Ray Trejo won a coveted permit to hunt deer along New Mexico's southern border this year, but with the U.S. Army moving in, he's worried. "If I'm hunting down there and wearing camo and I have a rifle strapped to my back, am I going to get shot?" said Trejo, an elected commissioner in Luna County, at the U.S.-Mexico border. "Hunting season is quickly approaching, and we need to know where the boundaries are." The Department of Defense has taken over an area along the border seven times the size of Manhattan, after President Donald Trump declared a national emergency due to an "invasion" of migrants. The transfer converts the land for at least three years intoa de facto military installation– allowing federal authorities to charge migrants, and perhaps others, with illegal trespass on a military base. But the new ownership has some locals worried, particularly those who hunt and hike on a landscape that is as fragile as it is vast. Will U.S. citizens be arrested if they enter the area, unwittingly? Will soldiers honor their right to hunt? Will the Department of Defense take care of the land and wildlife? U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico,sent a letterMay 14 to Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth asking for answers to such questions. "These landscapes are not only biologically diverse but also culturally significant, and they deserve thoughtful stewardship and clear communication when federal land designations shift or change in use," Heinrich wrote. "Will hunting continue to be allowed within the (National Defense Area), and if so, under what additional regulations or condition?" he asked. "Are other recreational uses, including hiking, camping, and off-road vehicle use, still allowed within the NDA?" The DOD didn't respond to questions posed by USA TODAY regarding the future of hunting and hiking access. Hunting is allowed on some existing military reservations, according to theNew Mexico Department of Game and Fish. Hunters "must obtain permission and conditions of access directly from the military reservation," according to the website, which doesn't name the new military installation specifically. Brandon Wynn, a retired Albuquerque businessman and advocate for public land and hunting access, has hunted on military reservations before in New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado, he said; the permitting process is complicated. But this new military installation is different. "With this thing, there is no process for me even get permission that I'm aware of," he said. "It really bothers me. This means I can't go into there." The region, especially in New Mexico's rugged Bootheel, is framed by open sky and cut through by rocky mountain ranges. Hunters and hikers can find themselves hours from assistance or cell service. It's an area that historically was trafficked by drug smugglers and migrants seeking to enter the country illegally. The southern end ofthe Continental Divide Trail– the longest of the country's National Scenic Trails, running 3,100 miles from Mexico to Canada – now lies within the area controlled by the Army. A day after Heinrich sent the letter, the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission, which manages the Rio Grande, rescinded bird-hunting access along a 63-mile strip of land in Texas, saying in a news release that it "no longer administers the land." The rural area east of El Paso, Texas, was a dove- and quail-hunting region. The land transfer from the Department of the Interior to the Department of Defenseincludes 109,651 acres in New Mexico, in Doña Ana, Luna and Hidalgo counties at the border, according to the Bureau of Land Management. It also includes another 2,000 acres of Texas borderland, according to a Department of Defense figurecited by El Paso Matters, a local journalism nonprofit. New Mexico's southern border is home to some two dozen endangered and protected wildlife species, native to that area and nowhere else, said Garrett VeneKlasen, northern conservation director of the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance. Some locals are happy about the military's arrival. Ranchers are also stakeholders and use land now under military jurisdiction to graze cattle ‒ or they did before an enduring drought made ranching unfeasible. In southern New Mexico, "most ranchers are supporters of Trump's actions," said rancher Stephen Wilmeth, who leases federal land in Doña Ana County. "Finally there is some relief." Like Trejo, VeneKlasen pulled a hunting tag this year at the southern border, where he plans to hunt Coues deer in the fall. The deer is a white-tailed species found only in the desert Southwest. "For a big, white redneck-looking guy like me, I'm sure there are going to be restrictions on what I can and cannot do," he said, adding he'd like to know what the rules are are in advance. "But I'm worried about my friends," he said. "Can you imagine having camo and a gun in that country, with an agency that has been let off the leash and the potential for people with brown skin tones to be shot and killed? That terrifies me." The newly minted military zone doesn't appear yet on the maps Trejo uses when he's out hunting, he said. "When I get a hunting tag I am doing backflips in my office because it's a real privilege to hunt," said Trejo, who also serves as southern outreach coordinator for the New Mexico Wildlife Federation. "Hunting has been important to me my whole life," he said. "It's a traditional thing. We got out on the landscape and hunted. It brought families together and put food on the table. I'm a little alarmed at the possibility of not being able to continue doing this, for my children and grandchildren as well." Lauren Villagran can be reached at lvillagran@usatoday.com. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:US military takes over the border. What will that mean for hunters?
