Red Sparky Report post Posted October 12, 2015 If any of you get an e-mail from NMG&F please answer it. We, hunters, are in a fight with the State Land Office (SLO). The NM game commission pays an access fee to the SLO to allow hunters, trappers, and anglers to access SLO land when hunting. The problem in my opinion is we pay for all SLO land even if we can't get access to it because it is landlocked by private land. We are also able to use this land for only about 1/3 of the year as you can only scout it 10 days before the hunt and can't camp on it or drive off any roads if any exist. Most of this land is checker boarded surrounded by private land and if there is not a legal easement, public road, you can't get to it. Usually the game commission pays about $200,000/ year for hunter access, uses G&F officers to enforce the laws on SLO land, and does about $750,000 worth of improvements for wildlife. The SLO does not have any law enforcement officers to patrol state land and wants to increase the access amount to $1,000,000 per year as a minimum. The other lessee's of this land are ranchers and oil & gas companies that use the land year round. The increase will be passed on to hunters, trappers, and anglers through a license increase. I have not hunted on SLO land in over 20 years but I pay for access every year. About $2 of our license fees go to pay for access so it will go up to $10 minimum, which will be passed on to us. Now $10 is not much but it is the principle of the thing to stand up to this bully. This may only effect a few of you NR hunters but our commission needs the ammo to tell this idiot that was elected into the SLO to stick it. I personally said I will give up all hunting on SLO land and not to pay any more easements and stop all hunting on SLO land. We have enough FS and BLM land where it will not be greatly missed if we can't hunt SLO land in my opinion. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lucky Draw Report post Posted October 12, 2015 Thanks for the background. I received the survey and will be filling it out today. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Couestracker Report post Posted October 12, 2015 I recieved the survey too. I've been hunting in New Mexico for 10 straight years, but I've yet to come across SLO controlled land, as far as I know. Thanks for the explaining the issues on this Todd, I completed the survey this morning. Tommy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
