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February 21, 2020

Migration Corridors: Connecting Wildlife and People of New Mexico

To learn more about this film, click here

Scientists, sportsmen and women explain why seasonal habitat and migration routes for big game species must be conserved.

To survive the varied seasonal conditions found across the West, big game must be able to move freely across the landscape at key times of the year to access nutritious food. Emerging science and recent technologies can pinpoint well-defined corridors traveled by animals during these migrations and measure how much time they spend in certain places along the way known as stopover habitats.  

Research also shows that human development can disrupt the normal patterns of migrating ungulates.  

Subdivisions, fences, roads, and energy development all contribute to the loss of big-game habitat and impede the migrations of these animals between the seasonal habitats on which they rely.  

Like many other states across the West, New Mexico is in the first stages of mapping big game migration corridors with the most up-to-date GPS technologyThis research will help guide policymakers as they make decisions about how to manage wildlife and human development.

Join TRCP to learn more about wildlife, habitat, and conservation policy.

3 Responses to “Migration Corridors: Connecting Wildlife and People of New Mexico”

  1. Brian Thompson

    Very good post on NM corridors….years ago I worked with The SFNF and the game and fish on the Travel management plan for the Jemez Mtns, I grew up in those mountains and saw the changes with the coming of ATVs/UTVs and all the roads that were created or old logging roads reopened as a result. I also saw what it did to the Elk and deer herds who it pushed them changed their Migration corridors and affected their populations. I documented all the roads illegal and legal in the Cuba ranger district and showed the migration corridor between the San Pedro Parks wilderness to the Caldera and explained the effect and changes that happened and what needed to happen. which did help the SFNF design the Travel management plan options. They did chose the best closure option of roads, but unfortunately they were only closed on maps – no actual closures with burms or signs or gates. From May to April With Camping, different hunting seasons, atv/utv use, spring hunting, shed hunting and because of the spiderweb of roads and now drones the game animals get maybe a month of rest and solitude a year. Throw in the drought, youth hunts, modern technology – higher harvest rates and the increase in out door activities I am seeing a decrease in our game heard’s. I believe we need to do more – physically close roads, decrease hunting permit’s in some areas, and figure how we can give animals in certain areas more of a break from human activity for a longer period each year. I also have spent a lot of time all over NM on public lands and see the same effect in most areas across the state. Thank you

  2. Jim Potter

    What a fantastic movie on big game migrations. While I think this information is critical for wildlife and land managers I cringe to think what this information could be used for by illegal poachers looking to get an easy shot at trophy animals during their migrations. While the overwhelming majority of we sportsman are ethical hunters, there are always a few bad criminal poacher’s who could stand to gain from this information. As always I look forward to the emails from the TRCP wish to thank you for all you do for sportsman and women throughout the USA.
    Jim Potter

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Migration Corridors: Connecting Wildlife and People of New Mexico

To learn more about this film, click here

Scientists, sportsmen and women explain why seasonal habitat and migration routes for big game species must be conserved.

To survive the varied seasonal conditions found across the West, big game must be able to move freely across the landscape at key times of the year to access nutritious food. Emerging science and recent technologies can pinpoint well-defined corridors traveled by animals during these migrations and measure how much time they spend in certain places along the way known as stopover habitats.  

Research also shows that human development can disrupt the normal patterns of migrating ungulates.  

Subdivisions, fences, roads, and energy development all contribute to the loss of big-game habitat and impede the migrations of these animals between the seasonal habitats on which they rely.  

Like many other states across the West, New Mexico is in the first stages of mapping big game migration corridors with the most up-to-date GPS technologyThis research will help guide policymakers as they make decisions about how to manage wildlife and human development.

Join TRCP to learn more about wildlife, habitat, and conservation policy.

February 20, 2020

Comment Now – Help Land Management Agencies Open Access to Your Public Lands

BLM, USFS, and USFWS seek nominations from the public for high-priority landlocked or hard-to-reach parcels

Last spring, with the passage of S. 47 – the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act – federal public land management agencies were tasked with identifying parcels of public ground with no access or restricted access and developing priority lists for opening access to those lands.

Now, the US Forest Service, BLM, and US Fish and Wildlife Service are asking the public for help to identify pieces of public land that should be on the priority lists. This is your chance to get involved and make a difference.

Once parcels are added to an agency’s priority list, land managers can then coordinate with state and local governments, conservation groups, land trusts, and landowners to open access through voluntary acquisitions of land, road or trail easements, or various other measures.

As our partnership with onX has shown, access to public land can be a huge challenge for hunters and anglers. We found that 9.52 million acres of federally managed public lands in the West have no permanent, legal public access.

Details on how to nominate a parcel are below, but time is running out. Speak up today to strengthen our public lands legacy!


Lawmakers have outlined the below requirements for the agencies:

  • Parcels nominated must encompass at least 640 contiguous acres with either no public access (i.e. it is unreachable by foot, horseback, and motorized/non-motorized vehicles) or the access is severely restricted (i.e. a large block of public land with only one access point).
  • In order to be considered, nominations must be sent to the appropriate agency (i.e. the agency responsible for managing the lands in question).
  • Nominations must include the location of the land or parcel, the total affected acreage (if known), a description or narrative about the barriers to access, and any other information that should be considered by the agency.

Forest Service: Comment period has closed.

 

Fish and Wildlife Service: Comment period has closed.

 

BLM: Comment period has closed.

 

 

February 14, 2020

TRCP Recognizes Governor Gordon’s Leadership in Executive Order on Migration Corridors

Stresses need for long-term commitment to see the conservation of vital big-game habitats

Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon signed an executive order this week prioritizing the conservation of big-game migration corridors.

The TRCP responded to the directive:

“We appreciate Governor Gordon’s leadership on big-game migration corridors with his Executive Order,” said Nick Dobric, Wyoming field representative with the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “We have incredible wildlife populations and hunting opportunities in Wyoming, and we hope that the Governor’s directives will help conserve these resources for decades and generations to come.”

During the summer of 2019, Governor Gordon tasked an advisory group of eight citizens—each representing various interests, including sportsmen—with devising a solution for migration corridors that would conserve the corridors while being consistent with multiple uses of the land. After three long sessions, the group recommended the governor could best address the issue through an executive order that would set up a process for more public involvement and limit development in designated corridors, with emphasis on stopover and high-use areas.

Subdivisions, fences, roads, and energy development all contribute to the loss of big-game habitat and impede the migrations of these animals between the seasonal habitats on which they rely. Land-use planning decisions on state and federal lands can have a determinative effect on the function of these habitats. This includes the proposed management objectives in the Rock Springs draft Resource Management Plan that is expected this Spring and will have implications for the Sublette Mule Deer herd, which depends upon the 150-mile migration corridor commonly known as the Red Desert to Hoback.

“This week’s action should be viewed as a renewed commitment, not a final step, to see migration corridors conserved over the long-term in Wyoming. Sportsmen are hopeful that the governor’s directives will be applied to the Rock Springs draft RMP, which overlaps with the designated Sublette corridor,” said Dobric. “We are counting on the BLM to support state management objectives for this deer herd and apply conservation measures that protect its future.”

Many of Wyoming’s big game herds depend on migration corridors in areas that have yet to be formally identified and designated. While the Order does not apply to areas outside of designated corridors, the science does support similar measures to conserve habitats and allow for multiple uses in other areas. Wyoming Game and Fish has been at the forefront in the West due to their efforts to gather the best science to inform their big game management. Years of captures and collaring, funded by sportsmen and others, gives the state a strong foundation for expanding its efforts so that conservation measures can be put into practice on the ground for migrating big game.

“Wyoming has been a leader of migration science, as well as the policy, for over a decade,” said Dobric. “The TRCP will continue to work with the Governor, state and federal agencies, sportsmen, and other stakeholders to implement this Order and ensure the continued functionality of big-game migration corridors.”

 

Photo courtesy: BLM Wyoming

Four Rivers BLM Land Use Plan Revised to Address Priorities of Hunters and Anglers

Final plan includes key provisions to benefit wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation

The Bureau of Land Management today released a land use plan that will support outdoor recreation opportunities and conserve important big game habitat on public lands north of Mountain Home and east of Boise in western Idaho.

When finalized, the BLM’s proposed Resource Management Plan for the Four Rivers Field Office will determine how the agency will manage approximately 750,000 acres of public lands, including the Boise Front, the eastern flanks of Brownlee and Oxbow reservoirs, and the Hixon Sharptailed Grouse Area.

The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership worked with landowners, local government officials, and other stakeholder groups, and helped activate hunters and anglers to provide meaningful feedback on the draft plans that was then incorporated into the final proposals.

“Sportsmen and women spoke up in support of additional management emphasis for hunting, access, and habitat improvement under the final plan, and we appreciate that the BLM listened to our community’s requests,” said Rob Thornberry, Idaho Field Representative with the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “This plan will benefit quality wildlife habitat and recreational access in places like the Bennett Hills, which is great news for those of us who care about Idaho’s strong outdoor traditions.”

The popular public lands in central and western Idaho to which the revised plan will apply help fuel the state’s $7.8-billion outdoor recreation economy, provide important wildlife habitat, and support various traditional uses of the land. These landscapes include IDFG Hunting Units 39, 43, 44, and 45, which offer some of the state’s best mule deer hunting.

“The Bennett Hills provide vital winter range and outstanding hunting opportunities for one of Idaho’s most important mule deer herds,” said Ford Van Fossen, conservation and content manager for First Lite, a Ketchum-based manufacturer of hunting apparel. “We want to thank the BLM for adopting measures in the Four Rivers RMP that prioritize wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation.”

The revision process was formally initiated with a scoping phase in early 2016 and the BLM published its draft plan with a number of proposed alternatives in May 2019. While several wildlife- and recreation-friendly provisions to improve access and habitat were considered in the draft plan, most were not included in the preferred alternative at that stage of the process. Hunters and anglers spoke up and requested changes in management, and those comments produced meaningful improvements to the proposed plan.

“The hunting and fishing community owes the BLM thanks for the agency’s responsiveness to our concerns and proposals,” Thornberry said. “Public lands in Idaho are some of our state’s greatest assets and the revised Four Rivers plan will help ensure that future generations can enjoy these places as we do now.”

“I have hunted this area for almost 50 years, and I can state emphatically that it is a haven for an enormous amount of wildlife,” said Drew Wahlin, president of the Idaho Chukar Foundation. “It is a bird hunting destination and an essential winter area for the famed King Hill mule deer hunt. It is worthy of protections that help wildlife and sportsmen, and I applaud BLM’s decision.”

HOW YOU CAN HELP

CHEERS TO CONSERVATION

Theodore Roosevelt’s experiences hunting and fishing certainly fueled his passion for conservation, but it seems that a passion for coffee may have powered his mornings. In fact, Roosevelt’s son once said that his father’s coffee cup was “more in the nature of a bathtub.” TRCP has partnered with Afuera Coffee Co. to bring together his two loves: a strong morning brew and a dedication to conservation. With your purchase, you’ll not only enjoy waking up to the rich aroma of this bolder roast—you’ll be supporting the important work of preserving hunting and fishing opportunities for all.

$4 from each bag is donated to the TRCP, to help continue their efforts of safeguarding critical habitats, productive hunting grounds, and favorite fishing holes for future generations.

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