Wildlife Commission Starts Planning for Elk, Deer, Bighorn

By Ben Neary

NMWF Conservation Director

ROSWELL, N.M. – The New Mexico State Wildlife Commission on Friday kicked off the process of developing new, four-year rules to govern management of elk, deer and bighorn sheep. Some commissioners said they want to explore ways to rein in privatization of elk hunting. 

The wildlife commission generally sets new rules every four years. Stewart Liley, chief biologist at the New Mexico Department of Wildlife, on Friday explained management goals for the three species to commissioners.

The wildlife department and wildlife commission will hold meetings in coming months to collect public comment on its proposals. The commission will approve new rules before the end of the year.

On the Elk Rule, Liley said the wildlife department is considering recommending that the wildlife commission reduce the number of hunting permits it issues for the Greater Gila and Valle Vidal herds in response to population trends. He said it’s possible the department will recommend slight increases in the northcentral portion of the state, as well as herds in the Sacramento Mountains and around Ruidoso.

New Mexico hands more than one-third of all elk licenses to landowners under the wildlife commission’s Elk Private Lands Use System (EPLUS). Landowners are free to sell them to the highest bidder. The wildlife commission classifies EPLUS as a permanent rule, and isn’t scheduled to consider any changes to it this year.

Of the elk licenses that do remain in the public draw, New Mexico state law earmarks 10 percent to hunters who can afford to retain a private outfitter. New Mexico is the only state in the West with such a system benefitting its outfitting industry.

Between EPLUS and the outfitterh set-aside, well over 40 percent of New Mexico’s total elk licenses are privatized every year.

Commissioner Chris Witt and Commission Vice Chair Fernando Clemente, both wildlife biologists, questioned Liley about how the wildlife department divides licenses between those in the public draw and those directed to landowners in the primary elk zone under EPLUS. The primary zone is generally those areas of the state with the highest concentration of elk that have both public land and private land hunting.

Liley said the wildlife department assesses the proportion of private, deeded land in a given game management unit and gives that percentage of elk licenses to landowners under EPLUS. In the event that all the deeded land in the unit isn’t registered under the program to receive elk licenses, he said the licenses are divided among private landowners who are registered, starting with those who have the smallest parcels.

Brandon Wynn, an Albuquerque hunter, has studied the EPLUS system extensively and has worked with the NM Wildlife Federation on reports analyzing the extent of privatization of elk licenses. 

Wynn told commissioners that basing the percentage of licenses going into EPLUS on the percentage of private land in game units results in the unjustified privatization of up to 40 percent of licenses because not all properties are enrolled in the program..

The practice of allocating licenses to the EPLUS program for lands that are not enrolled doesn’t exist in any commission rule and hasn’t been voted on by the commission, Wynn said. “They’re getting about 30 percent, sometimes 40 percent more tags than the land area would dictate,” he said.

Commissioner Witt told Liley he didn’t understand why a portion of the licenses that would go to private lands that are not enrolled in EPLUS wouldn’t go into the pool of licenses available for the public to draw for hunting on public lands. Liley responded that the wildlife commission has determined in the past not to put those into the draw. 

Witt stated, “I think that that is something we need to discuss more because the justification for allocating those entirely to the private tag pool is not very well established in my view and I think it should be open for discussion.” 

Clemente also said he believes that if the licenses aren’t being utilized by private properties through the EPLUS program that they should go back into the public draw. He noted that the wildlife commission is charged with providing public hunting opportunities.

Jesse Deubel, executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, urged commissioners to address inequities in how commission rules treat public land hunters versus those who hunt on private land. He noted that licenses issued through the public draw specify that hunters may only hunt within set periods, while private land hunters are afforded several months in which to select five consecutive days to hunt.

Deubel also pointed out that the state allows landowners in the Secondary Management Zone to issue unlimited authorizations to allow hunters to hunt on their lands, while public draw hunters are commonly limited to a small number of licenses for public lands in the same areas.

In response to a question on the scheduling issue from Witt, Liley responded that the state limits public land hunters to set, five-day periods to try to prevent overcrowding . He said that’s not a concern on private lands.

Discussing recommendations for the coming deer management plan, Liley said the wildlife department is considering requiring ranches in the Secondary Management Zone to register, similar to the registration requirement for elk. He said the state also is recommending that hunters must buy a deer license at least one day before a hunt starts to avoid the possibility that some hunters are waiting to tag a deer before buying a license

On the bighorn sheep rule, Liley said the state is considering opening hunting for rams in the Manzano and Sacramento mountains. 

Deubel and Wynn both suggested the commission change its current regulation that lumps sheep hunts together in the application process to ensure that the pool of licenses is large enough to ensure that the state’s quota law applies and requires licenses be awarded to hunters who retain an outfitter or who apply as nonresidents.

“As commissioners you’re sending a message to your constituents,” Deubel said. “Do you prefer to prioritize the residents of the state of New Mexico, or do you prefer to prioritize nonresidents?”He reminded commissioners that state residents have approved major funding increases for the wildlife department in recent years.