New Mexico lawmakers will once again take a stab at reforming the Game and Fish Department. A package of bills will look to drastically change how the department is funded and regulated in the upcoming 60-day session in January.
Famous for its big game such as elk, pronghorn and bighorn sheep, New Mexico is the fourth most biologically diverse state in the nation, according to the Bureau of Land Management, and a top hunting and fishing tourism hotspot.
Responsible for overseeing the management of this large swath of biologically diverse wildlife and their habitats, Game and Fish is an “enterprise” agency, which means it does not receive state funding to operate.
Instead, the department relies on fees gathered from hunting and angling licenses to pay the bills. But those haven’t changed in close to 20 years because they’re set in statute.
“We would pump those up to a more current level, and then also provide the department with the authority to change them based on CPI [consumer price index] adjustments in the future,” said bill co-sponsor Rep. Matthew McQueen (D-Santa Fe and Sandoval).
Alongside Rep. Nathan Small (D-Doña Ana), McQueen has championed similar proposals in the past, all of which died in committee.
This go-round, the pair will try once more to “modernize” the department by giving the agency a much-needed funding boost to supplement its conservation efforts with a $3.3 million “trial” appropriation from the state’s Government Results and Opportunity Fund, spread across three years.
“It's time for our department and our commission to expand their role and their mindset to be a fully fledged wildlife agency,” McQueen said.
The co-sponsors argue this injection would push the state to proactively plan for wildlife conservation needs, rather than the eleventh-hour approach of listing species as threatened or endangered and playing catch-up.
The funding could become permanent in the future if the department is able to prove it was successful.
In addition to renaming the agency the “Department of Wildlife,” the proposal would beef up its authority to allow its biologists to make crucial wildlife management decisions.
The last piece of the package aims to make representation on the regulation-setting Game and Fish Commission more equitable. It would allow for legislative input and require that nominees possess wildlife expertise before being considered for appointment by the governor.
The seven-member commission has not been fully staffed for years because of a slew of resignations. Some commissioners left without giving a reason while others blamed political disagreements with the governor.
The high turnover has regularly kept the body from reaching a quorum, the number of people needed to legally conduct business. Cancelled or infrequent meetings have led to frustrations among conservationists and the public alike.
Last year, lawmakers passed a bill that would have stripped the governor of her authority to remove game commissioners at will. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham “pocket-vetoed” it by not signing it without giving a reason.
This time around, lawmakers are proposing a check on the executive power by establishing a nominating committee that would submit a list of qualified candidates to the governor for all appointments and vacancies.
The proposal would also give the commission non-voting advisory members from agencies like the Outdoor Recreation Division, Department of Agriculture, State Land Office and Department of Indian Affairs.
While the future of the package remains to be seen and the governor’s stance unclear, Rep. Small said he is optimistic they are headed in the right direction.
“I think we're very much making progress to be willing to invest some new dollars that have some really clear guide posts that are focused on helping our experts — and everyday New Mexicans, private landowners and others —be better stewards of our natural heritage,” he said.
Details of the package could still change before its introduction in the 2025 session, which begins January 21.
