch were not that of a Mexican gray wolf, according to Elizabeth Slown, a spokesman for the agency in Albuquerque.
Slown said the agency took the sighting seriously enough to send one of its wolf biologists from Arizona to the ranch last week. Traps were put out but nothing was caught. The New Mexico Game and Fish Department also participated.
“Our biologists have seen photos, but they haven't seen the animal,” said Slown.
Game and Fish spokesman Marty Frentzel said the government agencies hoped to capture the animal on the ranch, attach a radio collar and then track it. A gray wolf in New Mexico would be protected by the federal Endangered Species Act.
Turner's ranch covers more than 900 square miles near the New Mexico-Colorado border and offers prime habitat for a wolf – large populations of elk and deer along with diverse ecosystems ranging from forests and nearly 13,000-foot peaks along the ranch's western flank to prairie along its southern and eastern borders.
Phillips said he's confident the animal isn't a coyote because it's not gray and tawny, but biologists and ranch workers have not found any scat that's confirmed from the animal.
“The mystery may never be solved,” said Phillips.
Phillips knows wolves. He worked on reintroducing the gray wolf in Yellowstone National Park in the mid-1990s before joining Turner's organization.
Because the animal is black, he said, “that just significantly reduces the odds that it's anything but a wolf or wolf-dog hybrid or a socialized wolf.”
Wolves have thrived in the northern Rockies – Idaho, Montana and Wyoming – since their reintroduction. The federal government earlier this year removed wolves in that region from the endangered species list. That allows Idaho, Wyoming and Montana to manage wolves and the states are planning public hunts.
Phillips said wolves can travel great distances. Although they typically move in packs, it's not uncommon for lone animals to explore new territory, he said.
In 2004, a dead wolf was found in Colorado along Interstate 70 west of Denver and its radio collar showed that it was from Yellowstone National Park.
“Northern New Mexico and southwestern Colorado is a motherlode for gray wolves,” said Phillips, because of its terrain, big tracts of public and private lands and plentiful elk and deer.
SECOND MOUNTAIN LION CAPTURED NEAR PINOS ALTOS
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, JULY 1, 2008:
PINOS ALTOS, N.M. -- The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish and U.S.D.A. Wildlife Services captured and killed a second mountain lion Tuesday morning resulting from the search for the lion that killed a Pinos Altos man. The first lion was caught and killed June 24 and may have been the one that killed and partially ate 55-year-old Robert Nawojski June 17 or 18 near his Pinos Altos home.
"We knew from tracks that we had two lions in the area, and we wanted to be thorough," Department Conservation Officer Leon Redman said. He described the mountain lion killed Tuesday as a healthy 80- to 90-pound female. It was caught in a snare about a quarter-mile from the residential area in Pinos Altos. "We believe its tracks were seen in the Pinos Altos area," Redman said.
The lion was taken to the Veterinary Diagnostic Services laboratory in Albuquerque for a necropsy.
The capture of the second lion ended a search that began June 20 after Nawojski's body was found near a rock ledge about 60 yards from his home where he liked to frequent. Medical investigators later confirmed that Nawojski was killed and partially eaten by a mountain lion.
The lion captured June 24 was a healthy 138-pound male. A necropsy found two buckshot pellets in the lion's body, indicating it was the same lion wounded by a Department officer June 19 near Nawojski's home. A rabies test on the lion was negative.
Wildlife Services agents pulled all snares from the area Tuesday morning and called off searches with dogs.
To ensure public safety, snares were strategically placed on public land around Pinos Altos. Signs notifying the public of the snares were placed on area roads and trails and in public places. Unfortunately, the snares also caught a bear, a javelina and a horse.
A woman was thrown from her horse after it was caught in a snare. She and the horse received minor injuries. The bear was believed to be one that Department officers were trying to trap and relocate after reports it was a nuisance and safety hazard near the Bear Creek Cabins. The bear was feeding on a javelina caught in a snare when it became entangled in another snare. The bear was seriously injured by the snare and had to be euthanized.
OBSERVE FIRE RESTRICTIONS, BE BEAR AWARE THIS FOURTH OF JULY
SANTA FE -- As the July 4 holiday approaches, the Department of Game and Fish is reminding everyone that state Wildlife Areas observe fire restrictions that are in place in adjoining national forests, Bureau of Land Management and State Trust lands.
Fireworks are banned in all 97 Wildlife Areas that the Department either owns or leases around the state, including camping and recreation areas in Pecos Canyon.
Anglers, campers and hikers who use Wildlife Areas are urged to check restrictions before they travel, and to properly dispose of trash and to use "bear-aware" camping practices while in the outdoors. That includes keeping food and garbage securely stored, never storing food in tents, never cooking near where you sleep, and changing clothing before sleeping.
For more information about fire restrictions statewide, please visit the Public Lands Information Center website, www.publiclands.org/firenews/NM.php. Information about fire restrictions and being bear aware can be found on the Department website, www.wildlife.state.nm.us.
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, JULY 1, 2008:
PINOS ALTOS, N.M. -- The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish and U.S.D.A. Wildlife Services captured and killed a second mountain lion Tuesday morning resulting from the search for the lion that killed a Pinos Altos man. The first lion was caught and killed June 24 and may have been the one that killed and partially ate 55-year-old Robert Nawojski June 17 or 18 near his Pinos Altos home.
"We knew from tracks that we had two lions in the area, and we wanted to be thorough," Department Conservation Officer Leon Redman said. He described the mountain lion killed Tuesday as a healthy 80- to 90-pound female. It was caught in a snare about a quarter-mile from the residential area in Pinos Altos. "We believe its tracks were seen in the Pinos Altos area," Redman said.
The lion was taken to the Veterinary Diagnostic Services laboratory in Albuquerque for a necropsy.
The capture of the second lion ended a search that began June 20 after Nawojski's body was found near a rock ledge about 60 yards from his home where he liked to frequent. Medical investigators later confirmed that Nawojski was killed and partially eaten by a mountain lion.
The lion captured June 24 was a healthy 138-pound male. A necropsy found two buckshot pellets in the lion's body, indicating it was the same lion wounded by a Department officer June 19 near Nawojski's home. A rabies test on the lion was negative.
Wildlife Services agents pulled all snares from the area Tuesday morning and called off searches with dogs.
To ensure public safety, snares were strategically placed on public land around Pinos Altos. Signs notifying the public of the snares were placed on area roads and trails and in public places. Unfortunately, the snares also caught a bear, a javelina and a horse.
A woman was thrown from her horse after it was caught in a snare. She and the horse received minor injuries. The bear was believed to be one that Department officers were trying to trap and relocate after reports it was a nuisance and safety hazard near the Bear Creek Cabins. The bear was feeding on a javelina caught in a snare when it became entangled in another snare. The bear was seriously injured by the snare and had to be euthanized.
OBSERVE FIRE RESTRICTIONS, BE BEAR AWARE THIS FOURTH OF JULY
SANTA FE -- As the July 4 holiday approaches, the Department of Game and Fish is reminding everyone that state Wildlife Areas observe fire restrictions that are in place in adjoining national forests, Bureau of Land Management and State Trust lands.
Fireworks are banned in all 97 Wildlife Areas that the Department either owns or leases around the state, including camping and recreation areas in Pecos Canyon.
Anglers, campers and hikers who use Wildlife Areas are urged to check restrictions before they travel, and to properly dispose of trash and to use "bear-aware" camping practices while in the outdoors. That includes keeping food and garbage securely stored, never storing food in tents, never cooking near where you sleep, and changing clothing before sleeping.
For more information about fire restrictions statewide, please visit the Public Lands Information Center website, www.publiclands.org/firenews/NM.php. Information about fire restrictions and being bear aware can be found on the Department website, www.wildlife.state.nm.us.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
WOUNDED MOUNTAIN LION CAPTURED, KILLED NEAR PINOS ALTOS
New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
Media contact: Dan Williams, (505) 476-8004
Public contact: (505) 476-8000
dan.williams@state.nm.us
PINOS ALTOS -- A mountain lion that may have killed a Pinos Altos man was captured in a snare and killed Wednesday morning.
The lion was an average-sized adult male weighing approximately 125 pounds. It had four bullet holes in it that appeared to be from buckshot. A Department of Game and Fish officer had shot and wounded a lion with buckshot June 19 near the home of 55-year-old Robert Nawojski.
Nawojski was killed by a mountain lion June 17 or 18 near his small mobile home in a wooded area of Pinos Altos north of Silver City. His partially eaten and buried body was found June 20 near a rock ledge about 60 yards from his home where he liked to bathe and shave.
The lion was caught in a U.S.D.A. Wildlife Services snare about a half-mile from the rock ledge where Nawojski was believed to have been attacked. The lion was killed and its body will be taken to the New Mexico State Police Crime Lab for a necropsy.
Wildlife Services agents and Department of Game and Fish officers with hounds were still searching for a second lion reported to be in the area. "But we're confident the lion we caught last night was the one wounded by our officer Friday night," Department Officer Leon Redman said.
New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
Media contact: Dan Williams, (505) 476-8004
Public contact: (505) 476-8000
dan.williams@state.nm.us
PINOS ALTOS -- A mountain lion that may have killed a Pinos Altos man was captured in a snare and killed Wednesday morning.
The lion was an average-sized adult male weighing approximately 125 pounds. It had four bullet holes in it that appeared to be from buckshot. A Department of Game and Fish officer had shot and wounded a lion with buckshot June 19 near the home of 55-year-old Robert Nawojski.
Nawojski was killed by a mountain lion June 17 or 18 near his small mobile home in a wooded area of Pinos Altos north of Silver City. His partially eaten and buried body was found June 20 near a rock ledge about 60 yards from his home where he liked to bathe and shave.
The lion was caught in a U.S.D.A. Wildlife Services snare about a half-mile from the rock ledge where Nawojski was believed to have been attacked. The lion was killed and its body will be taken to the New Mexico State Police Crime Lab for a necropsy.
Wildlife Services agents and Department of Game and Fish officers with hounds were still searching for a second lion reported to be in the area. "But we're confident the lion we caught last night was the one wounded by our officer Friday night," Department Officer Leon Redman said.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
SEARCH CONTINUES FOR LION THAT KILLED PINOS ALTOS MAN
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, JUNE 23, 2008:
PINOS ALTOS, N.M. -- New Mexico Department of Game and Fish officers and U.S.D.A. Wildlife Services agents used dogs and snares this week in a continuing effort to find or catch a mountain lion that killed and apparently ate parts of a Pinos Altos man last week.
Medical investigators confirmed Monday that Robert Nawojski, 55, died from injuries sustained in a mountain lion attack near his home in a wooded area of Pinos Altos north of Silver City. Nawojski, who lived alone in a small mobile home, was believed to have been attacked by the lion late Tuesday or early Wednesday last week. Searchers found his body June 20, a day after his brother reported him missing.
It was determined that Nawojski, who according to relatives like to bathe and shave on a rock ledge about 60 yards from his house, was attacked just below that ledge. The lion then apparently dragged the body a short distance, and then ate and buried parts of it.
A Department of Game and Fish officer initially was called to the scene Thursday night when a search team looking for Nawojski found a mountain lion near the trailer home. The officer shot and wounded the lion after it would not leave the yard. After the lion ran off, the officer discovered the door to the house open, the water running, and Nawojski's false teeth on the table.
Rick Winslow, the Department's large carnivore biologist, said fatal attacks on humans by mountain lions are tragic and very uncommon. It has been decades since one occurred in New Mexico. He said such attacks typically are by young, hungry animals looking to establish their own territory.
"Attacks by wildlife may become more frequent as our growing population expands into the urban-wildland interface," Winslow said. "New Mexico has a healthy population of mountain lions and people who live around them must learn to take precautions and avoid dangerous encounters."
Nawojski became only the second human fatality involving a mountain lion attack in recent New Mexico history. In January 1974, an 8-year-old boy from Arroyo Seco was killed by an emaciated 47-pound female lion. The boy and his 7-year-old half brother were playing about a half-mile from their home when they were attacked by the lion. The lion was later killed by a neighbor.
Winslow estimated there are 2,000 to 3,000 mountain lions in New Mexico, including a population in the Silver City - Pinos Altos area.
If you live in lion country
Here are some tips to protect yourself, your family and pets:
• Watch the kids: Closely supervise children and make sure they are home before dusk and not outside before dawn.
• No hiding places: Trim or remove vegetation around the house, and close off open spaces beneath porches and decks so lions won't have places to hide.
• Lighting: Install outdoor lighting so you can see a lion if one is present.
• No prey: Don't feed wildlife, especially deer, which are lions' favorite prey.
If you encounter a lion:
• Don’t run! If you come across a bear or a lion, stay calm and slowly back away while continuing to face the animal and avoiding direct eye contact. Pick up small children so they don’t panic and run, which can trigger the animals’ instinct to chase.
• Travel in groups: There is strength in numbers, and most bears and lions will respect that and leave the area.
• Make yourself big: Hold out your arms and spread your jacket so the bear or lion doesn’t consider you its prey. Don’t kneel or bend over, which could trigger an attack.
• Back away: If the animal has not seen you, slowly back away while making noise so it knows you are there. If it still approaches, stand tall, yell, rattle pots and pans or whistle. If you are on a trail, step off on the downhill side and give the animal room to pass.
• Don’t mess with mama: Never, ever, get between a mother and her cubs or kittens.
• Never offer food: Offering food to a bear is inviting it to stick around. When it’s done with your friendly offering, it may consider having you for dessert.
• If you are attacked: Fight back aggressively, using anything you can reach as a weapon. Do not play dead.
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, JUNE 23, 2008:
PINOS ALTOS, N.M. -- New Mexico Department of Game and Fish officers and U.S.D.A. Wildlife Services agents used dogs and snares this week in a continuing effort to find or catch a mountain lion that killed and apparently ate parts of a Pinos Altos man last week.
Medical investigators confirmed Monday that Robert Nawojski, 55, died from injuries sustained in a mountain lion attack near his home in a wooded area of Pinos Altos north of Silver City. Nawojski, who lived alone in a small mobile home, was believed to have been attacked by the lion late Tuesday or early Wednesday last week. Searchers found his body June 20, a day after his brother reported him missing.
It was determined that Nawojski, who according to relatives like to bathe and shave on a rock ledge about 60 yards from his house, was attacked just below that ledge. The lion then apparently dragged the body a short distance, and then ate and buried parts of it.
A Department of Game and Fish officer initially was called to the scene Thursday night when a search team looking for Nawojski found a mountain lion near the trailer home. The officer shot and wounded the lion after it would not leave the yard. After the lion ran off, the officer discovered the door to the house open, the water running, and Nawojski's false teeth on the table.
Rick Winslow, the Department's large carnivore biologist, said fatal attacks on humans by mountain lions are tragic and very uncommon. It has been decades since one occurred in New Mexico. He said such attacks typically are by young, hungry animals looking to establish their own territory.
"Attacks by wildlife may become more frequent as our growing population expands into the urban-wildland interface," Winslow said. "New Mexico has a healthy population of mountain lions and people who live around them must learn to take precautions and avoid dangerous encounters."
Nawojski became only the second human fatality involving a mountain lion attack in recent New Mexico history. In January 1974, an 8-year-old boy from Arroyo Seco was killed by an emaciated 47-pound female lion. The boy and his 7-year-old half brother were playing about a half-mile from their home when they were attacked by the lion. The lion was later killed by a neighbor.
Winslow estimated there are 2,000 to 3,000 mountain lions in New Mexico, including a population in the Silver City - Pinos Altos area.
If you live in lion country
Here are some tips to protect yourself, your family and pets:
• Watch the kids: Closely supervise children and make sure they are home before dusk and not outside before dawn.
• No hiding places: Trim or remove vegetation around the house, and close off open spaces beneath porches and decks so lions won't have places to hide.
• Lighting: Install outdoor lighting so you can see a lion if one is present.
• No prey: Don't feed wildlife, especially deer, which are lions' favorite prey.
If you encounter a lion:
• Don’t run! If you come across a bear or a lion, stay calm and slowly back away while continuing to face the animal and avoiding direct eye contact. Pick up small children so they don’t panic and run, which can trigger the animals’ instinct to chase.
• Travel in groups: There is strength in numbers, and most bears and lions will respect that and leave the area.
• Make yourself big: Hold out your arms and spread your jacket so the bear or lion doesn’t consider you its prey. Don’t kneel or bend over, which could trigger an attack.
• Back away: If the animal has not seen you, slowly back away while making noise so it knows you are there. If it still approaches, stand tall, yell, rattle pots and pans or whistle. If you are on a trail, step off on the downhill side and give the animal room to pass.
• Don’t mess with mama: Never, ever, get between a mother and her cubs or kittens.
• Never offer food: Offering food to a bear is inviting it to stick around. When it’s done with your friendly offering, it may consider having you for dessert.
• If you are attacked: Fight back aggressively, using anything you can reach as a weapon. Do not play dead.
GAME-PARK OWNER PLEADS GUILTY IN ELK, BIGHORN THEFT CASE
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, JUNE 23, 2008:
Kirt DarnerGRANTS -- A former outfitter and owner of a private elk hunting park faces penalties of more than 4 1/2 years in jail and a minimum of $10,000 in fines and restitution after pleading guilty Monday to illegally transporting wild elk and receiving stolen bighorn sheep heads.
"We will continue to aggressively prosecute these types of serious crimes against our wildlife and communities," Cibola County District Attorney Lemuel Martinez said. "We will not tolerate anyone trying to illegally profit from wildlife that is owned by the citizens of New Mexico."
Kirt Darner, 69, also agreed never to hunt, fish or possess a firearm in his lifetime, and never again to operate as a guide or outfitter in New Mexico or Colorado. Cibola District Court Judge Camille M. Olguin accepted the plea agreement Monday. Sentencing will be at a later date. His wife, Paula D. Darner, 51, faces related charges.
Darner, a nationally known big-game hunter and guide, and Paula Darner were co-owners of the 40-acre Lobo Canyon Ranch north of Grants when they were indicted on multiple charges related to the possession of two trophy bighorn sheep heads and the illegal transport of stolen live elk. The Darners were accused of illegally moving three state-owned elk from the Lobo Canyon Ranch to the Pancho Peaks ranch and game park in southeastern New Mexico in 2005. Kirt Darner was paid $5,000 for each elk.
Department of Game and Fish officers who executed a search warrant at the Darner property in 2005 discovered a desert bighorn sheep head and a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep head inside a vehicle. Further examination of the heads indicated they were stolen from a Montrose, Colo., taxidermy shop in 2000. The Colorado Division of Wildlife had offered a $4,000 reward for information about the sheep-head thefts.
The investigation involved close cooperation among the 13th Judicial District Attorney's Office, the Colorado Division of Wildlife and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.
The Darners currently live in Crawford, Colo.
If you have information about a wildlife crime, please call Operation Game Thief toll-free, (800) 432-4263. You can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward in information leads to charges being filed.
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, JUNE 23, 2008:
Kirt DarnerGRANTS -- A former outfitter and owner of a private elk hunting park faces penalties of more than 4 1/2 years in jail and a minimum of $10,000 in fines and restitution after pleading guilty Monday to illegally transporting wild elk and receiving stolen bighorn sheep heads.
"We will continue to aggressively prosecute these types of serious crimes against our wildlife and communities," Cibola County District Attorney Lemuel Martinez said. "We will not tolerate anyone trying to illegally profit from wildlife that is owned by the citizens of New Mexico."
Kirt Darner, 69, also agreed never to hunt, fish or possess a firearm in his lifetime, and never again to operate as a guide or outfitter in New Mexico or Colorado. Cibola District Court Judge Camille M. Olguin accepted the plea agreement Monday. Sentencing will be at a later date. His wife, Paula D. Darner, 51, faces related charges.
Darner, a nationally known big-game hunter and guide, and Paula Darner were co-owners of the 40-acre Lobo Canyon Ranch north of Grants when they were indicted on multiple charges related to the possession of two trophy bighorn sheep heads and the illegal transport of stolen live elk. The Darners were accused of illegally moving three state-owned elk from the Lobo Canyon Ranch to the Pancho Peaks ranch and game park in southeastern New Mexico in 2005. Kirt Darner was paid $5,000 for each elk.
Department of Game and Fish officers who executed a search warrant at the Darner property in 2005 discovered a desert bighorn sheep head and a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep head inside a vehicle. Further examination of the heads indicated they were stolen from a Montrose, Colo., taxidermy shop in 2000. The Colorado Division of Wildlife had offered a $4,000 reward for information about the sheep-head thefts.
The investigation involved close cooperation among the 13th Judicial District Attorney's Office, the Colorado Division of Wildlife and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.
The Darners currently live in Crawford, Colo.
If you have information about a wildlife crime, please call Operation Game Thief toll-free, (800) 432-4263. You can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward in information leads to charges being filed.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
NM Game Chief: No Contest In Hunting Charges
State Department of Game and Fish director Bruce Thompson pleaded no contest Friday to a combined charge of unlawful hunting and illegal possession in connection with a Lincoln County deer hunting incident last year.
Thompson was fined $500 and sentenced to 182 days of unsupervised probation.
Thompson, who earlier had pleaded not guilty, changed his plea Friday just hours before a scheduled bench trial with 12th Judicial District Division III Judge Karen Parsons in Carrizozo, District Attorney Scot Key said.
Thompson told the Journal he opted for the no-contest plea "to get this entire matter resolved in a way that would take the least amount of time and additional work for all people involved."
Thompson originally faced two charges in connection with the November deer hunting incident: a charge in magistrate court for shooting a deer on private land without the owner's permission; and a charge in state District Court of illegal hunting/illegal possession. He received separate sentences from the two courts.
The sentence from Parsons on Friday was identical to a sentence Thompson received from Lincoln County Magistrate Martha Proctor on Feb. 18.
The two 182-day probation periods will run concurrently, Key said, which means his probation could end in August.
Although both charges stem from a single hunting incident, Key refiled the unlawful hunting/possession charge in District Court in January, citing a need to have the case heard in a court of record.
The charges stemmed from a Nov. 17 hunt in Lincoln County during which Thompson, who had a valid deer hunting license, shot a deer on the privately owned Diamond T Ranch.
It is illegal to hunt on private property in New Mexico without written permission from the landowner, and Thompson had not received permission to hunt on the Diamond T.
A hunting guide employed by Diamond T Ranch saw Thompson with a dead deer on ranch land that day and notified the ranch owner, who reported the incident to a Game and Fish official.
Thompson issued a news release Nov. 21 saying he used a wrong Global Positioning System coordinate during his hunt and, instead of being on public land, unwittingly wound up on the Diamond T.
Thompson has been director of the department since March 2003 when he was hired by the governor-appointed state Game Commission.
State Department of Game and Fish director Bruce Thompson pleaded no contest Friday to a combined charge of unlawful hunting and illegal possession in connection with a Lincoln County deer hunting incident last year.
Thompson was fined $500 and sentenced to 182 days of unsupervised probation.
Thompson, who earlier had pleaded not guilty, changed his plea Friday just hours before a scheduled bench trial with 12th Judicial District Division III Judge Karen Parsons in Carrizozo, District Attorney Scot Key said.
Thompson told the Journal he opted for the no-contest plea "to get this entire matter resolved in a way that would take the least amount of time and additional work for all people involved."
Thompson originally faced two charges in connection with the November deer hunting incident: a charge in magistrate court for shooting a deer on private land without the owner's permission; and a charge in state District Court of illegal hunting/illegal possession. He received separate sentences from the two courts.
The sentence from Parsons on Friday was identical to a sentence Thompson received from Lincoln County Magistrate Martha Proctor on Feb. 18.
The two 182-day probation periods will run concurrently, Key said, which means his probation could end in August.
Although both charges stem from a single hunting incident, Key refiled the unlawful hunting/possession charge in District Court in January, citing a need to have the case heard in a court of record.
The charges stemmed from a Nov. 17 hunt in Lincoln County during which Thompson, who had a valid deer hunting license, shot a deer on the privately owned Diamond T Ranch.
It is illegal to hunt on private property in New Mexico without written permission from the landowner, and Thompson had not received permission to hunt on the Diamond T.
A hunting guide employed by Diamond T Ranch saw Thompson with a dead deer on ranch land that day and notified the ranch owner, who reported the incident to a Game and Fish official.
Thompson issued a news release Nov. 21 saying he used a wrong Global Positioning System coordinate during his hunt and, instead of being on public land, unwittingly wound up on the Diamond T.
Thompson has been director of the department since March 2003 when he was hired by the governor-appointed state Game Commission.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Rewards for northeastern New Mexico deer poachers exceed $2,000
Rewards of more than $2,000 are being offered for information about the wasteful killing of five deer earlier this month off NM 120 near Yates, a small community in Harding County southwest of Clayton in northeastern New Mexico.
Department of Game and Fish officers found the deer off NM 120 near mile markers 97 and 91. The deer were left along the highway and were unsalvageable when officers arrived. Officers believe the deer were shot with the aid of artificial light between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. on or about June 1.
Area law enforcement officers also are looking for those responsible for shooting numerous mailboxes and signs on NM 120 near mile marker 116 in Union County in late April or early May.
The Department of Game and Fish is offering $1,200 through Operation Game Thief for information leading to charges being filed against those responsible for shooting the deer. Union County Crimestoppers is contributing $500 to the reward. Area ranchers also have pitched in to increase the total reward to more than $2,000.
Anyone with information about these crimes is urged to call Operation Game Thief toll-free at (800) 432-4263, or Union County Crimestoppers at (575) 374-9667. Callers can remain anonymous.
Rewards of more than $2,000 are being offered for information about the wasteful killing of five deer earlier this month off NM 120 near Yates, a small community in Harding County southwest of Clayton in northeastern New Mexico.
Department of Game and Fish officers found the deer off NM 120 near mile markers 97 and 91. The deer were left along the highway and were unsalvageable when officers arrived. Officers believe the deer were shot with the aid of artificial light between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. on or about June 1.
Area law enforcement officers also are looking for those responsible for shooting numerous mailboxes and signs on NM 120 near mile marker 116 in Union County in late April or early May.
The Department of Game and Fish is offering $1,200 through Operation Game Thief for information leading to charges being filed against those responsible for shooting the deer. Union County Crimestoppers is contributing $500 to the reward. Area ranchers also have pitched in to increase the total reward to more than $2,000.
Anyone with information about these crimes is urged to call Operation Game Thief toll-free at (800) 432-4263, or Union County Crimestoppers at (575) 374-9667. Callers can remain anonymous.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
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