Another reason to fight Federal land transfer.

[WAcoyotehunter]

This is the trend that I worry most about if Federal lands are transferred to the State. 


http://www.nmwildlife.org/news/commission


Access to State Lands in question

 The State Game Commission made it clear this week that it’s willing to play hardball with the State Land Office over sportsmen’s traditional access to millions of acres of State Trust Land – which could mean no hunting, fishing or trapping on those lands for a year or more.

But State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn was even more entrenched than the Commission. Seated across from them Tuesday in Albuquerque, he insisted on charging at least $1 million a year for access that in the past has cost just $200,000 – a whopping five-fold increase that is essentially a special tax on New Mexico sportsmen and women. And even that rate could be for the same treatment hunters have received for years – virtually no camping, dusk-to-dawn closures, limited scouting, payment for inaccessible or unhuntable tracts, and too many illegally locked gates.

Negotiations to date yield nothing

Department of Game and Fish staff said they had made repeated offers to Dunn’s office and been rejected every time, including an offer of $600,000 for one year and $1.95 million for three years. Each time, Dunn counter-offered $1 million annually, although even that is an improvement. He earlier asked for $2 million.

Dunn justified his demands by noting that the extra revenue would benefit schools and hospitals throughout New Mexico. “I do not work to please hunters, anglers, ranchers, oil and gas producers, miners, the Game Department” or anyone else, he said. He did not mention that the access payment from Game and Fish is a drop in the bucket for his office, which takes in as much as $650 million a year. The Land Commissioner is elected every four years and is accountable to no one – not the governor, the Legislature or any sort of board of directors.

New Mexico Wildlife Federation has told both the Game Department and Dunn that the current access lease is probably too low, but that any higher fee should also provide hunters with more benefits, such as camping, scouting and a promise to hold grazing lessees accountable for keeping their lands marked and open. Commissioner Ralph Ramos went a step further on Tuesday, saying he wants the Land Office to open even its landlocked lands, and threatened to shut down hunting on State Trust Lands unless access improves.

Commissioners Elizabeth Ryan and Robert Espinosa supported the idea of a three-year contract. Dunn said he could take such a deal, but would want $2 million a year by the third year. Commissioner Bill Montoya said the Land Office should take into account the value of Game and Fish law enforcement and other services. Dunn replied that, “We have the land your wildlife is on, so it’s a two-way street.” Asked about providing access to landlocked state land, Dunn told Commissioners they would have to negotiate directly with the surrounding landowners. And when Ramos suggested that perhaps nobody gets to hunt on State Trust Land, Dunn replied, “If that’s what you think you should do, that’s up to the Commission.”

Ryan summed up the situation, telling Dunn that the Commission has raised a number of concerns “but you have shut every one of them down. It’s not clear whether you’re willing to negotiate at all.” Dunn said he hadn’t received a concrete proposal from Game and Fish regarding access, and then stood up and left the meeting without even listening to public comment.

Sportsmen 'singled out'

Garrett VeneKlasen, executive director of NMWF, told Commissioners that it appears New Mexico sportsmen and women are being singled out, because neither the oil and gas industry nor ranchers have seen their state land leases increase five-fold. Dunn plans to increase State Lands grazing fees to $4.80/AUM (from $3.90), but if he were to apply the same increase as he’s proposing for the NMDGF lease, grazing lessees would have to pay $19.95/AUM. Oil and gas lease rates remain unchanged, even though they account for 97 percent of the Land Office’s revenue. State oil and gas royalty rates in Texas are 25 percent; in New Mexico just 18.5 percent. Upping oil and gas rates even 1 percent on future leases would be a true boon for the Land Office’s beneficiaries.

Kerrie Romero of the New Mexico Council of Outfitters and Guides also have some concerns about the State Land Office. Dunn has eliminated the permit system for guided hunts on State Trust Land, which she said would “add to the large and growing rogue (outfitter) industry.”

Time is running out to cut a deal with the State Land Office, Game and Fish Director Alexa Sandoval said. She would like a lease agreement for the 2016-17 season in place by Nov. 1, so details can be included in the big game proclamation. The Commission’s next scheduled meeting is Nov. 19 in Roswell.

[NumaJohn]

Thanks for this chilling bit of news, WAcoyotehunter.

Reminds me of a recent article I read in Bugle Magazine, featuring Randy Newberg. He writes,

"To any elk hunter who thinks state management is a better idea, be careful what you wish for. Every state has a constitutional demand to maximize revenues from these lands for their school systems. So on many of these lands, healthy communities of wildlife and plants are given low priority. I'm not saying that everything is perfect on the federal lands. But what we do know is there is a much narrower set of priorities and scope of accountability on state lands. As soon as these federal lands become state lands, the states are going to have a he__ of a time managing fires and weeds and roads and all the other things that we jump up and down and want the federal government to take care of. How would they begin to pay for that stewardship, or deliver it on the ground?"

I find the trend, as you call it, alarming for hunters and outdoor enthusiasts of all types and kinds. The Forest Service, BLM, etc. are hardly perfect, as Newberg notes, but I believe we Americans do not want to transfer or sell what belongs to all of us. Once these vast tracts of public land are sold off/transferred, Americans will never get them back. Right now, all federal land in this country belongs to the citizens of this country. Let's keep it that way!

John