The state Game and Fish Department was on the hot seat Aug. 14 in El Rito, as unhappy ranchers and state representatives admonished Department employees for their handling of elk herds on private lands.
The confrontation took place during a meeting of the state legislature’s Land Grant Committee which was held at Northern New Mexico College’s El Rito campus, and discussions centered on grazing rights and elk issues.
John Hernandez Jr., who runs cattle near Cuba, said he has had an ongoing conflict with the Department. He said he had just finished seeding an 80-acre plot when the Department erected a game-proof fence on his neighbor’s property. He said the elk population on his land tripled, and the $3,000 he invested in seeding and erosion work went down the drain. Besides eating his pasture, the elk have also torn up his fences — at the same time the Department reduced his elk permits by more than half.
“Our place was devastated,” he said. “They came in like grasshoppers and just mowed it down.”
He said he respects private property rights, but he equated the placement of the fence to starting a fire on his property and allowing it to spread to his neighbors. He said the Department didn’t bother to do an environmental assessment to determine the fence’s potential impacts.
Hernandez Jr. said the Department has been rude and unresponsive when he has asked for relief in the form of a game-proof fence of his own or compensation for the damage.
He said his father, John Hernandez Sr., even got a call from an unnamed Department employee saying he would have his permits cut further if he continued to complain about the situation.
“Words do not describe how mad I and my family are at you people,” he wrote in a letter he submitted to the Committee.
State Rep. Debbie Rodella (D-Española) was particularly upset about the Department’s threat to reduce elk hunting permits. She demanded a formal apology from Wildlife Management Division Chief R.J. Kirkpatrick.
“I don’t appreciate that,” she said. “I will not tolerate that behavior from your Department.”
Rodella said she has received a number of calls from constituents about their permits being cut, most telling her their discussions with the Department have been unsatisfactory. Several Rio Arriba ranchers met with the Department last month in Canjilon to complain about how elk are being managed near the Highway 84 corridor in the northern part of the County.
“It’s been a futile effort,” she said. “I have yet to meet one person who’s happy.”
Carlos Salazar, president of the Northern New Mexico Stockmen’s Association, agreed with Rodella that many landowners are unhappy.
“Nothing has ever resulted from any of these meetings,” he said. “If you don’t manage these animals, they’re gonna have an impact. They’re already having an impact.”
Salazar said he worries about elk spreading diseases to cattle if their population becomes too large. He said it is not in the Department’s interest to reduce the number of elk, because selling hunting licenses is a big source of revenue.
“It’s job security,” Salazar said. “The elk is a big money-generating scheme for the Department.”
Kirkpatrick said the Department is doing its best to balance complex interests. He said a number of groups, including hunters, outfitters, wildlife enthusiasts and some landowners are asking the Department for more elk, while other landowners want fewer. He said the Department can help landowners who want fewer elk by increasing awareness, erecting fences or distributing rubber buckshot.
“I don’t think it’s stubbornness or unwillingness,” said Pat Block, the assistant director of the Department’s support service.
Block said Department personnel can trap and transplant the animals if they are negatively affecting an area. As for the Hernandezes’ complaints about their treatment, Block said he does not know who in the Department would make such a threat, and Kirkpatrick told Hernandez Jr. a Department employee had misinformed him when he was denied a game-proof fence.
He said he hopes to work to resolve the issues near Cuba; he said he would even be open to selling elk permits over the counter for a period to further reduce the population in the problem area.
“We don’t disregard these people’s concerns and issues,” Kirpatrick said.