New Mexico's state land commissioner says participants in a commercial coyote killing contest run by a gun store in Los Lunas won't be allowed to use state trust land.
Commissioner Ray Powell says in a letter to the owner of Gunhawk Firearms that a permit or lease is needed for commercial use of the state lands and none has been issued. The letter obtained by the Santa Fe New Mexican on Thursday says anyone participating in the hunt who kills coyotes on state land will be considered a trespasser.
Powell says the contest set for Saturday and Sunday is about personal profit and animal cruelty and he believes the practice should be outlawed.
The State Land Office administers 13 million acres of trust land across New Mexico.
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Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.