Legislator proposes Game Commission overhaul

An angler, a biologist and a farmer walk into a commission meeting.

It might sound like the start to a bad joke.

But that could be the makeup of a future New Mexico Game Commission, as some legislators and nonprofits push for changes to the seven-member committee.

A draft of a bill that would create specific "job descriptions" for commissioners, as well as raising hunting and fishing fees for the first time in decades, was presented last month at a meeting of the Water and Natural Resources Committee.

Under the proposal, three at-large members from diverse counties and political affiliations would be joined by a rancher or farmer, a conservationist, a hunter or angler and a scientist with a master's degree or higher in wildlife biology or similar field.

"Will this make it harder to fill these positions?" said Rep. Matthew McQueen, D-Galisteo, during a press call. "The answer is yes, absolutely."

However, McQueen thinks it's worth it to "take some of the politics out of it" and ensure qualified candidates reach the commission. McQueen has been pushing for changes to the Game Commission for years; his most recent attempt was pocket-vetoed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. But he thinks this iteration may make it over the finish line.

"We have a very broad-based coalition of people who are working on this," McQueen said. "We don't necessarily always agree all the time, but people are at the table."

Nominating, removing members

A new nominating committee would be tasked with drafting a list of candidates to present to the governor, who would be required to pick from the list. Commissioners would serve six-year staggered terms under the proposal.

The bill would also make it harder to remove commissioners, requiring the State Ethics Commission to find evidence of incompetence, neglect of duty or malfeasance.

Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, compared the effort to his own eight-year struggle to pass a bill changing the membership requirements for the Interstate Stream Commission.

"It's challenging because you're asking the executive to take away some of their authority," Wirth said. "The reality, though, is ... if you don't balance out these boards, you have wild pendulum swings in how our water is managed, how our animals are managed."

But the proposed removal process gave him pause.

"I'm concerned, though, that the complaint can be brought by any person who has knowledge of a commissioner's alleged incompetence, neglect of duty or malfeasance," Wirth said. "I mean, what's going to happen is you're going to have the political pendulum again."

A new name

When there's wildlife in your neighborhood, who you gonna call?

For McQueen, it's the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. But he'd like to call it by a different name, which he believes better reflects its mission: the Department of Wildlife.

The department is already doing broad conservation work, McQueen said. During a September meeting of the Water and Natural Resources Committee, Game and Fish Director Michael Sloane said the department was "running on fumes" as it juggled a wide variety of projects.

"When there are wildlife issues in New Mexico, this is the agency we want at the table," McQueen said. "... I think what I'm doing is formalizing what their mission has already grown to in terms of addressing nongame species. And the department will tell you they spend a lot of time on nongame species."

The name change is included in McQueen's Game Commission bill.

Sen. Pat Woods, R-Broadview, said there are federal agencies that handle conservation and he did not agree with expanding the department to manage nongame species.

"I believe this agency was set up to look after the game animals in the state," Woods said. "I believe the hunters and ranchers, the hunters and fishermen in the state, pay the fees for this. It's a self-contained agency."

New funding

A more diverse funding structure for the department also is included in the bill.

"They're distraught for cash," McQueen said. "That's part of the reason that we're doing this."

The department is already reaping the benefit of the Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund, McQueen said.

But McQueen and Rep. Nathan Small, D-Las Cruces, aim to beef up department funding through new avenues, including a three-year, $10 million commitment from the Government Results and Opportunity Program Fund as well as increased hunting and fishing license fees. McQueen said license fees haven't been updated in 20 years.

"In order to modernize the Department of Game and Fish, we must also provide sustainable funding, and we can do this in a step-by-step, phased-in approach that doesn't break the bank," Small said in a news release.

License fees are set in statute, so they haven't responded to inflation. The proposal would also give the department the authority to adjust fees itself based on shifts in the consumer price index. The largest initial increases would go to nonresident hunters and fishers.

For New Mexico residents, a fishing license would increase from $25 to $35 and a game-hunting license would increase from $15 to $25. For out-of-state visitors, a fishing license would jump from $56 to $90, and a game-hunting license would increase from $65 to $85.

A deer hunting license would increase from $31 to $50 for residents and $260 to $375 for nonresidents, while a bull elk license would go from $80 to $90 for New Mexico residents and from $525 to $750 for nonresidents.

Previous attempt

The Legislature passed a similar bill McQueen sponsored during this year's session with broad bipartisan support, only for Lujan Grisham to pocket-veto it. This iteration looks a bit different — the previous bill gave lawmakers some of the appointment power.

"What I realized was I was changing the politics, more so than taking the politics out of the process," McQueen told fellow lawmakers at the Water and Natural Resources Committee. "We were still having appointments exclusively from political people. ... It was clear to me that there was still going to be a highly political process."

Spokesperson Jodi McGinnis Porter confirmed the Governor's Office was reviewing the bill and "collaborating and communicating" with McQueen and Small. Darren Vaughan, a spokesperson for Game and Fish, said the department is working with sponsors "as the bill evolves."

The commission has struggled with vacancies, starting with the controversial departures of Joanna Prukop in 2019 and Jeremy Vesbach in 2022. Neither of their terms were renewed.

In March 2023, Lujan Grisham appointed outdoor enthusiast and automotive dealer Edward Garcia; the board was filled earlier this year when she brought Richard Stump and Sabrina Pack onboard.

Garcia resigned Aug. 6 after being excused or absent from several meetings, according to a review of commission minutes. The seat remains vacant.