By BEN NEARY
NMWF Conservation Director
ALBUQUERQUE – The New Mexico State Game Commission is now up to its full complement of seven members with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s appointment of two new commissioners this week.
The new commissioners are Sabrina Pack, a marketing professional from Silver City and Richard Stump, hunt manager at Troutstalker Ranch, on the Rio Chama in Rio Arriba County.
Their appointments bring the game commission up to full strength for the first time since the death of former Commissioner David Soules in early 2021.
Speaking at her first commission meeting in Albuquerque on Friday, Pack took the unusual step of saying she wants the game commission to take public comment on EPLUS (Elk Private Lands Use System) – the permanent rule under which the game commission gives a huge share of public elk permits to private landowners every year.
Other commissioners have steadfastly refused to entertain any discussion about EPLUS in recent years despite demands from the NMWF and other conservation groups.
Under EPLUS, the state gives elk permit authorizations to landowners, which they typically sell on the open market.
The authorizations allow whoever holds them to purchase an elk license from the state game department without going through the competitive public lottery system. While most licenses issued through EPLUS restrict hunting to the landowner’s property, others allow hunting on public lands in the same game management unit as the landowner’s property.
Pack suggested the commission take comments on EPLUS at a meeting it has scheduled for April 19 in Silver City. She said that meeting there would give members of the public concerned about EPLUS as well as those concerned about management of the Mexican Gray Wolf the opportunity to address the commission.
Pack’s suggestion came after a public comment period in which conservationists asked the commission to address the EPLUS issue.
Jesse Deubel, executive director of the NMWF, commented that the commission needs to address the state’s allocation of hunting opportunities. He listed that issue among other pressing issues facing the commission including the need to adjust hunting license fees which haven’t been raised in 20 years. The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish relies heavily on license fees to fund its operations.
Brandon Wynn, an Albuquerque hunter, also urged the commission to address EPLUS. “There has never been any attempt to modify EPLUS to address the concerns of the public for 30 years now,” he told the commission during the public comment period.
The game commission adopted a four-year rule setting seasons and other regulations for elk hunting on public lands in 2022. That rule went into effect for hunts that started last year.
But throughout public hearings on the elk rule two years ago, the game commission steadfastly refused requests from the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, Wynn and others that it open the EPLUS rule.
The NMWF, New Mexico Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting and the Outdoors (HECHO) and Hunters of Color recently released a new report on the EPLUS system. Read the report HERE.
The report showed that of the 36,008 elk licenses New Mexico issued in the 2022-23 hunting season, 13,639 went directly to landowners through EPLUS. Nonresidents got 10,256 of the EPLUS licenses – over 75 percent of the total. The figures remained essentially unchanged over the past two years.
Other states in the West, meanwhile, don’t give licenses to landowners. And they commonly limit nonresident hunters to a maximum of 10 percent of hunting licenses.
Pack said after Friday’s meeting that she looks forward to hearing more about the EPLUS issue.
“After today’s input from some of the public, certainly they were asking for a chance to be heard,” Pack said. “So I thought it would be a good opportunity. Since we were scheduling an additional meeting, let’s put it where it’s probably the most heartfelt, and they can come forward to talk about how they see the issues.
“I’m new to the commission and all the processes, but I will certainly look forward to hearing that public comment so we can figure out how to address these issues,” Pack said.
Pack works in marketing at SkyWest Media. She said she has a lifelong interest in wildlife and contacted the governor’s office to ask about serving on the commission. She said she’s not a hunter or angler. She said her family has a long history of ranching in southwestern New Mexico.
Tirzio Lopez, vice chair of the game commission, said after the meeting that he agrees with Pack’s suggestion that the commission should hear comments from the public about EPLUS.
“Having the stakeholders engage for EPLUS, for them to give their perspective on the program, how can it be improved, what needs to be done for it, I think is a great thing for the stakeholders and the game and fish department to work together to see if we can come to some sort of agreement down the road,” Lopez said.
“I think everybody needs to have a seat at the table: landowners, cattle growers, producers, private hunters, public land hunters, conservationists – all the stakeholders,” Lopez said. “It’s a very controversial issue, but as long as they sit down at the table to discuss, hear ideas, hear what the people are saying, the boots on the ground, I think it’s a wonderful idea for it to happen.”
Lopez is the longest-serving member on the commission, the last remaining member from the original slate of seven commissioners Lujan Grisham appointed in her first term. The commission has been without a chair since former Commissioner Deanna Archuleta resigned in February 2023.
Commissioner Sharon Salazar Hickey, former chair, suggested on Friday that the commission not vote to select a new chair until a later meeting. She said that would allow time for the new commissioners to get acquainted.
Deubel of the NMWF told the commission he was disappointed the commission had postponed the election of a new chair.
Stump, the other new commissioner, said after Friday’s meeting he didn’t have any comment on the prospect of the commission taking up the EPLUS issue. The Troutstalker Ranch, where he works as hunt manager, gets elk tags under the EPLUS system.
“This is my first day,” Stump said. “I need to get abreast of everyone’s opinions and I don’t feel it would be appropriate for me to make any kind of statement today.”
Dan Perry, a lawyer originally from Texas, owns the Troutstalker Ranch. He has made substantial campaign contributions to Lujan Grisham’s campaigns.
Perry unsuccessfully opposed legal action by the NMWF and partner organizations to overturn a game commission regulation that purported to allow the commission to certify that rivers and streams crossing private land were not public water, and accordingly were closed to public access.
The New Mexico Supreme Court agreed with NMWF and its partner groups that the game commission regulation violated the state constitution. Chama Troutstalkers, LLC was among the petitioners that unsuccessfully asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the New Mexico Supreme Court ruling.
Stump said the legal fight over public water access has nothing to do with him. “It has to be decided in the courts, that’s all I have to say,” he said.
Stump said he hasn’t spoken with Perry about his appointment to the game commission. “It has nothing to do with Dan Perry,” he said.
“I’m interested in serving because I was asked to, and my opinions matter. I’ll keep it at that for now.” Stump said. “I think the game and fish department does a really good job. I’m going to continue to see what they’re doing and how they go about it. I haven’t seen anything that really pushes my buttons at this point.”
Stump said Lujan Grisham asked him to serve on the commission. “I’ve known her for a good amount of time,” he said.