NM Outdoor News

SANTA FE — Fall is one of the best times of the year to watch wildlife, and the Department of Game and Fish is again offering special guided tours in elk and wolf country through the Gaining Access into Nature program.

Applications are being accepted for a Sept. 27 tour to experience bugling elk on the Sargent Wildlife Area near Chama, and Oct. 17, 18 and 19 tours focusing on radio-tracking Mexican wolves in the Gila National Forest. Department of Game and Fish personnel will be guides on all tours.

Tour applications only can be found online at http://wildlife.state.nm.us/recreation/gain/index.htm.  Application fees are $8. Successful applicants will be charged $74 for a tour. Application deadlines are Sept. 19 for the elk tour, and Oct. 3 for the wolf tours.

For more information about GAIN or how to apply, please contact Clint Henson, (575) 445-2311 or clint.henson@state.nm.us.

SANTA FE — The State Game Commission will consider opening a second round of public comments on the 2008 Biennial Review, which includes recommendations to downlist desert bighorn sheep from endangered to threatened, and to uplist the gray redhorse sucker from threatened to endangered on the state threatened and endangered species list.

The first round of comments was March-June, 2008. The proposed second round of public comments, a requirement under the Wildlife Conservation Act, would be Aug. 21 through Sept. 4.

Copies of the recommendations are available at the Department of Game and Fish website, http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/documents/BiennialReview.htm. Copies also can be obtained by contacting Renae Held, (505) 476-8101, renae.held@state.nm.us, P.O. Box 25112, Santa Fe, NM 87504.

The State Game Commission will meet from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 21 at the State Bar of New Mexico building, 5121 Masthead NE, in Albuquerque.

PUBLIC MEETING WILL ADDRESS RECOVERY PLAN FOR SUCKERS

LAS CRUCES — The Department of Game and Fish will discuss development of a recovery plan for the blue sucker and the gray redhorse, fish species native to the Pecos River drainage and the Rio Grande near the Texas-New Mexico border, at a public meeting Aug. 14 in Las Cruces.

The meeting will be at 6 p.m. at the Department of Game and Fish office, 2715 Northrise Drive, in Las Cruces.

The blue sucker (Cycleptus elongates) is listed as endangered and the gray redhorse (Moxostoma congestum) as threatened in New Mexico. Blue suckers typically inhabit swift deep areas in larger rivers and can attain lengths over two feet. Gray redhorse suckers are smaller, up to 1½ feet in length, and are found in deep, slow water, including impoundments. Recent toxic outbreaks of golden algae have drastically reduced or eliminated populations of blue sucker and gray redhorse in the Pecos River. A long-term life history study of the species is available on the Department website, http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/documents/documents/FinalBSGRReport_2000-2006.pdf 

The Wildlife Conservation Act requires a recovery plan for restoration and maintenance of each state-listed species in New Mexico. At the meeting, the Department also will recruit members of an advisory committee to assist in development of the plan.

More information about the blue sucker and the gray redhorse and the recovery plan is available from Stephanie Carman, Department of Game and Fish, P.O. Box 25112, Santa Fe, NM 87504; (505) 476-8128, or stephanie.carman@state.nm.us.

If you are an individual with a disability who is in need of a reader, amplifier, qualified sign language interpreter, or any other form of auxiliary aid or service to attend or participate in the hearing or meeting, please contact Shirley Baker at (505) 476-8030, at least 3 working days before the set meeting date. Public documents, including the agenda and minutes can be provided in various accessible forms. Please contact Baker if a summary or other type of accessible form is needed.

The trout were taken from a hatchery raceway and then stocked in the Blue Hole, a deep, spring-fed lake popular with scuba divers but fatal to fish because of its low oxygen content. All of the trout were found dead Friday morning. The Blue Hole has an oxygen content of 1.1 parts per million. Rainbow trout need at least 6 parts per million to survive.

Anyone with information about the incident is urged to call Operation Game Thief toll-free, (800) 432-4263. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward if information leads to charges being filed.

An excerpt from the article reads: “The price of propane, which closely tracks the price of crude oil, also is down this heating season, falling from $2.69 per gallon to $2.24 per gallon in the last three weeks,
according to Jose Garcia, one of the managers of AAA Gas Service, a propane company.”

I have been curious why propane hasn’t gone down much in Angel Fire. I telephoned a propane provider in Las Vegas NM and their price is $1.99, but they don’t service Angel Fire. So if propane is $2.24 in Santa Fe and $1.99 in Las Vegas, why is propane in Angel Fire $2.44 – $2.99?

A couple months ago, there was a man in Taos who would daily stand at the corner of Hwy 585 & 68 with a sign ‘Gas in Santa Fe is $2.49. This is when gas in Taos was over $3.00. The Taos stations rather quickly lowered their gas prices. I wonder if something similar would bring propane prices down in Angel Fire, or what it would take to get local propane providers to give us a little relief.

Struggling resident

What is a Blog?
Merriam-Webster defines Blog as, a noun short for Weblog: a website that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks provided by the writer. A blog is without a doubt, Instant Publishing! A weblog, or blog for short, is essentially your online journal, and blogging means that you are writing or updating your weblog with information about your business niche, topic or theme. When someone visits your blog, they will see your most recently published article first, with the older ones listed below in descending chronoligical order.

Prior to full-blown Blog software, the options for interactive communication via the Internet were narrow and problematical. First was e-mail. Instant messaging, followed by Chatrooms solved some of the problems. Chatrooms enabled people of similar interests to come together to read and relate to each other’s posted messages. The Blog, however, has many advantages over these formats, while retaining some useful core aspects of them all.

Advantages of a Blog on your Web Site

What bloggers have yet failed to achieve, is clearly communicate and explain the power these tools offer to the non-technical person. Blogs can cater to niche audiences, and your Custom Blog will be Category specific, and relevant or tailored to your business.