We need to enter this with the mindset of looking out for the other guy, not just ourselves. The group appreciated the challenge to the Board to balance all the uses in a fair way. Many spoke of their concern for the Valles Caldera, and their own property and neighborhoods, if the elk are allowed to continue to overpopulate. It was a bad idea to introduce them to northern New Mexico in 1947, and now we are paying the price. Mule deer are gone, grazing land impacted, river banks destroyed, and laundry eaten off clothes lines in Pajarito Acres.
Elk eat as they migrate, and often reach the grass in the spring before the cattle do.
The Chicoma Livestock Association which borders Santa Clara Pueblo is already seeing impacts from the elk numbers. A Regina resident added that orchards are being damaged. There are also fears of elk-borne diseases, like Brucellosis and Trichomoniasis. A local resident asked that wolves not be introduced into the area as a check on the elk population. Although hunting was generally accepted as a necessary control, it was noted that hunting should be done in ways that don't simply drive the elk into other areas.