March 2024

The New Mexico State Game Commission hosted their first meeting of 2024 in Albuquerque this past Friday. They were supposed to have held a meeting in January, but that meeting was abruptly cancelled to give the Governor time to appoint 2 additional commissioners. The reason for cancellation was a rumor but it appears to have been true considering there were magically 2 new commissioners at the meeting on Friday. The commission is now a full seven-member body for the first time since April 2021. The new commissioners are Richard Stump, a jeweler from Santa Fe who is also a horse trainer, lifelong sportsman, and a former hunting guide. And Sabrina Pack, a businesswoman from Silver City who does not seem to have any direct interests with the NMDGF other than a general love for wildlife.
 
The commission meeting was very routine. The primary agenda items were the annual initiation of the migratory bird rule and the commencement of the biennial review of NMDGF’s list of threatened and endangered species. One item that got punted to the next commission meeting was the election of a chair and vice chair. The commission has lacked a chairperson since the position was vacated by the sudden resignation of Deanna Archuleta during the 2023 legislative session. There are, of course, several rumors floating around as to why the commission hasn’t elected a chair. All rumors include some level of back-room politics. However, the truth of these rumors is of little concern to NMCOG. It makes no difference to us whether Tirzio Lopez becomes chairman or whether Sharon Salazar Hickey resumes the post. Or perhaps the position will be given to someone entirely new. It simply doesn’t matter, NMCOG will work equally diligent to form a relationship with whomever becomes chair.
 
As previously stated, Friday’s meeting was routine. However, you’d never know it from reading the NM Wildlife Federation’s latest work of fiction. Normally NMCOG would not stoop so low as to provide NMWF with any level of PR. However, their latest diatribe was so rot with propagandized misinformation it seems only right to set the record straight. NMWF took a 5-minute commission conversation at the end of the meeting (which was promoted by Commissioner Pack’s innocent desire to learn more about the issues related to the Dept. for which she is now a member of the governing body) and turned it into a 1300-word anti-EPLUS essay. Most egregiously, they used the article as an opportunity to, straight up, libel a good man who happens to be originally from Texas and who happens to own private property. A man whose monetary contributions of the last decade have done more to benefit the riparian ecosystem, the fisheries, and the community of Chama, NM than the NM Wildlife Federation has ever done since the dawn of time.
 
There was absolutely no justifiable reason for the NMWF to publish such mean-spirited blather. And it only highlighted their obvious desperation to misinform resident hunters. Luckily many resident hunters are finally waking up to recognize the NMWF’s true colors…. Now on to what the commission actually discussed in their meeting on Friday.
 
INITIATION OF THE MIGRATORY BIRD RULE
The Migratory Game Bird Rule is amended annually to ensure compliance with Federal Flyway recommendations and guidelines. In New Mexico, season selections and bag limits are determined in conjunction with the Central and Pacific Flyways and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The Dept. is at the beginning of the review process for this Rule. Changes to the migratory bird rule will be determined over the next few months and presented to the Commission at a subsequent meeting. Public comment is now open, but NMCOG will wait to formalize our comments until after the Dept. comes out with their official recommendations.

BIENNIAL REVIEW OF STATE LISTED THREATENED AND ENDANGERED SPECIES
Every other year Department biologists determine for each listed species whether its status should be ‘uplisted’ from threatened to endangered, ‘downlisted’ from endangered to threatened, or remain unchanged from the previous review period. Adding or removing species to or from the state list is a separate process. The biennial review will take several months to complete and will then be open for a 90-day comment period prior to approval.
 
NEW APPOINTMENTS TO THE CITIZEN ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) is a volunteer working group that authorizes and prioritizes projects for the Habitat Stamp Program (HSP). The program’s purpose is to plan, develop, and coordinate conservation and rehabilitation projects on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) managed lands that benefit fish and wildlife populations. Each member serves a 5-year term. Newly appointed CAC members are as follows:
 
Lief Ahlm (At large position)
Manuel L’esperance (Farm and Ranch position)
Mark Cadwallader (District 1)
Mark Mattaini (District 3)
Ronald Loehman (At Large position)
 
2024 COMMISSION MEETING DATES AND LOCATIONS
The commission voted on the following schedule of dates and locations for future 2024 Commission meetings. All meetings will continue to be an in-person & virtual hybrid.
 
April 19th – Silver City, NM
May 17th – Hobbs, NM
August 15th – Red River, NM
November 8th – Las Cruces, NM
January 10th, 2025 – Santa Fe, NM
 
ODDS AND ENDS
During the meeting the Commission also heard a presentation from the Nature Niños, they approved the Hunters Education and Fishing License Application Rules (both rules underwent simple language changes), And they heard a presentation on the Dept’s fiscal year 2023 audit (of which there were no significant findings).