THE WESTERNER

Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

NM legislature passes feral hog bill

The Legislature Tuesday morning passed a bill prohibiting “importing, transporting, breeding, or selling a live feral hog or operating a commercial feral hog hunting enterprise.” A feral hog is defined, basically, as one that is wild. Captive-bred hogs very quickly go feral. They can grow quite large and become dangerous. The bill imposes misdemeanor sanctions for violations, including a fine of $1,000, imprisonment for less than a year or both. How many feral hogs are in New Mexico? The general consensus was that not too many are here now, but that it could become a serious problem. Some outfitters lead hunts for feral hogs...NM Independent

2 comments:

Anonymous said...: Yes, New Mex. like Texas is starting to getting a feral hog problem. But just like in TX. most of the ranchers are leasing their land out to hog outfitters who then charges a hunter one hell of a price. Land owners in NM are now doing the same. t is all about money. Nick; 9:55 PM
Anonymous said...: While NM ranchers might make a quick buck or two from feral hog hunting, disease risks to domestic livestock and negative impacts to habitat, water quality, roads, crops, native wildlife, and other property seemingly outweigh the benefits from transporting feral hogs to new areas.; 7:54 AM