We cannot think of any redeeming benefits of this proposal…
The decision of the New Mexico Game Commission to agendize the possibility of trapping mountain lions is a serious threat to the democratic process. We should all be concerned that a Bill to allow similar pressure on lions failed in the recent 60 day legislative session. New Mexico is not the first state this year to tweak processes to achieve a foregone conclusion to legislation introduced by special interests. Montana also showed that politics has the ability to resurrect legislation that has died a democratic death.
Zombie Politics should concern us all. It is a proxy for consumptive heavyweights to get what they want in spite of the rules of law, it is the slippery slope to regressive management. To allow trapping of cougars in New Mexico is cruel, shortsighted and archaic. Random culling of large carnivores will not help ranchers to protect their livestock. Conflict prevention and non-lethal deterrents are the solutions for depredation. Widespread removal is a bandaid that just delays further predation. Why not solve the problem and protect the stock? And if extirpating the cougar from the landscape for the sake of producers is the objective….that is NOT for the Commission to decide. The Public Trust Doctrine allows the states to manage animals for ALL people. Too many states are forgetting that, and are succumbing to the misinformed notion that they can set regulation in sync with the desires of a minority.
http://www.abqjournal.com/578721/news/cougar-trapping-on-public-lands-reviewed.html
