New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
Media contact: Rachel Shockley, (505) 476-8071
Public contact: (888)-248-6866
Rachel.shockley@state.nm.us
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, APRIL 2, 2014:
GAME COMMISSION PROPERTIES IN PECOS CANYON TO REOPEN
TERRERO – The Department of Game and Fish will reopen two popular State Game Commission properties in the Pecos Canyon to anglers and wildlife viewers April 18.
The Bert Clancy and Terrero fishing and recreation areas along N.M. 63 were closed last summer after the Tres Lagunas and Jarosa wildfires prompted concerns for public safety because of the possibility of flash floods. The nearby Mora and Jamie Koch fishing and recreation areas were also closed, but have since reopened.
Anyone accessing these properties is required to have a valid hunting, fishing or trapping license or a Gaining Access into Nature permit. The department urges visitors to remember to purchase their licenses and permits before leaving Pecos. There are limited opportunities to purchase licenses and permits at the site.
All visitors also must purchase a $4 Habitat Management & Access Validation. This once-per-license-year fee is used to: lease private lands for public use; provide public access to landlocked public land; and provide improvement, maintenance, development and operation of property for fish and wildlife habitat management. The fee is waived for individuals under 18 years of age, residents 70 years and older or 100 percent disabled veterans in conjunction with their free licenses.
Licenses and permits can be purchases online at the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish website at www.wildlife.state.nm.us, toll-free at (888) 248-6866, at all department offices or at local vendors.
“After almost a year of closure, the department is excited that conditions now allow these areas to be reopened to the public for fishing and recreation,” said Mike Gustin, wildlife management division assistant chief for the department.
Anglers can catch wild brown trout in the Pecos River above Tererro and rainbow trout throughout the canyon. Staff from the department’s Lisboa Springs Hatchery began stocking catchable size rainbow trout in the Pecos River and its tributaries this week. The department plans to stock areas of the Pecos River from the Village of Pecos up to Cowles throughout the summer, and will stock the Bert Clancy and Tererro wildlife management areas after they are opened to the public.
“We are rebuilding the fishery downstream from Tres Lagunas Ranch, where most of the damaging ash and silt washed into the stream after the fire,” Department Fisheries Chief Mike Sloane said. “The areas above Tres Lagunas were relatively unaffected and offer great fishing opportunities.”
The department recently stocked nearby Monastery Lake with 17-inch rainbow trout raised at the department’s Los Ojos Hatchery. The department plans to stock more 17-inch trout in the lake throughout the spring.
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