Wildlife & Habitat Conservation

October, 2016

  • 28 October

    Positive forecast for elk

    Strong precipitation in the winter of 2014 and a good monsoon season last year helped produce an abundance of forage, which has been beneficial to the elk population and the overall health of herds around New Mexico. Photo by Dan Williams, New Mexico Wildlife magazine, NMDGF.

    When habitat conditions are strong, wildlife tend to flourish and the overriding factor is precipitation. Adequate rainfall and snow in 2014-15 produced an abundance of available forage, resulting in healthy elk herds throughout most of New Mexico. “We had a prolific monsoon season in 2015, which created an abundance of …

  • 28 October

    Geese numbers dangerously high

    Habitat and birds suffer as light geese numbers rise. Photo by Dan Williams, New Mexico Wildlife magazine, NMDGF

    Mid-continent populations of light geese are currently at levels never before recorded. They have surpassed critical mass and efforts to stem their growth over the last 20 years has been ineffective. “It’s a difficult concept to explain,” said Casey Cardinal, turkey and upland game biologist with the New Mexico Department …

  • 28 October

    Bear population study

    Determining an accurate minimum population of bears has been difficult, but understanding bear behavior and using modern technology make it possible. Photo by Dan Williams, New Mexico Wildlife magazine, NMDGF

    Finding a needle in a haystack might sound like a difficult, painstaking process, but it pales in comparison to estimating the number of bears on the landscape. Wildlife agencies across the nation face a notoriously difficult challenge trying to estimate bear populations, but new methods offer the ability to more …

  • 28 October

    It’s called hunting

    Seeing wildlife is always an exciting experience, but it can become frustrating when the animal a person is looking for can’t be found. While on a cow elk hunt, with the camera left behind, javelina, deer, and pronghorn antelope were all happy to make an appearance, but the elk remained elusive. Photo by Dan Williams. New Mexico Wildlife magazine, NMDGF.

    We’ve all been there. At least I hope we’ve all been there and I’m not sitting here alone with the memories of the feeblest hunting experience. As the saying goes: Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction. This is the category under which my personal hunting exploits would lie. It was …

August, 2016

  • 15 August

    Modern conservation

    Fencing can impede movement of some wildlife, including pronghorns. Although capable of jumping, pronghorns ring to go under fences. Pronghorn-friendly fences include an 18-inch gap from the ground to the first strand. Fencing without such modifications impedes pronghorn movement. Photo, New Mexico Wildlife magazine, NMDGF.

    The need for modern conservation efforts In the last 100 years, development has boomed, cities have grown and the connections people have with the outdoors has been replaced by the internet, shopping malls, movie theaters and home entertainment centers. The roadways we use, our homes, fences and our workplaces are …

  • 15 August

    Prairie dogs critical to many species

    Prairie dogs critical to many species. New Mexico Department of Game and Fish photo by Clint Henson, New Mexico Wildlife magazine, NMDGF.

    Call them what you will: varmints, rodents or pests, but there’s no denying the important role prairie dogs play in the wild. Research, partly funded by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Share with Wildlife program, is being led by Dr. Ana Davidson, a research assistant professor at …

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

    Stewart Lake cutthroat

    A conservation officer’s mule proved invaluable in getting the fish to the final destination at Stewart Lake. New Mexico Wildlife magazine, NMDGF

    Katherine’s loss was Stewart’s gain. No, that’s not the plot for a movie to appear in theaters soon, it’s the story of a wilderness adventure to stock Rio Grande cutthroat trout into highcountry lakes. Lake Katherine was the original Pecos Wilderness destination in October, but weather called for a change …

  • 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 …

February, 1962

  • 1 February

    New Mexico builds its hatcheries

    An early Hatchery Truck. Transporting fish was a difficult job at best in the twenties. Today (in 1962) one truck can move more fish in one day than could be moved in a month with this truck. New Mexico Wildlife, NMDGF

    New Mexico Wildlife (Jan/Feb 1962 Vol7 Num1) New Mexico 1912-1962 Golden Anniversary Issue By Roy E. Barker Chief, Fisheries Division The most popular Department of Game and Fish installations with the public are without a doubt the five trout hatcheries maintained by the Department. Every year thousands of visitors stop …

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