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Her pro-wildlife agenda includes modernizing the state’s Department of Game and Fish, confronting commercial and recreational trapping, combatting wildlife trafficking, recognizing wildlife movement corridors, supporting Mexican gray wolf recovery, funding non-game wildlife conservation and creating fiscal incentives for private land conservation.
The governor is off to a good start. Last year, she signed SB 228, the Wildlife Corridors Act, which establishes a statewide Wildlife Corridors Action Plan that will identify migration routes and places where highways impede wildlife movement, along with projections of how drought and climate change impact the daily and seasonal movement of wildlife. Additionally, the plan will include a list of priority roadway infrastructure projects such as fencing, underpasses and overpasses that will help protect both wildlife and people.
In addition to modest budget increases for essential natural resource agencies like the Environment Department and Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources, Lujan Grisham’s budget also includes $500,000 for the Department of Game and Fish to manage threatened and endangered species. This funding is the first step toward our vision of a “wildlife” department rather than a “game” department and giving the commission the authority to manage a broader array of wildlife.
Additionally, there are several efforts in the state House and Senate.
In the 2020 legislative session, Defenders of Wildlife hopes to see Albuquerque Democrat Sen. Mimi Stewart’s Wildlife Trafficking Act become law, empowering local law enforcement and closing loopholes that facilitate illegal wildlife trafficking.
Sen. Steven Neville, R-Aztec, introduced important legislation with the Agriculture and Natural Resources Trust Fund Act, which would make a long-term investment in New Mexico’s lands, water and wildlife by ensuring adequate funding to restore fragile grasslands, improve watershed health and protect ecologically vital habitat through conservation easements.
We are hopeful that a future session will see legislation establishing a recurring source of funding for supporting nongame species and modernizing the structure of the state Game Commission to ensure qualified candidates and limited political influence.
Finally, the passage of the Rural Heritage Act would create a conservation tax bracket that falls in between the agriculture and residential rates and establish a fiscal incentive for conservation and habitat restoration on private lands.
Gov. Lujan Grisham’s first year produced encouraging signs for wildlife. New Mexico is once again investing in our lands, water and wildlife, but due to the impacts of climate change and the mounting extinction crisis, we must go beyond what is possible in our current paradigm. New Mexico has a chance to be a leader, but to do so, we need a firm commitment, innovative thinking, bold action and fearless leadership.
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