Senate panel advances overhaul of Game and Fish into Department of Wildlife, approves fee increases and new commission rules

Senate Rules Committee members voted to give Senate Bill 5 a due-pass as amended after a day of testimony from bill sponsors, hunting and conservation groups and rural stakeholders.

The bill, presented to the committee by Senator Campos and cosponsored in the House by Representative McQueen, would rename the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish as the Department of Wildlife, broaden the agency’s statutory authority to allow management of nongame species, change how commissioners are selected and add inflation adjustments to hunting and fishing fees. Sponsors said the measure is designed as a four-part package: clarify agency mission and authority, reform the commission’s membership and appointment process, update license fee schedules and secure new operating funds.

Why it matters: supporters said the department lacks staff and recurring money to manage nongame species such as pollinators and declining birds, and that fees have not been increased in roughly 20 years. Opponents from ranching and rural groups said they welcome some reforms but warned that expanding the agency’s mission without clear, recurring funding risks shifting costs to hunters and rural residents. Committee members adopted several sponsor-proposed amendments and advanced the bill to the next stage of the legislative process.

What supporters told the committee

Representative McQueen described the bill as a package that (1) clarifies the agency’s mission to manage and conserve a broader range of species, (2) reforms the commission’s membership and appointment process, (3) updates hunting and fishing fee schedules and adds a CPI adjuster, and (4) seeks recurring funding beyond license revenue.

Jesse DuBell, executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, said, “Hunters enthusiastically support this bill.” DuBell told the committee the federation backed a designated hunter-anglers seat on the commission and supported the fee adjustment because hunters recognize the need for resources to manage game species.

Judy Kalman, identified as New Mexico policy director for Audubon (Audubon Southwest/Audubon organizations were also listed among supporters), said the department currently has only four bird biologists and that nongame bird work is underresourced. “Thriving wildlife populations require agencies to be well funded and to make management decisions based on science,” she said, and noted that the Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund already provides approximately $2.7 million per year for nongame work.

Dan Roper of Trout Unlimited, Eddie Beechill (registered lobbyist for the New Mexico Soil and Water Conservation Districts) and a list of conservation groups also spoke in support, describing the bill as addressing three challenges: underfunding, commission structure, and unclear authority over which species the department may manage.

Concerns from rural stakeholders and requested changes

Tom Patterson, president-elect of the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association and a Catron County rancher, told the committee the commission’s regional representation has been important to rural landowners and producers. He said his organization supported some of the bill’s geographic provisions but asked that the bill explicitly prohibit using traditional license revenue to fund an expanded mission. He also urged that proposed fee increases be reasonable and called out a proposed jump for junior trappers, saying, “Please don’t punish our rural kids.”

Multiple senators pressed sponsors on the scope and mechanics of reforms: how nominees will be chosen, minimum number of nominees the nominating commission must forward to the governor (the bill sets a minimum of three per vacancy), how an agricultural or ranching seat would be defined (the bill adds an income-related screen and requires that the ag seat be connected to a big-game species on which the department works), and whether the department would receive recurring general-fund or other non-license revenue to support an expanded mission.

Funding and fee changes

Sponsors and witnesses said license fees for hunting and fishing have not been increased in about 20 years and argued a CPI adjuster is necessary to sustain agency operations. Representative McQueen and supporters described existing and proposed new funding sources: the Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund contribution (cited in testimony at about $2.7 million per year for nongame work) and a proposed GROW fund allocation (referred to in testimony as roughly $3.5 million per year, discussed as a multi‑year commitment in the LFC framework) to help build recurring capacity.

Opponents and some senators asked for more detail on specific fee increases; one senator quoted percentage increases from the draft schedule and raised concerns that some resident fees rise by larger percentages than nonresident fees. Committee discussion preserved the sponsors’ authority to refine the fee schedule in later committee work.

Amendments, process and committee action

Committee members adopted several sponsor‑offered amendments during the hearing. Among the actions recorded in committee:

- Senators adopted an amendment changing language that read “shall” to “may” in a provision that would otherwise have required the commission to take specified actions (the committee adopted that change as a friendly amendment). - The committee adopted an amendment removing expanded purpose language in section 1 of the draft (the purpose/mission statement language was struck and successor sections were renumbered). - The committee adopted an amendment specifying that certain judicial review language would begin in district court rather than the state Supreme Court (the amendment was adopted as offered).

After debate and amendments, the committee voted to give SB5 a due-pass as amended. The roll call recorded the following member votes as captured in the hearing record: Senator Bergman — Yes; Senator Block — No; Senator Brantley — Yes; Senator Gallegos — No; Senator Stefanics (Stefanik/Stefanics in transcript) — Yes; Senator Stewart — Yes; Senator Townsend — Yes; Senator Jaramillo — Yes; Senator Duhigg — Yes. The committee chair announced the bill “has a due pass as amended.”

What the bill would change, if enacted

- Agency name and mission: The draft would rename the Department of Game and Fish to the Department of Wildlife and clarify that the department has authority to manage nongame species but retains discretion on how to exercise that authority. - Commission structure: The bill creates a seven‑member commission with three at‑large seats that must satisfy geographic and partisan distribution rules and four position seats (rancher/farmer, hunter‑angler, conservationist, scientist). The bill establishes a seven‑member nominating commission (appointments by legislative leaders, two academic appointees and a governor-appointed tribal representative) to prescreen candidates for the governor. - Fees: The bill updates fee schedules and adds a CPI adjuster; sponsors say fees have not been increased since about 2006. - Funding: Sponsors seek recurring funding beyond license revenue, including legacy‑fund dollars and proposed GROW fund allocations; bill language itself does not impose a specific new recurring general‑fund appropriation.

Ending

Sponsors said SB5 is intended to be implemented as a package — statutory authority, commission reform, fee modernization and new funding — and that work remains as it moves forward through the legislative process. Committee action advances the bill, and further committee hearings and appropriations decisions will determine whether the expanded mission receives the recurring funding supporters say is necessary.