Proposed plan that we be considered at a future date

The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish will recommend a one-year extension for the proposed changes to the Antelope Private Land Use System (A-PLUS).

The department will meet with the State Game Commission at 9 a.m. Thursday at Deming, where it will make its recommendation.

Comments on the proposed changes were collected from hunters and landowners from across New Mexico, said Dan Williams, NMGF director of public relations on Tuesday.

The department also held a series of public meetings across the state, including one meeting at Logan about three weeks ago, where landowners  voiced concerns about the department's plan to restructure the way it allocates pronghorn licenses on public and private lands.
"The department needs more time to better address both the concerns of the hunters and landowners," said Williams on Tuesday.

Quay County landowners met with Lief Ahlm, operations chief of the department's Northeast Region, at  the Nov. 19 in Logan.

 Quay County landowner Van Robertson said he was concerned about access to state lands via private property. A hunter can hunt on state land that is surrounded by a landowner's property when it is accessible by a county or state road, Ahlm said.

"Many of the landowners here in Quay County have a county road going right through the middle of their property," said Robertson of Nara Visa. "Will the Game and Fish Department have the manpower to cover the additional days of hunting."

Ahlm said at the public meeting that the department will assign more officers to the region during the hunts.
Robertson had another landowner concern which was safety.

With five consecutive days of hunting a landowner's neighbor could start moving cattle and be at risk from the public hunters, Robertson said.
The department will recommend that the commission adopt rules for the 2009-2010 pronghorn season that are similar to the 2008-2009 season and develop a new proposal to submit to the commission at a later date.

"The department should have a proposal ready to submit to the commission by next year for their approval," Williams said. "That proposal, if approved would affect the  2010-2001 pronghorn season."