As states rethink wildlife administration, New Mexico affords a brand new mannequin – Solar Sentinel

By Alex Brown, Stateline.org (TNS)

For years, outdoor fanatics in New Mexico have pushed to overtake the state Division of Recreation & Fish — an company affected by management turnover, funding woes and the scorn of hunters and tree-huggers alike.

Now, state lawmakers have given the company a brand new identify, a brand new mission, new management and a lift in funding to develop its position. The sweeping regulation enacted in March places New Mexico on the forefront of a rising motion to rethink states’ conventional mannequin of wildlife administration.

“We got here from a spot of utmost dysfunction,” mentioned Jesse Deubel, government director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, an environmental nonprofit that advocated for the brand new regulation. “Now, I actually do imagine that we’re going to be a gold commonplace for wildlife administration. Over the following few years. you’re going to see an unbelievable shift.”

New Mexico’s new strategy expands the company’s focus past looking and fishing to guard extra species and brings in new funding to cut back its reliance on license gross sales. Different states are watching carefully. Lawmakers throughout the nation have launched payments to vary their wildlife businesses, and lots of have cited the New Mexico measure for example of what’s potential.

“That’s the largest sport changer,” mentioned Michelle Lute, government director of Wildlife for All, a nationwide nonprofit targeted on overhauling states’ wildlife governance. “That’s the laws we’ll be pointing to as a mannequin in future years.”

From Oregon to Utah to Florida, legislators have launched payments that will overhaul their wildlife businesses’ funding, mission and governance.

Whereas the proposals have had various ranges of success, New Mexico leaders say it took years of coalition-building to get their invoice throughout the end line. Wildlife advocates count on the problem to earn extra legislative consideration nationwide within the years to return.

Underneath the normal mannequin, state wildlife businesses have largely been funded by the license charges paid by hunters and anglers, plus federal excise taxes on gear equivalent to weapons and fishing sort out. The businesses have targeted most of their work on species like deer and trout, prized by the sporting teams that present their income.

In New Mexico, as in most states, the commissions that govern these departments have been appointed by governors. They’re typically stuffed by looking and fishing guides, ranchers and political donors. Critics say this mannequin ends in panels that set coverage to guard their financial pursuits.

Right this moment, many wildlife businesses are struggling to remain afloat as fewer and fewer residents hunt and fish. On the identical time, plummeting wildlife populations are compelling businesses to develop their work past conventional “sport” species. And a few wildlife advocates are demanding a brand new governance mannequin that places extra scientists in cost.

This yr, state lawmakers throughout the nation have handed or thought-about a number of main wildlife administration overhauls. Some would develop their businesses’ mission to give attention to non-game species. Others would offer new funding streams to tackle that extra work. And a few would change the make-up of the commissions that dictate wildlife coverage.

In New Mexico, lawmakers did all three directly.

The state’s company had confronted quite a few issues over time. Hunters and bird-watchers alike had been pissed off with the company’s management. Lately, a number of commissioners have resigned or been compelled out by Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. At instances, the panel has lacked sufficient members to kind a quorum.

The company’s funds was in hassle as properly. The state had not raised license charges in practically 20 years, retaining income flat whilst inflation made the price of its work increasingly costly.

“We had been having to repurpose cash from on-the-ground conservation simply to make wage changes,” mentioned Stewart Liley, wildlife division chief with the New Mexico Division of Recreation & Fish. “We had been attending to a precarious spot.”

In 2023, lawmakers handed a invoice to restructure the company’s fee, which might have taken some energy away from the governor. Lujan Grisham declined to signal the invoice, killing the trouble with a pocket veto.

This yr, lawmakers took an even bigger swing. The bundle handed this session renames the Division of Recreation & Fish to the Division of Wildlife. It expands the company’s authority to guard non-game species in want of conservation assist.

“We needed to make it clear that that is our state wildlife company, and it’s the one one we’ve bought,” mentioned Deubel, of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation. “They’ve bought a accountability to work on any species within the state that has conservation want.”