A Love Note to Public Lands in New Mexico

Ray Trejo is an avid bird hunter from Deming, New Mexico. His passion for bird dogs, Montezuma quail, and public lands advocacy is immeasurable. He is the southern outreach coordinator for the New Mexico Wildlife Federation and is chairman of the Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project.

When I think of public lands, I think about the opportunity it has given me to grow. It has given me the ability to hunt, fish and recreate on public lands. It has given me a classroom of education outside of brick and mortar. For that I am most thankful!

As a child I spent a lot of time outside with my family. Easter after church was spent on the Mimbres river where we hunted Easter eggs, cooked, played in the river, and fished. The first fish that I ever caught, a native Gila trout, was caught on that river during a family outing.

I continue to spend an enormous amount of time on our public lands. It is where I took my kids camping — there was no Disneyland for them! My children now have kids of their own and are making their own memories on public lands.

I do know that during this difficult time, my children and grandchildren have found themselves outside hunting, hiking, and exercising on our public lands. I too find myself spending much needed time outside enjoying hunting, fishing, training my bird dogs and away from zoom calls. I feel very fortunate to live in New Mexico in a rural part of the state where I can recreate on public land extensively.

In December, I had an opportunity to hunt quail with a dear friend of mine. Carlos and I grew up together and have enjoyed hunting for many years, however last year he was diagnosed with cancer and on top of that lost his favorite hunting dog, a German shorthaired pointer named Rio. So, as you can imagine, it has been a very challenging time for him.

It was the first time that he had been out quail hunting in over a year. We had a great time hunting with our dogs on public lands and we acknowledged how fortunate we were to have grown up in southwestern New Mexico.

Unfortunately, our conversation kept turning to how our public lands are being ravished by cattle grazing. We observed little or no grass on the landscape and wondered how the quail and other wildlife might survive. Our public lands are supposed to be managed so that all people can enjoy them for multiple uses. I hope that the new administration and Congress will make it a priority to restore our public lands so they will thrive for generations to come.

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So many of our country’s parks and public lands written about in these love notes would not exist but for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). This important conservation program was permanently funded when Congress passed the Great American Outdoors Act earlier this summer. You can learn more about the Land and Water Conservation Fund here.

Would you like to write about public lands that you cherish? Please email Mary Jo Brooks at brooksm@nwf.org for guidelines.