Last Friday, the Defend EPLUS coalition showed up to help New Mexico's Game and Fish Commission members, who were meeting in Silver City, NM, understand the value of the Elk Private Land Use System. Briefly:

Lesli Allison, CEO of the Western Landowners Alliance, and other coalition leaders, addressed commissioners at a public meeting in Silver City.

• “Eliminating EPLUS and hurting landowners and their ability to care for the land will only accelerate the loss of our state’s critical habitat," Allison told the commission.
• Speakers in favor of EPLUS outnumbered opponents 3 to 1.
• We introduced this new report that lays out the benefits of the Elk Private Land Use System for rural communities, economies and all wildlife in New Mexico.
• A full media release about the new report is included below.

Report lays out economic and ecological benefits of New Mexico's Elk Private Land Use System

The Elk Private Land Use System (EPLUS) program is yet again under attack. A new report from Chama Peak Land Alliance, New Mexico Council of Outfitters and Guides, Northern New Mexico Stockman’s Association and Western Landowners Alliance responds by laying out the critical ways EPLUS contributes to rural livelihoods, traditional communities, the state’s agriculture economy, and New Mexico’s natural resources.

To read the report and learn more about the EPLUS program, visit EPLUSNM.org.

The report was released Friday, April 20th in advance of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF) commission meeting in Silver City, where NMDGF chief Stewart Liley presented the commissioners with an overview of the EPLUS program. Following Liley’s presentation, members of the public and representatives from various organizations provided comments to the commission about the EPLUS program.

“There are very few ways landowners can generate the income needed to keep lands and habitat intact. Agriculture and recreation, particularly hunting, is critically important to family farms and ranches and many rural communities. This is why EPLUS is so important to New Mexico,” said Lesli Allison, Chief Executive Officer of Western Landowners Alliance during the game commission meeting.

“Without EPLUS, we would have more hunters crowded onto public lands, more elk crowded onto private lands, landowners would demand reductions in elk, hunters would demand reductions in the number of licenses as a result of overcrowding and poor hunting experiences, and more land would end up in development, further reducing and fracturing the habitat base,” Allison said. “Eliminating EPLUS and hurting landowners and their ability to care for the land will only accelerate the loss of our state’s critical habitat.”

Opponents of EPLUS mistakenly believe that overturning the program would create more resident hunting opportunities. To counter these narratives, inform the game commission, and educate the public on the realities of EPLUS, the Defend EPLUS coalition released a report and website dedicated to protecting the program from attack.