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HB 579: NM WILDLIFE PROTECTION & PUBLIC SAFETY ACT

An Act Relating To Wildlife; Enacting The New Mexico Wildlife Protection And Public Safety Act; Providing For Restrictions On The Use Of Traps And Poisons

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HIGH HB 579
NM WILDLIFE PROTECTION & PUBLIC SAFETY ACT

Legislative URL:
HB 579 on nmlegis.gov
Emergency Clause:
No
Germane:
N/A
Location:
- OTHER -
Action:
[22] HENRC/HJC-HENRC API.
Issue(s):

Related Legislators

Bill Sponsor:

Related Documents

Downloads:
Introduced
Fiscal Impact Report
Summary

This bill enacts the New Mexico Wildlife Protection and Public Safety Act and amends current law to restrict the use of traps and poisons.

The bill defines a number of terms including, among others: “body-gripping trap” (like steel-jawed leg-hold traps), “conibear-type trap,” “domestic” and “feral” animals, “poison” (commercially available rodent poisons), “raw fur,” “snare,” “trap” (excludes common rat and mouse traps) and “wildlife” (excludes feral or escaped animals or rodent pests).

The prohibits trapping to kill or capture wildlife; using a body-gripping trap to kill or capture any feral or domestic animal; using poison to kill or injure wildlife or a feral animal; buying, selling, bartering or exchanging for profit the raw fur of any protected or unprotected fur-bearer taken by a trap or poison; or permitting the unlawful use of a trap or poison to kill or injure wildlife or a feral or domestic animal on property.

The bill provides a number of exemptions for the taking of certain animals by trapping or poisoning them in certain situations:

  • by government employees or their agents to protect human health and safety or to protect endangered or threatened species;
  • for scientific research;
  • for the lawful taking of wildlife to abate damages caused to property, crops or livestock (but requirements are established regarding how often the traps must be checked and the permitted means of killing live but captured animals);
  • for the otherwise lawful taking of rodent pests; wild birds; and, fish or other non-mammalian aquatic wildlife by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

 

The bill does not prohibit the taking of wildlife with “firearms, fishing equipment, archery equipment, falconry equipment or other implements in hand as authorized by law.” The bill amends current sections of law to switch the name of “trapper’s licenses” to “fur-bearer’s licenses” and make other necessary language adjustments.

The penalty levels for violations of the Act range from a misdemeanor to a fourth degree felony. The offender will also be liable for damages and may be ordered to make restitution “to any state agency or nonprofit organization whose purpose it is to protect and conserve wildlife or domestic animals.”

A benefit of this measure might be that it could help to ensure that New Mexico’s wildlife, especially its bobcats, attain greater protection under the law.

Outcome: HB 579 died in the House Energy & Natural Resources Committee.

Date of Summary:  2/14/13; Updated 5/15/13