After fishy debate, Senate approves bill modernizing NM Game and Fish department

SANTA FE — New Mexico’s Department of Game and Fish would get its biggest facelift in decades under a bill that cleared the state Senate on Saturday.

After a lengthy debate that touched on fishing, wolves, prairie dogs and sand dune lizards, the Senate voted 28-12 to approve the legislation.

This year’s bill, Senate Bill 5, would rebrand the agency as the state Department of Wildlife, restructure the state Game Commission and increase license fees for anglers and hunters.

An in-state New Mexico fishing license, for instance, would increase from $25 to $35, while an out-of-state seasonal fishing license would jump from $56 to $90.

Backers of the legislation say the fee increases would help the agency remain functional. Other funding infusions would allow the department to take on a larger role in regulating and protecting New Mexico wildlife.

They also described the bill as a delicate deal crafted after months of negotiations.

“It is a compromise in which we have addressed concerns from all parties,” said Sen. Crystal Brantley, R-Elephant Butte, one of the sponsors of the legislation.

The bill has support from a broad coalition of conservation groups, including the New Mexico Wildlife Federation and the local chapters of Trout Unlimited and the Audubon Society.

However, Sen. James Townsend, R-Artesia, pointed out groups like the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association still oppose the legislation.

Specifically, Townsend raised concern about whether the legislation would allow game wardens to kill predatory animals and how endangered species would be treated.

“I think we need to be more definitive about what we’re going to protect and what we’re not,” Townsend said.

This year’s bill marks the latest attempt to restructure the seven-member Game Commission, after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s removal of several commissioners and other turnover.

The governor pocket vetoed a 2023 bill that would have changed how Game Commission members are appointed, while other measures have stalled at the Roundhouse.

After several changes in Senate committees, this year’s proposal advancing at the Roundhouse calls for the creation of a nominating committee to help vet new game commissioners, as is currently done for judicial vacancies.

The governor would then be able to select names from among a list of nominees.

Fishing and hunting issues have occasionally turned into political flashpoints at the Roundhouse, such as when lawmakers voted in 2015 to allow private landowners to bar public access to streams and rivers running through their property.

The state Supreme Court in 2022 ruled the state Constitution allows public access to such waterways.

Meanwhile, the Saturday vote came after senators rejected a series of amendments proposed by Sen. Jeff Steinborn, D-Las Cruces, that sought to expand the scope of the legislation.

“To try to change it at this point would be unfair, I think, to the process that got us to this point,” said Senate President Pro Tem Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe.

He also said the state might need to provide more funding for the Game and Fish department, which currently relies on license fees to fund its operations.

“Putting it all on the backs of the fishermen and the hunters is an interesting way to do business,” Wirth said.

The bill now advances to the House of Representatives with three weeks left in the 60-day legislative session that ends March 22.