A.32. SUMMARY OF AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES MANAGEMENT IN 
NEW MEXICO 
A.32.1. AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES MANAGEMENT PLAN 
New Mexico’s Aquatic Nuisance Species Management Plan is currently under review by 
the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF). 
A.32.2. AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES 
• Lower Rio Grande Salt Cedar Control Project, New Mexico Association of 
Conservation Districts. The project includes the following: eradication efforts; 
development of management and native vegetation restoration plans; hearings to receive 
public input on the plans; aerial spraying by helicopter or ground application with prior 
public notice; and monitoring and evaluation of the effects of control on wildlife, water 
quality, vegetation, and soil health. 
• Salt Cedar Task Force, New Mexico Environment Department. 
• Strategy for Long-Term Management of Exotic Trees in Riparian Areas for New 
Mexico’s Five River Systems, New Mexico Interagency Weed Action Group. Efforts 
include prevention, early detection and mapping, timely control, and adaptive 
management. Control includes manual removal, selective mechanical grubbing, low- 
volume basal bark herbicide application, cut-stump herbicide application, foliar herbicide 
application, and aerial herbicide applications for Russian olive, salt cedar, and Siberian 
elm. This strategy encompasses ecosystem impacts, including stream bank stabilization, 
increased evapotranspiration, altered fire regimes, salt uptake, and decreased native 
biodiversity. 
• Native Trout Management, NMDGF, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest 
Service, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), New 
Mexico Interstate Stream Commission, and private groups. Together, these 
organizations seek to halt and/or reverse the invasion of non-native trout and its effects 
on native cutthroat trout. Most work involves managing non-native trout populations 
through electrofishing or by physical removal. NMDGF also installs migration barriers 
to prevent the invasion of currently un-invaded streams. They also conduct chemical 
treatment and restoration of the gila trout, which is protected under both state and federal 
law. 
• Whirling Disease Program, NMDGF, USFWS. The NMDGF has implemented a 
statewide monitoring program to track the status of whirling disease in infested and 
negative salmonid populations using GIS-based mapping. The program also tests for 
presence of whirling disease in hatchery stock and in native and managed trout 
populations. 
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