State game officials reject pronghorn license changes

A state commission has voted not to change a system that allocates most pronghorn hunting licenses in New Mexico to private landowners instead of the public. The state Game Commission's 4-3 vote on Thursday rejected concerns raised by the New Mexico Wildlife Federation and many of its members, who advocated changing the rules to move more licenses into the state's public lottery system so New Mexico residents get more permits. Game commissioners say they were worried that private landowners will withdraw their lands from hunting without the permits. "We just don't have a lot of antelope in New Mexico," said Game Commissioner Dick Salopek of Las Cruces, who voted with the majority. "These ranchers threatened to close their ranches if they didn't get what they want. To me, that's huge." Landowners sell many permits to out-of-state residents for whatever price the market will bear. The state issues licenses through the lottery and a landowner "authorization" system. The breakdown of overall licenses issued to in-state residents compared to out-of-state was roughly 50-50 in 2008-09, according to the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. In all, 2,421 landowner authorizations were issued that year to out-of-state residents, compared to the 1,075 that were issued to in-state residents. But when the licenses issued through the lottery system are factored in, the overall number of licenses in the same year totaled 2,797 for residents and 2,784 for nonresidents, according to the department...more

The Game Commission favors private or public - how could this happen? Must be cause Richardson is on his way to Korea.