HOUSE MEMORIAL 114

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2015

INTRODUCED BY

Bealquin Bill Gomez

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF GAME AND FISH TO PROVIDE FOR BALANCE IN THE ELK POPULATION AND AVAILABLE FORAGE RESOURCES, TO CONFER WITH FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCIES AND LANDOWNERS ON ELK MANAGEMENT AND TO INCREASE LANDOWNER ELK HUNTING TAGS TO RANCHERS AND FARMERS EXPERIENCING ECONOMIC LOSSES TO CROPS AND RANGELAND.

     WHEREAS, there are approximately ninety-three thousand two hundred elk in New Mexico, according to the department of game and fish; and

     WHEREAS, the national weather service has recognized that the state has been in a serious, decades-long drought; and

     WHEREAS, to adjust to limited forage resources, New Mexico beef cattle producers have destocked their herds in New Mexico to three hundred eighty-seven thousand head, down from eight hundred twenty thousand in 2010, and sheep producers have reduced their flocks to eighty-five thousand head in 2014, down from one hundred twenty thousand in 2010; and

     WHEREAS, federal land management agencies have reduced stocking rates of livestock or even destocked New Mexico ranches on federal lands to protect range resources; and

     WHEREAS, the department of game and fish has allowed the state's elk herd to remain the same and even to increase during this same drought period; and

     WHEREAS, elk have overgrazed both public and private rangelands; and

     WHEREAS, elk have caused decimation to irrigated hay and pasture on private lands; and

     WHEREAS, serious automobile accidents occur when elk graze at night on highway rights of way, and those accidents have increased significantly; and

     WHEREAS, due to increased grazing by elk, normal rest or rotation grazing systems on federal and private ranches have been compromised, especially during drought; and

     WHEREAS, the issuance and sale of landowner elk hunting tags have not offset the damage and economic losses to ranches associated with reduced grazing, reduced stocking rates, transportation costs, fence repairs, alternative pasture rents, reduced weaning weights and the costs of hay and other feed supplements; and

     WHEREAS, those same damages and economic losses are exacerbated for small landowners, since most do not qualify for landowner elk hunting tags; and

     WHEREAS, elk populations may cause environmental damage to forage resources, adversely impact other species of wildlife, such as the meadow jumping mouse, and contribute to the historical loss of mule deer populations in New Mexico;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the department of game and fish be requested to provide for balance in the elk population and available forage resources; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department of game and fish be requested to confer formally each year with federal land management agencies and landowners to allow a more inclusive process of elk management; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department of game and fish be requested to consider a one hundred percent increase in landowner hunting tags issued to ranchers and farmers who currently receive tags and who have experienced significant economic losses to crops and rangeland; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department of game and fish be requested to consider new rules to allow small landowners to receive landowner tags in sufficient quantities to help offset their economic losses; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the director of the department of game and fish and to representatives of the following agencies of the United States department of the interior: the United States forest service, the United States department of agriculture, the national park service, the bureau of land management and the United States fish and wildlife service.

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