Valles Caldera National Preserve Considers Elk Hunt Fee Of $7,500
September 18, 2008
Valles Caldera National Preserve is considering a proposal to charge a $7,500 fee for up to 15 of the 77 elk hunt permits they are allowed to handout. As it would be expected, this proposal has sparked quite a stir across New Mexico’s hunting community.
The Valles Caldera National Preserve is one of New Mexico’s premier elk hunting playgrounds. The new proposal would set aside 15 of the elk permits allowed in the preserve for ’special hunts’. These special hunts would include a three night stay at the Valles Grande lodge, and three catered meals a day.
The controversy surrounding this proposal stems from the Valles Caldera preserve being public land. Sportsmen say that charging $7,500 for these permits goes against the ethics of hunting permits, in general, which enable fair rights to every hunter, not dependent on finances. Quite simply, all hunters could not afford these permits, so they should not be allowed.
From the Las Cruces Sun-News:
Purchased by the federal government in 2000 for $101 million, the 89,000-acre former cattle ranch is known for its meadows, streams, forests, volcanic domes and huge elk herds. It’s managed not by a federal agency, but by a board of trustees appointed largely by the president.
The board is charged with protecting the land’s natural and cultural resources, providing recreational opportunities, operating it as a working ranch and being financially self-sufficient by 2015.
The question about this preserve being operated as a working ranch, and being operated previously as a ranch, would throw into play that the state may be trying to work this much like a dreaded ‘canned hunt’ ranch. I am not sure the total acreage of the area in question, but the same principles apply.
Should a state-ran taxpayer financed preserve be able to charge $7,500 per permit to hunt on public grounds?
As hunters and anglers we pay all kinds of fees, but we’ve never seen anything like this where a public agency with public land and public wildlife would charge a fee that’s out of the reach of 99 percent of the people,” said Jeremy Vesbach, director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation.
That argument seems quite logical to me, what do you think?
After a little internet searching, reading, and checking up on this stuff I found it’s a pretty well established product in Canada and hails from Quebec where they have this funny habit of speaking a lot of French. Thus the name, Jig-A-Loo, and the company’s claim it derives from a saying they have up north, “I’ve got it!” 
It would be sad and foolish for the Caldera to start charging such extreme rates. They already make a great deal of money from the lottery system that is currently used to draw tags. This is public land and should be accessible to everyone. There are a lot of restrictions on access to this land already, fishing and hunting access is difficult and even back country travel, skiing and hiking is limited. I think that outdoor enthusiests of all kinds understand the need for studying this area and preserving it from overuse and that is fine but these types of fees are simply meant to exclude common people and that is not acceptable. This is still public land, it’s ours to enjoy and protect and should not be put off limits.