SANTA FE, N. M. – There's still a month left in the animal-trapping season and, with the weather warming, hikers on public lands need to exercise caution – especially if they bring their dogs along.

Trapping for fox, badger, weasel, ringtail and bobcat is legal on public lands from Nov. 1 to March 15.

Mary Katherine Ray, wildlife chair for the Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter, said traps are only required to be 25 yards away from roads or trails, and a dog can easily find itself caught in a leg-hold trap or snare.

"Having a dog trapped is a frightening and traumatic experience," said Ray. "People universally say they don't know what's happened to their dog. People say they think a snake, they think some animal attacked it – that the dog is, basically, the word they use is 'screaming' – because when the trap slams shut, it's the equivalent to having your hand caught in a car door."

Diagrams showing how to free a pet accidentally caught in a trap can be found at trapfreenm.org. But some traps are very difficult to open, and Ray said a pet owner may need to transport their pet to a veterinary clinic to have it removed.

She said the Sierra Club supports laws to ban trapping. But until those laws are changed, pet owners should know how to respond.

"No matter how friendly and lovable that dog is, they lose their mind in response to the pain of the trap," she said. "So, people are often bitten trying to rescue their own dog, and sometimes bitten severely. We recommend that one thing you do to try to avoid that is cover your dog with a jacket."

Arizona and Colorado banned lethal trapping more than 20 years ago, but New Mexico lawmakers have so far rejected similar legislation. Trappers say the practice is key to controlling carnivores that prey on livestock.

The Sierra Club and other conservation groups also oppose coyote-killing contests popular in New Mexico, but have so far been unable to get legislation passed to ban the practice. Ray said there is no evidence the contests benefit management of the coyote population.

"They're a little wild dog, and they're beautiful, and how poor would we be if you couldn't go out at night and hear coyotes howling to each other?" she asked. "That is a rich sound in nature, and they actually do a really important service in keeping rodents and rabbits in check."

The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish estimates the number of fur bearers trapped and killed in New Mexico each year is more than 5,000. But that figure does not include coyotes, which are killed in equal numbers.



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BOSTON -- A new survey finds widespread public support up and down the East Coast for protecting right whales from getting tangled up in fishing gear, specifically, the vertical lines that connect lobster and crab traps from the sea floor to the surface.

Katharine Deuel, marine conservation officer for the Pew Charitable Trusts, which released the poll, said nine of 10 East Coast residents surveyed said it is important for the government to protect right whales.

"The North Atlantic Right Whale is a species that is currently in crisis," Deuel explained. "It is a critically endangered species, and there are only about 350 individual right whales left swimming in our waters."

Deuel added more than 70% of respondents support closing high-risk areas for whales to certain fishing gear, and nearly 90% support fishermen using gear that doesn't harm whales, which is becoming more widely available.

She pointed out such solutions can allow right whales and fishermen to coexist, and her group is among those that filed an emergency action petition with the U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

Ben Hellerstein, state director for Environment Massachusetts, which also joined the petition, added there have been 34 confirmed deaths of right whales in U.S. and Canadian waters in the last four years.

He noted said even when whales do not die, getting caught up in vertical lines can cause them major stress.

"Scientists actually believe that it is one of the causes of declining birth rates among the right whale population, the sort of stress of these encounters is actually making it harder for them to reproduce," Hellerstein reported.

Hellerstein stated there is something about North Atlantic right whales that resonates with people.

"You know, these animals are gentle giants," Hellerstein remarked. "They grow to be about the size of a school bus, and yet they feed almost entirely off of these small crustaceans."

The emergency action petition recommends prohibiting fishing with vertical lines in a few specific locations with the highest likelihood of right whale entanglement, one yearlong closure south of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, and five seasonal closures off the coast of Maine.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

CARSON CITY, Nev. - A bill just introduced in the U.S, Senate would help thousands of species stay off the Endangered Species List - including bighorn sheep, golden eagles and the Lahontan cutthroat trout in Nevada.

The Recovering America's Wildlife Act would put $1.4 billion a year toward conservation efforts. Almost 25 million of that would go to Nevada.

Russell Kuhlman, executive director of the Nevada Wildlife Federation, said the funding would save us a bundle going forward.

"It's really that an ounce of prevention is equal to a pound of cure," said Kuhlman. "In the long run, it's going to save us from spending even more money to bring them back essentially from the edge of extinction."

The bill was introduced in the U.S, House of Representatives in April but has yet to receive a hearing or a vote.

Kulhman said the money would help state, tribal and federal agencies work together to take species from one state and replenish populations elsewhere.

"Nevada was the source population that helped reintroduce desert sheep throughout the West," said Kuhlman. "And we were able to take the healthy population of sheep that we had and share them with Arizona and Utah as well. "

Gila monsters, for example, are rarely seen in Nevada these days. But Kuhlman said he hopes this bill would allow wildlife managers in New Mexico to help re-establish the lizards in the Silver State.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Wildlife experts say about one third of all wildlife species in the U.S. are in decline or vulnerable - which makes revived legislation in Congress critical to promote intervention and prevent extinction.

The Recovering America's Wildlife Act was introduced in Congress this week by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Sen Martin Heinrich - D-N.M. - and Sen. Roy Blunt - R-Mo.

Heinrich spent part of his youth living in Missouri and said a permanent funding stream is what's needed to make a positive impact.

"Whether you grow up in New Mexico or you grow up in Missouri," said Heinrich, "you remember that first fish you ever catch, you remember the monarch butterflies in your backyard and all of these species that are just not as common as they used to be."

If passed, the conservation work could be paid for through royalties from resource extraction on public lands. Heinrich noted that during the pandemic, more Americans visited the outdoors than ever before.

Ken Lucero is tribal administrator for the Zia Pueblo in north-central New Mexico. He said both big game and small game have been essential to the tribe's survival, providing food, clothing and other needs.

"But, unfortunately, we have seen a significant decrease in both game species and biodiversity on our lands and the neighboring communities," said Lucero. "We understand that unless we address the dwindling populations, there will not be any wildlife for our future generations."

The legislation would give the state's Department of Game and Fish $28 million annually to help conserve 235 species in need. Jesse Duebel is the executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation and said it also would benefit the state's outdoor recreation industry.

"The more wildlife, and the more species of wildlife that a visitor is likely to see," said Duebel, "the more likely that visitor is going to come to New Mexico and spend their money in our state."

National Wildlife Federation research shows more than 150 species already are extinct, and 500 more haven't been sighted in decades.