During this legislative session, one bill, S.B. 32 by Sen. Bobby Gonzales (D-Los Alamos, Rio Arriba, Santa Fe, and Taos) has gained much fury from New Mexicans. S.B. 32 is a bill banning trapping on public lands, which passed both the Senate and the House before being sent to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s desk.
The bill squeaked by its last chamber, with the House of Representatives narrowly passing the measure by a vote of 35-34.
During this session, many rural residents and wildlife conservation officers say trapping remains critical for managing wildlife and protecting livestock.
The bill, which many Republicans and Democrats vehemently oppose, has garnered formidable opposition, with one Change.org petition named “Support science based wildlife management” gaining nearly 18,000 names of those opposed to the bill.
The petition reads:
This bill is not based on science, data or wildlife [biologists’] input. It is not based on the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and the Public Trust Doctrine, which define fish and wildlife resources as the property of the people to be managed by the state and federal agencies entrusted with their stewardship. This model should be used as the foundation of science-based fish and wildlife management and hunting, fishing and trapping are appropriate management tools.
…
The [S]enate should be committed to sound stewardship policies that are guided by science over politics, emotion and conjecture.
The passing of S.B. 32 hurts all wildlife in New Mexico, it signals an unbalance and sets a precedent for what could end up listing many animals as endangered or threatened in the future. Furthermore, the economic impact of an out of balance ecosystem will cost jobs and millions of dollars, if not more. S.B. 32 represents the destruction of wildlife. There is no science based reason to start this trend.
The bill, which sits on the Governor’s desk, has a shot at being vetoed if enough people oppose the measure by calling Gov. Lujan Grisham’s office.
The organizers write:
This is the last chance. View this bill as a ban on all hunting because that’s what their goal is.
Do work! Share this and make it a point on how important it is. This is a ban on hunting.
Call Gov. Grisham here – (505) 476-2200 – we were never given the opportunity to voice, never given the opportunity for expert opinion, the opposition had an unqualified anti-hunting activist as their expert witness? Not a biologist, not a scientist, not a qualified individual to make a science-based wildlife management decision. (505) 476-2200
Where was the data, where was the science on this SB32. This bill is about ignorance. Not about healthy ecosystems. This bill will create more endangered species (but maybe that’s what the radical, so called environmentalists want)
How can a governor sign a an environmental bill without a lot of scientists involvement???