New Mexico Wildlife magazine Conserving New Mexico's Wildlife for Future Generations
When beavers, previously thought to be a nuisance species, were eliminated from the Edward Sargent Wildlife Management Area, located north of Chama in Rio Arriba County, it had a widespread effect on the entire ecosystem. Without their dams causing streams to pool, surrounding wetland areas began to dry up, creating …
July, 2021
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6 July
Fires can benefit wildlife habitat: New growth can create better, more diverse food sources
At first glance, wildfires may appear to be dangerous and destructive, but that isn’t always the case. In fact, what would appear to be devastating to the forest, and the wildlife that call it home, is often quite beneficial and even necessary for the long-term survival of flora and fauna …
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6 July
Help Be Part of the Solution to Invasive Species, Not the Cause
It’s that time of year again. The birds are calling, the sun is warming our hemisphere, the trees are turning green, the smell of cut grass is in the air and the thoughts of fishing, lake trips, hikes and BBQs all play in our heads. It’s as if nature is …
December, 2020
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30 December
Ephemeral waters: Department partners with conservation organization to restore critical habitat
A slice of the Great Plains passes through eastern New Mexico, crosses the town of Raton a few miles south of Colorado, then bows west to Las Vegas. Where the elevation begins increasing at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the edge of the Plains draws back and follows the …
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30 December
Backcrossing to the Future: Genetic Intervention for Gila Trout
In the summer of 2018, a pair of fish biologists and a pair of horse packers embarked on an arduous 13-hour trek through a remote section of the 3.3 million-acre Gila National Forest in southwestern New Mexico, not far from the Arizona border. “We rode mules the first five or …
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30 December
A fishy community focused on the long game
Fishing, especially fly-fishing, is often a solo activity. Even if you travel to a fishing site with a group of people, you park, grab your equipment and everyone quickly breaks off heading in their own direction. A day on the water can be peaceful, you can hear the birds chirping …
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30 December
Fire as a management tool: Agencies and private landowners collaborate to provide benefit to prairie grasslands
Fire. A word that when usually heard can lend itself to panic and alarm, and rightfully so in the setting of a cityscape or catastrophic wildfire. But for a moment, let’s stop to speculate: is fire always a bad thing? In regards to wildlife and habitat, fire has been a …
July, 2020
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29 July
Returning Rio Grande cutthroat trout to New Mexico’s waters
Have you ever wondered why Rio Grande cutthroat trout conservation is important? Rio Grande cutthroat trout are not only New Mexico’s state fish, they are also native only to northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. The presence and abundance of native trout on the landscape helps maintain a healthy and …
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29 July
More about Rio Grande cutthroat trout
A Q&A with Tucker Brauer, Rio Grande cutthroat biologist In an interview with New Mexico Wildlife, Tucker Brauer, Rio Grande cutthroat biologist with the Department of Game and Fish, talked about the reintroduction of this important species to our state. Brauer, who is originally from Idaho, received an associate’s degree …
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29 July
Trout in a Tote
Have you ever seen trout swimming in a backpack? It sounds odd but on a recent trip with the Department’s Rio Grande cutthroat trout biologist, Tucker Brauer, that’s exactly what I saw – several hundred cutthroat trout swimming in dozens of backpacks. It’s a stocking technique utilized by fisheries biologists …