Conservation
Twenty-one New Mexico Trout members turned out on Saturday morning, April 9, 2016 for our annual trash cleanup along FR 376 above the Gilman Tunnels. That road parallels the Rio Guadalupe, which is our home water and one of the best brown trout fisheries in New Mexico. FR 376 is also the most heavily traveled of all the roads on the Santa Fe National Forest and it receives about 100,000 visitors in a typical season. Unfortunately, all those visitors leave a lot of trash over the course of a year. Doing these annual cleanups is one way we can express ... Read More
May 1, 2016
The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) has provided funding to help protect some of New Mexico's special places through the acquisition of land and conservation easements to protect national parks, wildlife refuges, forests, trails, and BLM sites, support for local and state park needs, protection of critical wildlife habitat, watersheds and recreational access, and conservation of working farms, ranches and forestlands that enhance local economies. The LWCF is funded at no cost to the taxpayers from a portion of the revenues from offshore oil and gas drilling. Congressional authorization for the LWCF lapsed at the end of September due ... Read More
March 4, 2016
Ron Loehman, Conservation Chairman Our conservation projects on public lands require permission from and collaboration with the responsible land management agency. Consequently, project schedules and locations sometimes change because of changing agency priorities or other constraints. Most of our projects are on the Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF). Typically, we work with them early in the year to decide on a list of mutually-acceptable projects and dates. Most of the time the projects are held as scheduled. When there are changes we will notify the membership through Constant Contact e-mailings and with notices posted on our website. There are ... Read More
March 4, 2016
Ron Loehman, Conservation Chair In January 2016, the Santa Fe National Forest issued a draft Environmental Analysis for the New Mexico Jumping Mouse Critical Habitat Protection Project. The closure addresses the endangered species listing for the NM Meadow Jumping Mouse (NMMJM). This closure applies to all users, including anglers and birdwatchers. Critical habitat for the jumping mouse includes what once was the best brown trout fishery in the state. The stream has made a remarkable recovery since cattle were excluded in mid-2014. Complete closure penalizes anglers and other non-consumptive users for damage caused by cattle New Mexico Trout's analysis of ... Read More
March 4, 2016
Ron Loehman, Conservation Chairman Last May, NMT volunteers participated in a riparian restoration workshop conducted by Bill Zeedyk on private land along the Rio Cebolla about two miles downstream from Fenton Lake. Bill is famous for his Induced Meandering technique that has been successfully applied on many stream restoration projects. Bill identified two degraded sections along the stream that were candidates for demonstrating several of his restoration techniques. One spot was a meander that had a high bank being eroded into the stream, accompanied by the deposit of a large amount of sediment. Bill and the team installed a ... Read More
March 4, 2016
On February 10, 2016, New Mexico Trout submitted a comment on the Santa Fe National Forest's proposal to protect endangered New Mexico Jumping Mouse habitat on the Rio Cebolla in the Jemez mountains. While agreeing with most of the findings and plans, the comments address two areas of disaccord:
- There is no science-based reason to exclude non-consumptive, dispersed recreational users from the site, when cattle are responsible for the habitat degradation.
- The proposed quarter-mile gap between two exclosures (to allow cattle access to the Rio Cebolla) will result in habitat fragmentation and adversely affect stream quality and downstream recreation uses.
February 11, 2016
In January 2016, the Santa Fe National Forest issued Environmental Analysis for the New Mexico Jumping Mouse Critical Habitat Protection Project. The closure addresses the endangered species listing for the NM Meadow Jumping Mouse (NMMJM). This closure applies to all uses – grazing, fishing, hunting, hiking, camping, birdwatching. New Mexico Trout's analysis of the plan is summarized below:
- The NMMJM is endangered because cattle grazing in riparian areas has destroyed its habitat.
- Recreational uses – such as angling, birdwatching and nature photography – have not caused this habitat loss.
- The is no scientific justification for locking out non-consumptive recreational users.
February 5, 2016
The Gila River is New Mexico's last free flowing river, let's keep it that way! Here is a video of Dutch Salmon from the New Mexico Wildlife Federation ... Read More
February 1, 2016