abqbw said:
On rounding, over 90% of the times tags were rounded the rounded up tag went to a nonresident and the majority of the time extra unpublished tag that game and fish created out of thin air pushed residents below the statutory minimum of 84%. I was who identified this and pushed to eliminate rounding. They even created special rounded up bighorn tags for nonresident outfitted clients. And am unabashedly unapologetic. New Mexico is fairly unique in that our nonresident quotas are set asides and not up to limits. The way our commission handled the rounding is typical. When there is a policy choice between residents and nonresidents, especially outfitted nonresidents our commission pushes the limits and even exceeds the law in favor of outfitters and nonresidents. Every other western state pushes the limits of the law on behalf of their residents.
Let’s explore the cow permits that you have your panties in a wad about. Why are draw cow tags resident only? It is a feeble attempt to appease New Mexico residents because so many of our elk tags are stolen from us by EPLUS and the outfitter set aside. It is an insult. In effect the game commission and legislature are saying bull tags are too valuable for the unwashed New Mexico residents. Take your cow tags and shut up. Bulls are for wealthy hunters.
Cow tags also show what a joke draw quota statutes are made by EPLUS. It is true that by statute draw cow tags are resident only. But EPLUS tags are highest bidder on the private market. Even for cow tags the majority of EPLUS licenses go to nonresidents. 57.2% of EPLUS cow tags are sold to nonresidents.
You do make a good point. It is difficult to illustrate that the primary issue is wealth based hunting. “Nonresident” unfortunately becomes an unintentional proxy for wealth based opportunity because any tag system based on wealth is going to be dominated by nonresidents because of simple swamping by the number of nonresidents compared to residents. While we New Mexicans are very offended to the overall percentage of our elk tags that are awarded to nonresidents, it is the fact that this is so because it is a wealth based allocation that we find, by far, to be offense. That the private tags are majority nonresidents is a symptom of privatization. We could have done a better job of explaining this.
Make no mistake. We absolutely want more unguided public draw nonresident elk hunting in New Mexico. Personally if all elk tags were in the drawing I would be fine if up to 15% to 20% were allocated to unguided nonresidents as long as the outfitter set aside is also eliminated. As it is New Mexicans endure one of the lowest resident draw quotas in the west, this after the huge skim of EPLUS before tags even are subjected to the draw. I don’t think we are greedy or it is untoward of us to desire and work for system that is more equitable for the average resident and nonresident alike.
Consider that only 54.5% of all of New Mexico’s elk tags end up in the hands of a resident that has not paid a private individual, an outfitter or landowner to obtain the tag. If anyone wants to tell me that residents of any other state would be satisfied with that and wouldn’t cause a stink I would call them either grossly misinformed or a liar.
On the website it says,
"Today, elk are by far the most valuable big game in New Mexico, filling residents’ freezers and bringing in millions of dollars in revenue to the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish.
But the allocation of elk tags is a touchy subject in our state. Many public draw hunters know how hard it is to draw a tag. Even though roughly 22,000 tags a year go into the draw, there simply aren’t enough to meet demand.
At the same time, however, private landowners are given nearly 14,000 tags through the program known as EPLUS – the Elk Private Land Use System. Through this program authorizations are given to landowners, most of whom sell the authorizations to the highest bidder.
According to the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, wildlife is a public resource that belongs to all and is open to all, with no special priority given to status, income or occupation. However, on the private market, elk tags are sold for an average of $900 for cows, $6600 for bulls - often exceeding $15,000 for a bull tag. Tag prices have greatly increased over time, leaving most New Mexicans unable to compete in the private tag market.
Based on the most recent data from New Mexico Game and Fish Department license sales in 2021, we compiled a comprehensive report. The numbers tell a powerful story of a system in dire need of reform.
"
My question is..
1. How will putting all the tags into the draw help manage elk herds on private lands? What is the proposed solution?
A large portion of the state is private, especially in the Northern units. Take 55A, 46, and 54,(Special Zone) about 1.6 million acres with only about 9% public and that public is OIL, once in a lifetime draw,(Vidal) or off limits to non residents(wma's). There were about 4000 total tags issued for the private portion of that unit this year, more than likely not all will be purchased or used because of their management plans. Nevermind that those tags went to about 450 different landowners, of those 450, 65 live out of state. Those 65 received 588 tags, about 15%, the remaining 3400 tags, 85% were sent to New Mexico addresses to disperse. These tags would make up about 40% of the tags you want New Mexicans to have to fill their freezers based on the Arizona model quoted on the website. You're wanting New Mexico residents to take back their elk but New Mexicans are the one's that are controlling and selling said tags. So are you just looking for support from non land owning New Mexicans?
Back to the landowners that didn't convert tags last Fall. You say "that's throwing them away" but if you took those 4000 tags and converted them on public land that would be a major impact on herds, just because you can kill something doesn't make it the correct thing to do. If you remember correctly last Fall started off pretty mild and Elk seemed to stay up higher in a lot of places. I know several people that didn't convert tags because the elk hadn't moved onto their property(New Mexican landowners). I would say that's a wise decision for several reasons.
The state is currently essentially managing that elk herd with assistance from PLO's through the issuance of the Eplus tags. An elk herd that has benefited greatly, along with surrounding units, from the management plan implemented in the 90's by PLO's. If you put those tags in an open draw and half are drawn by hunters that can't gain access to these properties that management goes away.
Do you make it OTC like Unit 57? Where the state doesn't currently manage the elk herds but gave control completely over to landowners? I think if they do that the elk herds in 48, 49, 53, and 45 all suffer and start to go downhill in the future. If you take those tags and add them to the public the units suffer as well due to overhunting and pushing elk onto private that either isn't hunted because a tag wasn't issued or because no one that drew a tag could was willing to pay the trespass fee.
If you put them in a draw you'll have to separate them somehow so the applicant knows if they draw a tag they'll more than likely have to pay a trespass fee to hunt, then you basically have an outfitter pool again or a PLO tag, which you're against.
As evidenced by the quality of the elk herds in New Mexico I think they're doing a pretty good job with the plan they have in place. Are there things that can improve, sure. Does the game commission need to be appropriately appointed and not be at the whim of the governor? Absolutely.
You state your purpose pretty clearly, "Even though roughly 22,000 tags a year go into the draw, there simply aren’t enough to meet demand." That's the case everywhere nowadays. The tags you're trying to reallocate are still going to cost money, just in a different way, and the people you're looking to take that money away from are the majority fellow New Mexicans who have either worked hard and bettered themselves or inherited property from parent's/grandparents that did. Are there Vermejo's and UUXbars included, yeah but they're needed for multiple reasons; Taxes, employment, herd management, inaccessible calving habitat, etc. You're never going to get rid of private property rights or give everyone what they want/feel entitled to without a war or destroying/reducing the quality of the resource.
Just curious too, of the 2,638 eplus Unit wide tags issued last year, how many private land acres did that open up to public use? If you've ever hunted 48 then you know those UW ranches are extremely valuable there for access. It's a trade off. Will the system ever be perfect, doubtful. Is it better than some other states, yes. Is it the worst, absolutely not.
God Bless America and God Bless New Mexico.
