Karl Moffatt

Karl Moffatt was the Department Spokesperson for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.

April, 2017

  • 13 April

    Restoration of Gila trout

    Laurence D'Alessandro, coldwater fisheries biologist, displays a Gila trout during a recent survey conducted at Willow Creek in the Gila National Forest. Cover: NMDGF photo by Jill Wick, New Mexico Wildlife magazine Spring 2017 Vol60, Num1, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.

    Restoration of Gila trout opens door for anglers It’s been five years since two massive wildfires roared through the Gila Wilderness and surrounding national forest, destroying years of painstaking native trout restoration work. “I was interviewing for this job while everything was burning up,” said Jill Wick, Gila trout biologist …

  • 13 April

    Mimbres River restoration

    Listed as threatened in 1983, the Chihuahua chub is native to the Mimbres River in New Mexico. Adults are dark on both the head and snout. NMDGF photo, New Mexico Wildlife magazine Spring 2017 Vol60, Num1, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.

    Restoration on Mimbres River expected to help threatened chub The Mimbres River is the only place in the country the threatened Chihuahua chub calls home, and New Mexico Department of Game and Fish biologists are working to make sure they’ll always feel that way. Department personnel recently completed almost $500,000 worth …

  • 13 April

    Rio de los Pinos

    The scenic Rio de Los Pinos Wildlife Management Area, top, in northern New Mexico boasts impressive scenery in a quiet, remote location. NMDGF photos by Karl Moffatt, New Mexico Wildlife magazine Spring 2017 Vol60, Num1, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.

    Improved aquatic habitat expected to improve angling at Rio de los Pinos For years, the remote New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Rio de los Pinos Wildlife Management Area was best known among anglers for its solitude and scenery, not the fishing. That could change now that the department has …

October, 2016

  • 28 October

    Finding elk calves

    An elk calf lies still after researchers attached an ear transmitter. Calf survival has been low in the Mount Taylor area and researchers are trying to understand the reason. In the event of a death, researchers can respond to the scene quickly to identify the cause. Photo by Katelyn Shanor, New Mexico Wildlife magazine, NMDGF.

    As dawn broke over Chivato Mesa, a group of New Mexico Department of Game and Fish biologists, conservation officers and volunteers fanned out in search of calving elk. They climbed hilltops and used binoculars and spotting scopes to scan the vast meadows and clusters of scrub oak that dot the …

March, 2016

  • 1 March

    Catchable-size bargains

    Eric Frey, sportfish program manager and recipient of the Director’s 2015 Wildlife Conservation Professional of the Year Award, holds a rainbow trout prior to release in Eagle Rock Lake. New Mexico Wildlife magazine, NMDGF.

    Eric Frey of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish slipped a big trout into the emerald green waters of Eagle Rock Lake and grinned as only an angler can. “Just look at this beauty,” said the department’s sport fisheries manager as he released the 18-inch rainbow. “ Somebody’s …

  • 1 March

    Eagle Rock Lake

    Eagle Rock Lake and the Red River near Questa have undergone renovations town officials believe will help boost an economy impacted by the closure of the longtime Chevron molybdenum mine. The town is in an area that provides some of the best outdoor recreation in the state and officials hope to capitalize on outdoor recreation activities, including fishing. New Mexico Wildlife magazine, NMDGF

    Following the loss of a mine that sustained the Questa, New Mexico economy for years, the small village needed to look in a new direction. As it turned out, a quick peek outside a window provided a potential solution: outdoor recreation. That transition recently received a boost as the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish partnered with Chevron …

  • 1 March

    Brantley Lake

    Anglers who have abandoned Brantley Lake as a prime fishing destination may want to reconsider in 2016. New Mexico Wildlife magazine, NMDGF

    Anglers who have abandoned Brantley Lake as a prime fishing destination may want to reconsider in 2016. Following recent improvements, the lake is shaping up as a hot spot for catfish and bass this spring. “Conditions haven’t been this good in years,” said Shawn Denny, warm water fisheries biologist with …

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