Nov. 6, 2015
For immediate release
New Mexico hunters, trappers and anglers are willing to pay far more than ever before to access State Trust Land, but Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn appears more interested in grandstanding than taking a check that benefits New Mexico schools and hospitals.
With a Nov. 19 deadline looming, Dunn continues to demand at least a five-fold increase from the Department of Game and Fish to allow licensed sportsmen onto some 8 million acres of land he controls. The Department in recent years has paid $200,000 a year for that access. Dunn insists on $1 million at minimum for the coming year, increasing to $2 million and more in the near future.
“He’s also presented alternatives of a $4 million, three-year lease and – the real shocker – an interim $1 million lease, during which his office would get an appraisal of the lease’s value and magnanimously cap the payment at $5 million a year,” said John Crenshaw, president of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation.
The Federation found the multi-million-dollar proposals while inspecting public records related to the issue, he said.
“We have to take those multi-million dollar figures seriously,” he added. “Commissioner Dunn has repeatedly said he believes the game department should be paying $3 million or more, though this is the first time we’ve seen $5 million bandied about.”
Crenshaw described the $1 million-plus payments as an added tax on sportsmen, whose license fees pay for the lease.
“A million dollars is exorbitant, but $2 million is extortion, and $5 million is ludicrous,” he continued. “From here, it looks like Commissioner Dunn is trying to price New Mexico hunters, anglers and trappers off lands we’ve been using for generations.”
Since the early 1960s the Game and Fish Department has made payments to the State Land Office to ensure that hunters, anglers and trappers can use state trust lands and thereby contribute to New Mexico schools. Many sportsmen agree that the current $200,000 rate probably needs to rise, and Game and Fish has offered to pay nearly $2 million for three years – a three-fold increase. Dunn has steadfastly refused to accept it.
Dunn has repeatedly touted an $800,000 increase in the access fee as funding 16 teaching positions. “We did the arithmetic and the real number’s closer to eight,” Crenshaw said. “But either number is negligible – there are more than 22,000 public school teachers in the state. And the State Land Office last fiscal year took in almost $740 million. Sportsmen’s access fees are a drop in the bucket.”
On the other hand, he noted, raising the access fee from $200,000 to the $2 million Dunn wants by 2018 will require higher license fees from hunters and anglers.
“Sportsmen are making a good faith effort to pay more, but Commissioner Dunn apparently would rather talk tough than take sportsmen’s money,” Crenshaw said. “Sadly, he appears more interested in making a political statement that could end up cutting funds for New Mexico schools and hospitals.”
The State Game Commission, which must approve any agreement, has publicly discussed closing all State Trust Lands to hunting, fishing and trapping if it believes Dunn is demanding too much for access in the coming year. The Commission will take up the issue in Roswell on Nov. 19.
While the 2016-17 access agreement is important, Crenshaw noted, Dunn’s actions present a scenario that should terrify most New Mexico hunters and anglers: that a single public official – the State Land Commissioner – can unilaterally set the terms of access to vast swaths of public lands.
“This is one of the main reasons why so many sportsmen oppose the idea of transferring national public lands to the states,” he said. “If Commissioner Dunn were in charge of the Gila, Carson and our other national forests, for example, he could impose outrageous fees and lock out sportsmen without blinking an eye.”
