Efforts Continue to Limit Trapping in New Mexico
OutdoorHub 10.17.11
Trapping continues to be a controversial topic in New Mexico. This past summer, we reported on a move by the New Mexico State Game Commission to follow the recommendations of the New Mexico Game and Fish Department to overturn a ban on trapping in New Mexico’s Wolf Recovery Area.
The ban was put in place by former Gov. Bill Richardson in an attempt to protect recovering gray wolves. After a university study that showed minimal impacts of trapping to wolves, the recommendation was to overturn the ban.
Since the trapping ban was overturned, a group opposed to trapping in New Mexico has been working to ban trapping on public lands in the state.
A recent article in Farmington, New Mexico’s Daily Times tells the tale of one local trapper and the group working to make his activities illegal.
Tom Fisher would like to trap a conservationist just to prove it doesn’t hurt.Fisher uses a KB Compound 5.5 Predator Trap. The device is equipped with shock-spring technology that absorbs the initial wave of panic that sets in when the critter is caught. The trap is loose when animals are relaxed and squeezes when they try to escape.
A trap that doesn’t maul is essential, Fisher said, in order to keep the pastime legal in the state.
“We’re a minority, and these people are trying to railroad us,” Fisher said. “I have a stake in protecting animals as a resource. I don’t want to trap the last one.”
