LEGISLATIVE CALL TO ACTION
We very much regret to inform you that SB 312 is alive yet again! Only this time the bill has been reincarnated as SB 419 - NARROW LANDOWNER ANIMAL TAKINGS. It seems the spaghetti throwing experiment of SB 312 has the Jennings Law repeal as the only thing left sticking to the Legislative wall.
SB 419 is basically a straight Jennings Law repeal. The bill eliminates a landowner's ability to protect their private property, livestock, or crops from wildlife damage & depredation. Under this bill, even after a landowner has worked with the Dept. of Game and Fish to resolve a wildlife depredation problem for a full year, the landowner would still not have the right to take or kill an animal without the explicit permission of the State Game Commission through Rule.
The Jennings Law is not utilized by landowners for elk control very often. That's because under the EPLUS program elk have value. Without EPLUS elk become pests that compete for resources with other income producing assets (such as cattle or crops). If the EPLUS program is dissolved, landowners will be forced to use the Jennings Law to protect their income producing assets against high levels of forage and crop depredation. In order for the NMWF and BHA (the same proponents of this bill) to force private land hunting authorizations back into the public draw they must first get rid of the Jennings Law.
Senator Steinborn (the sponsor of the bill) has been very careful to steer clear of linking this bill to the attempts to dismantle the EPLUS program. Even publicly announcing on the Senate floor yesterday "this bill has nothing to do with landowner hunting tags". DO NOT BE FOOLED. Back in October 2020 the NMWF and BHA put the outfitting industry on notice that they were planning to try to dissolve the EPLUS program. Repealing the Jennings Law is step-one in that effort. Now we are suddenly expected to believe that this legislative push to repeal the Jennings Law is a mere coincidence! How dumb do they think we are.
Additionally, this bill establishes a NEW provision of law that allows the State Game Commission to determine "whether and by what manner and method a species can be taken or killed in order to mitigate damage". So, in theory, the Commission would now have the ability to tell a private landowner, who has a skunk in their chicken coop, whether they must use a gun, a bow, or a box cutter to kill the skunk.
And let's not forget that the word "take" is defined as "to harass, hunt, capture or kill any wildlife or attempt to do so". Under this bill, if you have a bear in your garbage can (I'm talking to you Raton, NM) there is not one thing you could do about it other than call the Dept. Game and Fish...and good luck if it's 3am.
Finally, delegating full control of wildlife damage mitigation to the State Game Commission will create nothing more than a revolving door of constant policy changes, that will swing from one side of the pendulum to the other, every time a new Governor appoints a new Game Commission.
It's time to open the flood gates of opposition to this bill. Call, text, and email your Senators NOW! This bill will be heard by the Senate Conservation Committee on Saturday morning at 9am. Click HERE to register to speak. Remember the new bill number is SB 419. Senate Conservation Committee members are listed below.
SB 419 is basically a straight Jennings Law repeal. The bill eliminates a landowner's ability to protect their private property, livestock, or crops from wildlife damage & depredation. Under this bill, even after a landowner has worked with the Dept. of Game and Fish to resolve a wildlife depredation problem for a full year, the landowner would still not have the right to take or kill an animal without the explicit permission of the State Game Commission through Rule.
The Jennings Law is not utilized by landowners for elk control very often. That's because under the EPLUS program elk have value. Without EPLUS elk become pests that compete for resources with other income producing assets (such as cattle or crops). If the EPLUS program is dissolved, landowners will be forced to use the Jennings Law to protect their income producing assets against high levels of forage and crop depredation. In order for the NMWF and BHA (the same proponents of this bill) to force private land hunting authorizations back into the public draw they must first get rid of the Jennings Law.
Senator Steinborn (the sponsor of the bill) has been very careful to steer clear of linking this bill to the attempts to dismantle the EPLUS program. Even publicly announcing on the Senate floor yesterday "this bill has nothing to do with landowner hunting tags". DO NOT BE FOOLED. Back in October 2020 the NMWF and BHA put the outfitting industry on notice that they were planning to try to dissolve the EPLUS program. Repealing the Jennings Law is step-one in that effort. Now we are suddenly expected to believe that this legislative push to repeal the Jennings Law is a mere coincidence! How dumb do they think we are.
Additionally, this bill establishes a NEW provision of law that allows the State Game Commission to determine "whether and by what manner and method a species can be taken or killed in order to mitigate damage". So, in theory, the Commission would now have the ability to tell a private landowner, who has a skunk in their chicken coop, whether they must use a gun, a bow, or a box cutter to kill the skunk.
And let's not forget that the word "take" is defined as "to harass, hunt, capture or kill any wildlife or attempt to do so". Under this bill, if you have a bear in your garbage can (I'm talking to you Raton, NM) there is not one thing you could do about it other than call the Dept. Game and Fish...and good luck if it's 3am.
Finally, delegating full control of wildlife damage mitigation to the State Game Commission will create nothing more than a revolving door of constant policy changes, that will swing from one side of the pendulum to the other, every time a new Governor appoints a new Game Commission.
It's time to open the flood gates of opposition to this bill. Call, text, and email your Senators NOW! This bill will be heard by the Senate Conservation Committee on Saturday morning at 9am. Click HERE to register to speak. Remember the new bill number is SB 419. Senate Conservation Committee members are listed below.
Senator Stefanics - (505) 397-8851
Senator Sedillo-Lopez - (505) 397-8847
Senator Gallegos - (505) 986-4278
Senator Cervantes - (505) 397-8820
Senator Hamblen - (505) 397-8827
Senator Neville - (505) 986-4701
Senator Pope - (505) 397-8843
Senator Schmedes - (505) 986-4395
Senator Soules - (505) 397-8850
(Just copy the below list and paste into your email)
SCONC@nmlegis.gov
lstefanics@msn.com
a.sedillolopez@nmlegis.gov
david.rsi@icloud.com
joseph.cervantes@nmlegis.gov
carrie.hamblen@nmlegis.gov
steven.neville@nmlegis.gov
harold.popejr@nmlegis.gov
gregg.schmedes@nmlegis.gov
bill.soules@nmlegis.gov
Senator Sedillo-Lopez - (505) 397-8847
Senator Gallegos - (505) 986-4278
Senator Cervantes - (505) 397-8820
Senator Hamblen - (505) 397-8827
Senator Neville - (505) 986-4701
Senator Pope - (505) 397-8843
Senator Schmedes - (505) 986-4395
Senator Soules - (505) 397-8850
(Just copy the below list and paste into your email)
SCONC@nmlegis.gov
lstefanics@msn.com
a.sedillolopez@nmlegis.gov
david.rsi@icloud.com
joseph.cervantes@nmlegis.gov
carrie.hamblen@nmlegis.gov
steven.neville@nmlegis.gov
harold.popejr@nmlegis.gov
gregg.schmedes@nmlegis.gov
bill.soules@nmlegis.gov
ELK PRIVATE LAND USE SYSTEM (EPLUS)
The method that the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF) utilizes to compensate landowners for the essential habitat and water resources they provide to wildlife on private property is called the Elk Private Land Use System (EPLUS). In most other states the Game and Fish agency compensates landowners for essential wildlife habitat and water contributions through direct monetary reimbursement payments. NM's system is unique in that our landowners are allocated hunting permits which they can sell on the open market. EPLUS is an ingenious system which has taken the NMDGF decades to perfect and has established NM as a leader among other western states.
MCOG understands the crucial importance of private landowners to the survival of NM's wildlife.
Landowners in NM provide vast amounts of habitat and are a critical source of water in our arid landscapes. In some areas, private landowners provide the only water resource for many miles around. Landowners have spent generations, and millions of dollars, caring for New Mexico’s wildlife. They invest in habitat restoration projects, they leave water wells pumping even after the cattle are gone, they thin forested areas to promote grass growth, and they provide refuge for wildlife seeking to escape heavy pressure from public land hunters. Landowners should be compensated and incentivized for the essential conservation they provide to wildlife; and they are through EPLUS.
Landowners in NM provide vast amounts of habitat and are a critical source of water in our arid landscapes. In some areas, private landowners provide the only water resource for many miles around. Landowners have spent generations, and millions of dollars, caring for New Mexico’s wildlife. They invest in habitat restoration projects, they leave water wells pumping even after the cattle are gone, they thin forested areas to promote grass growth, and they provide refuge for wildlife seeking to escape heavy pressure from public land hunters. Landowners should be compensated and incentivized for the essential conservation they provide to wildlife; and they are through EPLUS.
Hunting & fishing is the highest grossing outdoor recreation tourism industry in NM. The outfitted segment is a billion dollar per year industry represented by the largest number of Outdoor Recreation small business owners in the state. NM hunting and fishing outfitters operate on both public and private lands, frequently partnering with landowners to facilitate hunter/angler opportunity on lands that would otherwise not be accessible to sportsmen. All outfitters are business owners who pay NM Gross Receipts Taxes on all their trips and on every landowner permit. Outfitters provide jobs in very rural communities where unemployment is often at its highest. Outfitters additionally pay 3% of their gross income to the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to operate commercially on federal lands.
Read our response to Senator Heinrich & to the ABQ Journal
Click HERE to read the original ABQ article
Click HERE to read Heinrich's original Letter
Click HERE to read the original ABQ article
Click HERE to read Heinrich's original Letter
The EPLUS system has recently come under attack from Senator Martin Heinrich, the ABQ Journal, and so-called sportsmen organizations who advocate resident preference. These are the same organization that are also pushing for unfettered public access to waters located on private property. These organizations are unabashedly anti-private property and they have zero appreciation for the enormous economic benefits provided to NM's rural communities through the outfitting industry.
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