By BEN NEARY
NMWF Conservation Director
The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish distribution of elk hunting licenses benefits private landowners and out-of-state hunters at the expense of resident hunters, an audit by a state legislative committee has found.
A Legislative Finance Committee audit released Wednesday states that New Mexico’s system grants a much greater percentage of available elk licenses to private landowners than neighboring states, confirming inequities that the New Mexico Wildlife Federation and other sportsmen’s organizations have been fighting for years. (Read the full audit report HERE)
“This audit should give real impetus for reform, starting at the level of the State Game Commission,” said John Crenshaw, president of the NMWF board. “We’re looking forward to some serious conversations with the commission, department and all the stakeholders to revamp this system.”
Permit authorizations allow landowners to purchase elk licenses without going through the public draw, or landowners may sell the authorizations to others.
“Game and Fish takes great effort to set hunt levels for big game in a way that sustains herds; however, landowners and out-of-state hunters, not New Mexicans and public land hunters, are the beneficiaries of department policies,” the audit report states. “These policies directly impact legislators’ local constituents, and Game and Fish could be more transparent in reporting those social outcomes to the Legislature,” the report states.
The audit doesn’t address New Mexico’s system of issuing private land only pronghorn and deer permits, of which a high percentage also go to non-residents.
The New Mexico Wildlife Federation and other conservation groups have been pushing for decades to reform the game department’s “EPLUS” system that controls distribution of elk tags. There’s a thriving market in selling elk permit authorizations, with many landowners charging thousands of dollars for them.
“This has been a decades-long, systemic problem that the federation and other sportsmen’s groups have been trying to change for decades,” Crenshaw said. “We’re delighted to see it getting the attention it deserves at this level.”
Crenshaw noted that the New Mexico Legislature directed the game commission more than 30 years ago to increase resident hunter participation. “In spite of that, the ratio of resident to nonresident big game hunters moved the other direction, as this audit shows,” he said.
A New Mexico law that went into effect in 2012 requires “a minimum of 84 percent of the licenses shall be issued to residents of New Mexico.” The law further specifies that 10 percent of licenses go to hunters who hire outfitters and 6 percent to nonresident hunters who don’t hire outfitters.
The statute applies only to licenses issued through the lottery system, however. Landowners distribute the private land authorizations to whomever they choose, and most are nonresidents who pay hefty fees for access and services, which can include guides, housing and meals.
That’s what makes New Mexico an outlier among Western states, Crenshaw said.
“Most states are far less generous to nonresident hunters. Arizona, for example, requires a minimum of 90 percent of licenses go to residents and sets aside no licenses for outfitted hunters,” Crenshaw said.
The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish benefits financially from selling more licenses to nonresident hunters.
The audit states that 78,000 hunters applied for 22,000 elk licenses last year. It states that 76 percent of the landowner vouchers in the state’s primary elk management zone were converted into nonresident licenses.
“The high utilization of EPLUS by nonresidents is financially beneficial to the department because they pay significantly higher license fees, but that same private system likely creates opportunity for wealthier, out-of-state hunters at the expense of New Mexico residents,” the audit states. “Accounting for both the public and private systems, in-state residents purchased 74 percent of the elk licenses issued from 2017 to 2019, nonresidents purchased 21 percent, and hunters with outfitter contracts purchased 5 percent.”
The audit states that New Mexico’s license allocation seems to go against the legislative intent that 84 percent of available licenses be offered to New Mexico residents. It also stands in contrast with neighboring states in the West, including Montana and Arizona that cap the number of non-resident tags at 10 percent.
Jesse Deubel, executive director of the NMWF, said he looks forward to working with the New Mexico State Game Commission, the game department and stakeholders to rein in the abuses outlined in the audit.
“The New Mexico Wildlife Federation has been advocating for decades to see a big game tag allocation system that is fair and just and equitable for the residents of New Mexico who collectively own the wildlife of our state,” Deubel said. “The federation has always been dedicated to making sure New Mexicans get to hunt regardless of their economic standing. This audit lays bare a system that’s unfair to working New Mexicans and we will work hard to see it change.”
Michael Sloane, director of the game department, wrote a response noting that the audit touches on many policy areas that may be worthy of further exploration by the state game commission.
In addition to its findings on the EPLUS system, the audit states that the game department works with several other state agencies. It states that the Legislature should consider the merits of consolidating the game department with other agencies to form a comprehensive natural resources department.
Crenshaw said there have been several proposals over the decades to consolidate the game department with other state agencies. He said the federation supports maintaining the current structure of having the department under an independent game commission that focuses solely on wildlife issues.