The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF) is a state-level government department within the
New Mexico Governor's Cabinet that is responsible for maintaining wildlife and fish in the state. The NMDGF undertakes protection, conservation and propagation, and regulates the use of game and fish to ensure there is an adequate supply for recreation and food.
History
The
New Mexico Territorial Legislature created what a predecessor to the game department in 1903. Upon New Mexico statehood 1912, the newly-formed
New Mexico Legislature
The New Mexico Legislature ( es, Legislatura de Nuevo México) is the legislative branch of the state government of New Mexico. It is a bicameral body made up of the New Mexico House of Representatives and the New Mexico Senate.
History
The N ...
formally created the Department of Game and Fish, and in 1921, the Legislature created a three-member commission to manage the department.
Organization
A seven-member body appointed by the governor, the State Game Commission authorizes regulations and the department implements and enforces them.
Not more than four members can be from the same political party. Five of the members represent different geographical areas of the state. The other two members are appointed “at large.” At least one member of the commission shall represent agricultural interests and one member represent conservation interests.
The commission hires the director of the Department of Game and Fish and also has the power to fire the director. The NMDGF applies regulations on all land in New Mexico, whether federal, state or privately-owned, other than Indian land.
On many Pueblo lands and reservations, Game and Fish staff work with the people responsible for wildlife management.
Fishing and hunting license fees and taxes on fishing and hunting goods such as rod, reels and rifles provide a large part of the department's funding, although major capital programs may be funded by the legislature.
Starting in 1991, Game and Fish started to implement the
Sikes Act, under which anglers who use public land that is managed by the
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...
or the
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's l ...
must buy a Habitat Improvement Validation.
Funds from this sources are used, as the name implies, to fund habitat improvements.
In 2011, a bill was being considered for eliminating the State Game Commission and merging the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish into the
New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department.
Hunting
At the suggestion of big-game hunter
Frank C. Hibben, between 1969 and 1977 the Department of Game and Fish introduced 93 captive bred
Oryx
''Oryx'' is a genus consisting of four large antelope species called oryxes. Their pelage is pale with contrasting dark markings in the face and on the legs, and their long horns are almost straight. The exception is the scimitar oryx, which l ...
into the
White Sands Missile Range
White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) is a United States Army military testing area and firing range located in the US state of New Mexico. The range was originally established as the White Sands Proving Ground on 9July 1945. White Sands National P ...
, intending them to be hunted for sport. It was assumed that they would remain in the
Tularosa Basin
The Tularosa Basin is a graben basin in the Basin and Range Province and within the Chihuahuan Desert, east of the Rio Grande in southern New Mexico and West Texas, in the Southwestern United States.
Geography
The Tularosa Basin is located p ...
and that mountain lions would control their numbers. These assumptions were incorrect. The oryx found the environment ideal and rapidly increased in numbers, as of 2012 reaching between 3,000 and 6,000 animals,
and spread into the
White Sands National Monument and private lands where public hunting is not allowed.
Despite several hundred being taken every year, numbers continue to expand.
As of 2001, oryx had been spotted as far apart as sixty miles south of Albuquerque, and West Texas.
The department has undertaken an expensive program to fence the White Sands National Monument and then remove all the oryx from the park.
In 1977, Game and Fish began arresting non-Indian hunters for illegal possession of game that was taken from the
Mescalero
Mescalero or Mescalero Apache ( apm, Naa'dahéńdé) is an Apache tribe of Southern Athabaskan–speaking Native Americans. The tribe is federally recognized as the Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Apache Reservation, located in south-cen ...
reservation in accordance with tribal laws, since this was not in compliance with state law. The tribe filed suit, and the case went to the Supreme Court, which ruled unanimously in favor of the Mescaleros. Reasons included the argument that giving Game and Fish authority would "nullify the Tribe's unquestioned authority to regulate the use of its resources by members and nonmembers".
Fishing
In 1955 the Department of Game and Fish created Clayton Lake in
Clayton Lake State Park as a fishing lake and winter waterfowl resting area.
The department assists in managing
Fenton Lake State Park and
Eagle Nest Lake State Park.
The
Carson National Forest
Carson National Forest is a national forest in northern New Mexico, United States. It encompasses 6,070 square kilometers (1.5 million acres) and is administered by the United States Forest Service. The Forest Service's "mixed use" policy allows ...
is operated by the United States Department of Agriculture - Forestry Service.
The Department of Game and Fish Department works with the forest personnel to maintain the wildlife habitat
and to stock the many lakes and the four hundred miles of mountain streams with native trout.
As of 1989, the Fish Management Division operated six hatcheries: Glenwood Hatchery, Lisboa Springs Hatchery, Parkview Hatchery, Red River Hatchery, Seven Springs Hatchery and Rock Lake Hatchery. The last hatches
walleye
The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close rela ...
while the others hatch
trout
Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmo ...
or
kokanee.
The discovery of whirling disease, ''
Myxobolus cerebralis
''Myxobolus cerebralis'' is a myxosporean parasite of salmonids ( salmon and trout species) that causes whirling disease in farmed salmon and trout and also in wild fish populations. It was first described in rainbow trout in Germany in 1893 ...
'', in the early 1990s had a devastating effect, since some fish from five of the six hatcheries tested positive, and Game and Fish decided they should not stock any fish from hatcheries with known diseases. The hatcheries will have to be rebuilt.
Other activities
The Department of Game and Fish operates the
Ladd S. Gordon Waterfowl Complex, a group of four conservation area in New Mexico devoted to assisting birdlife in the region with Waterfowl Management Areas at
La Joya,
Bernardo,
Casa Colorada, and
Belen.
Game and Fish has developed the Biota Information System of New Mexico (BISON-M) in collaboration with other agencies, which holds information
on all vertebrate and many invertebrate species of wildlife found in New Mexico and Arizona, including all
threatened, endangered and sensitive species.
See also
*
List of law enforcement agencies in New Mexico
*
List of State Fish and Wildlife Management Agencies in the U.S.
External links
Official WebsiteNew Mexico Wildlife(NMDGF Magazine)
References
Citations
Sources
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{{authority control
Department of Game and Fish
State wildlife and natural resource agencies of the United States
Biota of New Mexico
Environment of New Mexico
Government agencies established in 1931
1931 establishments in New Mexico