By BEN NEARY
NMWF Conservation Director
Roberta Salazar-Henry is the latest member of the New Mexico State Game Commission to resign. Her departure leaves the seven-member body with three vacancies.
Salazar-Henry, of Las Cruces, submitted her resignation to Gov. Michelle Lujan-Grisham on Oct. 14.
“Although I am very proud of the trust my fellow commissioners showed in allowing me to take the lead in improving many of the Department of Game and Fish programs and services,
I am very disappointed that much needed structural change did not occur during my tenure,” Salazar-Henry stated in her resignation letter.
Salazar-Henry stated that she was honored to serve with qualified wildlife professionals on the game commission and the game department. She was one of the original seven commissioners appointed by Lujan-Grisham.
Salazar-Henry, a retired career administrator with the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, has pushed a number of changes to hunting regulations as the commission has updated its four-year rules this year.
Salazar-Henry pushed to reform the commission’s system of allocating bighorn sheep tags, saying she wanted to see more opportunity for resident hunters.
Currently, the game commission lumps different sheep hunts together to increase the number of licenses in a single huntcode to the point that non-residents and hunters who retain an outfitter before applying may draw tags. Without lumping them together, individual sheep hunts wouldn’t offer enough tags to allow nonresidents and outfitted hunters to draw while still meeting the requirement of the state’s quota statute to give at least 84 percent of the licenses in the draw to resident hunters.
Salazar-Henry pushed for suggestions to resolve the conflict in the bighorn hunt structure while increasing resident opportunity. Ultimately, the commission adopted a rule that sets hunting regulations for bighorn sheep to two years, instead of four. Setting the shorter rule may encourage the New Mexico State Legislature to resolve conflicts between the state’s quota law and the state law definition of a “hunt code.”
The commission this summer also adopted Salazar-Henry’s suggestion to set aside 40 off-range oryx tags for hunters over the age of 70. The commission more recently rejected her suggestion to set a similar program in place reserving some elk tags for hunters over 70.
Salazar-Henry worked closely with game department managers to address financial reporting and other issues.
On Oct. 14, the commission majority voted to prohibit the use of scopes on muzzleloading rifles for big game species. Game department biologists said the rifles have become so effective that it would be necessary to cut the number of tags issued if the commission didn’t prohibit the use of scopes.
Salazar-Henry said at the Oct. 14 meeting that she didn’t believe the commission had done enough to inform hunters who use scoped muzzleloaders about the pending change. She said she believed that game department biologists should have done more work to identify the likely effect of the scope ban on particular hunt areas.
At the meeting, Salazar-Henry said bow-hunting technology has also improved dramatically in recent years and questioned why that issue wasn’t being discussed together with the restriction on scoped muzzleloaders. “They’re actually hunting in the rut and you’re taking out more big bulls with bows,” she said.
Two other game commissioners appointed with Salazar-Henry in 2018 have said Lujan-Grisham removed them from office. Both said they were removed after they voiced opposition to a commission rule that purported to allow private landowners to petition the commission to have rivers and streams that crossed their private property declared “non-navigable” and accordingly closed to the public.
Joanna Prukup, former commission chair, said Lujan-Grisham removed her from the commission in late 2019 after Prukop called for a moratorium on commission action on non-navigable certifications. Jeremy Vesbach, former vice chair, was removed early this year after leading the commission action to reject some pending non-navigable certificate applications.
The New Mexico Supreme Court in March ruled that the commission’s non-navigable rule was unconstitutional and void. The ruling came in response to a legal challenge from the New Mexico Wildlife Federation and other groups.
Looking forward, Salazar-Henry said she believes the game commission and state government as a whole will need to address the state’s Elk Private Land Use System and the laws that support it.
Under the EPLUS system, the game commission essentially gives private landowners elk licenses that they may sell to the highest bidder. A high percentage of the licenses go to nonresident hunters. The game commission has refused to consider changes to the rule this year despite calls from the NMWF and other groups to act.
Salazar-Henry said she believes the pay structure for participating in hunting and fishing needs to be modernized. “So many things have changed in how we bring families into hunting and fishing, and the individual license type has just outlived its value to people,” she said. “People are looking at more economy on that, if we want to do that. I think that needs to happen.”
The game department needs to establish a planning section, Salazar-Henry said. She said it should restructure the public-input process and develop plans for how to address issues before they come in the form of a bill at the Legislature. “The public input process is one of the most archaic things this department has held onto,” she said. “And doesn’t serve any purpose right now. Doesn’t even touch the number of people that it affects – the decisions around the hunting rules.”
Loss of public access to public lands is a critical issue facing the state, Salazar-Henry said. “I see it as one of the things that has been the most difficult to get anybody really fired up about,” she said. She said she believes that the game department’s “Open Gate” program, which pays landowners to keep their lands open for hunting and fishing, can help keep public roads open.
Salazar-Henry said she pressed consistently on the commission for increased funding to maintain and improve the state’s fish hatchery system. She said there are currently over $25 million in delayed maintenance and improvement projects on the books.
While other states are able to use their hatcheries as tourist attractions, Salazar-Henry said New Mexico can no longer do that because they’ve generally fallen into disrepair. She said it’s imperative that the state reverse that trend.
WIth Salazar-Henry’s departure, there are only four commissioners remaining. That means the commission will not be able to act on rules if any member is absent because the body will not have a quorum.
Jesse Deubel, executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, said he encourages the governor to fill the commission vacancies quickly. “Our state needs highly qualified, conservation-minded individuals who recognize the importance of hunting, angling and healthy wildlife populations for the benefit of the residents of this state,” he said.