When a man turns his childhood stomping ground into his office—and his office is the 840,000-acre Jicarilla Apache Reservation—he probably considers himself lucky. Tom Watts, a wildlife biologist for the Jicarilla Apache Game and Fish Department, did just that and finds himself definitely enjoying the ride.

	Wildlife biologist Tom Watts crafts a model partnership between the Jicarilla Apache tribe and the Elk Foundation, to the benefit of elk. (photo by PJ DelHomme/Elk Foundation)

Watts was born and raised in New Mexico. But college took him to Colorado State, where he earned a bachelor’s in wildlife biology. He later got a master’s in wildlife management from New Mexico State University.

After a stint with the U.S. Forest Service, followed by the Bureau of Land Management, then a couple years with a wildlife consulting firm in Denver, Watts finally got the chance he’d been waiting for: to get back on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation. In 1982, he began the job he’s done ever since. “I hadn’t been to the reservation in 10 years. Not since high school,” Watts says. He speaks with excitement about the job, even after a quarter-century, because he’s still happy where he is.

Watts oversees the stewardship of both mule deer and elk on the reservation and is involved with habitat enhancement, population monitoring and managing a successful hunting program—known for consistently producing world-class mule deer and elk. “We manage for trophy animals,” says Watts, “and we also do a lot of water development projects, solar wells and pond construction. It’s pretty dry down here. The point is to improve the habitat on our side of the fence to help keep elk out of the agricultural land on the other side. We want to keep the elk on the reservation.”

Such enhancement projects help sustain a resident herd of 3,000 elk. They also make it possible for the reservation to winter upwards of 10,000 animals, the rest of which spend most of the year on national forest and state land, providing a bounty of public hunting opportunity.

Watts has helped cultivate a model relationship between the Elk Foundation and the reservation, says Tom Toman, director of conservation for the Elk Foundation.

“Tom [Watts] arranged for Elk Foundation chapters to get three cow permits and turkey permits from the reservation to auction off at banquets. He built those relationships. Thanks to him we really have a great relationship with the tribe,” Toman says. “The Jicarilla is a great model for conservation partnerships.”

The partnership that Watts helped build allows the Elk Foundation to protect and enhace elk habitat in that part of the country. The Elk Foundation and the Jicarilla Apache teamed up on their first stewardship project in 1992. Since then, the foundation has contributed more than $100,000 to complete a dozen projects—including key water developments, wildlife-friendly fences, weed treatments and seeding—enhancing more than 22,000 acres. Elk Foundation volunteers have worked on fence removal projects and wild turkey trapping on the reservation as well.

It isn’t about the elk and turkey permits or the reservation donating wild turkeys to the Double H Ranch [Torstenson Wildlife Center], Toman says. “It’s just really important to help those elk. We need to treat elk habitat wherever it is.”

Watts also serves on the New Mexico Project Advisory Committee (PAC) that helps determine which projects are funded by the Elk Foundation. “Tom knows the state of New Mexico,” Toman says. “He comes up with good analysis and good questions about projects. Always thinking outside of the box, the right techniques, the costs. He’s been a stalwart PAC representative in New Mexico. Salt of the earth kind of guy,” he says. “Anybody who’s ever met him can call him friend.”