Editor’s Note: When the lines appear to blur over political contributors versus qualified appointed are being named to politically appointed posts, the people most impacted by decisions aren’t reluctant to express their displeasure. Today, an update on one of those situations regarding the New Mexico Fish and Game Commission.
Representatives of New Mexico’s conservation and outdoor recreation organizations are expressing shock and dismay after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office announced last week the state Fish and Game Commission (NMFGC) Chair, Joanna Prukop, would not be reappointed to that seat.
Prukop and other commissioners were appointed to the New Mexico Fish and Game Commission last May to replace a former governor’s appointees. The appointments ended this month, with permanent ones to be announced in coming days.
The first woman NMFGC chair, Prukop worked for the state Game and Fish Department for more than 25 years, becoming the department’s first female division chief. In 2002 she retired from the Department and went to work for the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, before being appointed Secretary of the state’s Department of Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources under then-Gov. Bill Richardson. She also served in former President Barack Obama’s administration as a three-term appointee to the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council.
The “Outdoor Wire” ran a feature on Dec. 5 about the Commission’s vote that same month to amend, or repeal, a controversial 2017 agency rule allowing landowners to certify non-navigable waters as private property, subjecting anglers wading these waterways to a trespass statute.
Prukop could not be reached for comment, but she did tell the “Albuquerque Journal” last Friday she has not been given a reason for the governor’s decision not to reappoint her, but she feels the vote to appeal or amend the rule is what led to it.
The Commission vote followed the issuance last month of a third New Mexico Attorney General’s office opinion that landowners can’t legally block the public from waterways on “non-navigable waters” that cross private property, as long as people don’t trespass across that property to reach the waterways. A 1945 state Supreme Court Decision in “State Game Commission vs. Red River Cattle Co.,” also appears to affirm that opinion.
In 2015 state legislators, by a one-vote margin, amended the state trespass law, barring the public from wading streams running through private property without written permission from the landowner. Three months later the NMFGC established a rule allowing landowners to certify these streambeds as “non-navigable,” and to fence, and declare the streambeds on their properties as private property.
Since adoption of this rule the Commission has certified five applications (two more are pending), blocking anglers from wading stretches of the upper Pecos, Chamas, Alamosa and Penasco rivers.
One of these certifications was issued to Chama Troutstalkers, owned by Dan Perry, who owns an outfitting business offering fishing trips there for about $500 a day.
According to an Oct. 10, 2017 article in the “Las Cruces Sun News,” Lujan Grisham received, “$10,000 from Troutstalker Ranch LLC of Santa Fe and an equal amount from Dan Perry of Santa Fe, a Troutstalker partner who owns the 1,300-acre ranch near Chama where sportsmen pay a fee to fish or hunt. Earlier this year, another Perry limited partnership, Chama Troutstalkers, gave Lujan Grisham another $11,000. https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/politics/2017/10/10/george-soros-donald-rumsfeld-donate-new-mexico-gubernatorial-governor-campaign-contributors/749873001/. The article also states, “Perry also founded the New Mexico Habitat Conservation Initiative, which last year gave more than $50,000 to various Republican political committees and candidates. Perry in 2014 gave Martinez more than $10,000 in political contributions.”
The Habitat Conservation Initiative also spearheaded the passage of the 2015 change to state law.
Prokop and Joel Gay, chairman of the New Mexico Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, both told the “Journal” Prokop’s removal could have been influenced by large political donations Perry has made through the Conservation Habitat Initiative.
“Ms. Prukop was not removed, although that was how it was described by the wildlife federation. The term to which she was appointed expired Jan. 1, and she was not re-appointed. We have a great candidate in mind for that position, someone with experience and leadership qualities,” Tripp Stelnicki, the governor’s spokesman said in a statement released to the “Outdoor Wire” this week.
“As far as the rationale: There were some disagreements about policy, substance and style, but we absolutely appreciate her service. It didn’t work out, and a change in direction felt like the best course forward. We wish Ms. Prukop well, and we look forward to the continued good work of the commission,” said Stelnicki.
While the governor’s office has yet to name the “great candidate” it has in mind to replace Prukop, there is widespread speculation it could be someone connected to the Santa Fe-based Modrall Sperling Law Firm. Marcos Gonzales, an attorney in the firm, has represented all landowners who have received the “non-navigable” certifications.
Almost two dozen fishing, hunting and conservation organizations in the state have publicly supported the Commission’s revisit of the 2017 rule.
“Prukop is the most qualified person and has the best leadership qualifications to hold this position of any candidate in my lifetime,” said Jesse Deubel, a lifelong New Mexico hunter and angler and executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation. “And I can tell you virtually all stakeholders in the state support her. There is no valid reason to not reappoint her, and, in fact, I consider her removal inappropriate, and a tragedy for the state’s sportsmen and women.”
The Commission is scheduled to meet Jan. 17 in Las Cruces, when its expected that commissioners will select a new chair and vice chair. The commission also had planned to take public comment on the stream issue starting in early 2020.
The “Outdoor Wire” has submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for all correspondence between the governor’s and Attorney General’s offices between Marcos Gonzalez and the Conservation Habitat Initiative, regarding any appointments to the Commission. We will keep readers posted on any new appointments and developments as this story unfolds.