Jicarilla Game and Fish Department
P.O. Box 313, Dulce, New Mexico  87528
Phone: (575) 759-3255
Fax (575) 759-3457
Website: www.jicarillahunt.com
Contact: Jacob Mazzone, Fisheries Biologist

E-Mail: hunting-fishing@jicarillahunt.com

Updated 5/28/2019

Located in north-central New Mexico, the 850,000 acre Jicarilla Apache Reservation was established in 1887 as a homeland for the Jicarilla Apache people, who had historically roamed extensively across mountains and foothills in New Mexico and Colorado. The Jicarilla is rich in natural resources, including oil and gas, timber, rangelands, fisheries, and wildlife. Elevations range from 6,500-9,000ft, and the landscape varies from rugged pine covered mesas and pinyon-juniper woodlands to lowland sagebrush flats, several great fishing lakes, and the Navajo River. Dulce is the reservation's sole community with a population of approximately 3,000 people, and is home to the Jicarilla Apache Nation's headquarters.

Fisheries and Wildlife Resources are managed by the Jicarilla Game & Fish Department, whose mission statement is “To conserve, enhance and protect wildlife, fish and their habitat for the benefit of the Jicarilla Apache people, while perpetuating sovereign rights and traditional values”. The Jicarilla Game and Fish Department (est. 1957) has a long history of professional wildlife management from which a world-class big-game hunting program has emerged and flourished.  In 1982 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Indian tribes had sole jurisdiction and sovereign authority to manage fish and wildlife within reservation boundaries (Mescalero v. New Mexico Department of Game and Fish).  The Nation expanded the Jicarilla Game and Fish Department (JGFD) and organized management capabilities into 4 divisions, which include 1) Administration, 2) Biological: Wildlife and Fisheries Management, 3) Conservation Law Enforcement, and 4) Parks and Recreation Divisions.  To this day under sovereign right and authority, JGFD has sole management of wildlife, fish and their habitats on Jicarilla lands. Hunting and fishing are an important part of Jicarilla tradition and heritage and provides significant revenue to the local economy through commercial hunting and fishing opportunities. 

The JGFD actively manages to conserves multiple sensitive endemic species, including Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarki virginalis), Roundtail Chub (Gila robusta), and Rio Grande Chub (Gila Pandora). While also providing world-class trophy trout fisheries in three lakes on the reservation.

To learn more please visit http://www.jicarillahunt.com