By Alex Brown, Stateline.org (TNS)

For years, outdoors enthusiasts in New Mexico have pushed to overhaul the state Department of Game & Fish — an agency plagued by leadership turnover, funding woes and the scorn of hunters and tree-huggers alike.

Now, state lawmakers have given the agency a new name, a new mission, new leadership and a boost in funding to expand its role. The sweeping law enacted in March puts New Mexico at the forefront of a growing movement to rethink states’ traditional model of wildlife management.

“We came from a place of extreme dysfunction,” said Jesse Deubel, executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, an environmental nonprofit that advocated for the new law. “Now, I truly do believe that we’re going to be a gold standard for wildlife management. Over the next few years. you’re going to see an unbelievable shift.”

New Mexico’s new approach expands the agency’s focus beyond hunting and fishing to protect more species and brings in new funding to reduce its reliance on license sales. Other states are watching closely. Lawmakers across the country have introduced bills to change their wildlife agencies, and many have cited the New Mexico measure as an example of what’s possible.

“That’s the biggest game changer,” said Michelle Lute, executive director of Wildlife for All, a national nonprofit focused on overhauling states’ wildlife governance. “That’s the legislation we’ll be pointing to as a model in future years.”

From Oregon to Utah to Florida, legislators have introduced bills that would overhaul their wildlife agencies’ funding, mission and governance.

While the proposals have had varying levels of success, New Mexico leaders say it took years of coalition-building to get their bill across the finish line. Wildlife advocates expect the issue to earn more legislative attention nationwide in the years to come.

Under the traditional model, state wildlife agencies have largely been funded by the license fees paid by hunters and anglers, plus federal excise taxes on equipment such as guns and fishing tackle. The agencies have focused most of their work on species like deer and trout, prized by the sporting groups that provide their revenue.

In New Mexico, as in most states, the commissions that govern these departments have been appointed by governors. They’re often filled by hunting and fishing guides, ranchers and political donors. Critics say this model results in panels that set policy to protect their economic interests.

Today, many wildlife agencies are struggling to stay afloat as fewer and fewer residents hunt and fish. At the same time, plummeting wildlife populations are compelling agencies to expand their work beyond traditional “game” species. And some wildlife advocates are demanding a new governance model that puts more scientists in charge.

This year, state lawmakers across the country have passed or considered a host of major wildlife management overhauls. Some would expand their agencies’ mission to focus on non-game species. Others would provide new funding streams to take on that additional work. And some would change the makeup of the commissions that dictate wildlife policy.

In New Mexico, lawmakers did all three at once.

The state’s agency had faced numerous problems over the years. Hunters and bird-watchers alike were frustrated with the agency’s leadership. In recent years, several commissioners have resigned or been forced out by Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham. At times, the panel has lacked enough members to form a quorum.

The agency’s budget was in trouble as well. The state had not raised license fees in nearly 20 years, keeping revenue flat even as inflation made the cost of its work more and more expensive.

“We were having to repurpose money from on-the-ground conservation just to make salary adjustments,” said Stewart Liley, wildlife division chief with the New Mexico Department of Game & Fish. “We were getting to a precarious spot.”

In 2023, lawmakers passed a bill to restructure the agency’s commission, which would have taken some power away from the governor. Lujan Grisham declined to sign the bill, killing the effort with a pocket veto.

This year, lawmakers took a bigger swing. The package passed this session renames the Department of Game & Fish to the Department of Wildlife. It expands the agency’s authority to protect non-game species in need of conservation help.

“We wanted to make it clear that this is our state wildlife agency, and it’s the only one we’ve got,” said Deubel, of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation. “They’ve got a responsibility to work on any species in the state that has conservation need.”

Agency leaders say they were already conducting research and conservation work for non-game species. They viewed that aspect of the bill as a largely symbolic measure that “shined a light” on the need for more restoration work, Liley said. However, the law did provide more explicit authority for the agency to manage insects and regulate the direct “take,” or killing, of certain animals.

The measure raises license fees — a provision supported by many hunting and fishing groups — and allows for inflation-based adjustments in future years. Meanwhile, lawmakers included another $10.5 million from the state budget, spread over three years, to help the agency take on more non-game conservation.

“It seemed only fair that if we were going to ask the department to take on a broader role that they not finance that just through hunting and fishing,” said Democratic state Rep. Matthew McQueen, who was among the key sponsors.

Liley, the agency official, said the new money, along with a separate conservation fund established in 2023, will more than double the state’s investment in helping threatened species. The agency expects to hire up to eight new biologists who will conduct research, determine which species need aid and lead restoration efforts.

“This will help us get a better grasp of where we are with different species across the state,” he said. “There are absolutely projects we have not undertaken because of lack of capacity. This will allow us to do more surveys, to radio-mark birds, to [use that research] and say, ‘Let’s do forest restoration this way for pinyon jays.’”

The package will also change the agency’s governance. The current commission has seven seats, all appointed by the governor. Lujan Grisham’s appointees have included a car dealer, an Exxon Mobil lobbyist and a former lawmaker who owns an oil and gas business.

Under the new model, a bipartisan legislative committee will nominate three candidates for every seat, each of whom must be vetted to demonstrate their knowledge of wildlife. The governor must choose from among those three. One of the seats will be reserved for a wildlife scientist, one for a conservationist, one for a hunter and angler and one for a rancher or farmer.

“These changes add expertise and really important perspectives to the commission,” said Chris Smith, wildlife program director with WildEarth Guardians, an environmental nonprofit. “Our [current] commission was having structural problems and light scandal almost consistently.”

Backers’ one disappointment is that Lujan Grisham used a partial veto to strike a provision that would have protected commission members from dismissal by the governor. She argued that the proposed change relied too heavily on the slow-moving court system to remove commissioners, making it difficult to hold problematic members accountable.

Lawmakers say they’re still intent on protecting agency leaders from the governor’s whims, but pleased the rest of the package has gone into effect. While the measure passed with bipartisan majorities, some lawmakers objected to the idea of expanding the agency’s mission to protect species beyond those that can be hunted.

“With all due respect, I don’t want to pay for a butterfly,” said Republican state Rep. Harlan Vincent, according to KUNM. “I’m just being honest with you.”

And some groups are skeptical that the extra funding from the state budget will be enough to cover the agency’s growing conservation role.

“If New Mexico wants to expand the mission of the department, New Mexico needs to pay for it,” Tom Paterson, president-elect of the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association, said during a Senate committee hearing. “The necessary funds should not come on the back of the license fees that hunters and anglers pay.”

While the agency’s new funding and mission are now in place, its name change to the Department of Wildlife won’t take effect until next year. And its current commission will remain in office until Jan. 1, 2027. Lujan Grisham’s successor will then appoint new commissioners under the revised model.

The advocates who backed the New Mexico overhaul say it will take time and investment to make the new model work. They know other states will be watching closely.

Stateline reporter Alex Brown can be reached at abrown@stateline.org.