Bipartisan bill would enhance​ removal process for the new State Wildlife Commission

Santa Fe, N.M. – Feb. 14, 2026– Today wildlife advocates celebrated the unanimous 69-0 vote in the New Mexico House of Representative approving SB104, a bill to reform the New Mexico State Wildlife Commission, which oversees the New Mexico Department of Wildlife. The bill now heads to the desk of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham after passing the Senate unanimously on Feb. 11. 

"We appreciate the legislature for finishing the important work of reforming our wildlife management system, and we thank the governor for working with our coalition to get us to this point," said Judy Calman, the New Mexico director of policy for Audubon Southwest. "With unanimous support in both chambers, we believe this bill deserves her signature."  

"This wasn't just about process, it was about upholding the integrity of a body that was formed 100 years ago to provide a voice for hunters, anglers and all those who care about wildlife in New Mexico," said Jesse Deubel, executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation. "We hope the governor will sign it into law quickly so we can continue building the 21st century wildlife management system New Mexicans deserve." 

SB104 was introduced by Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe) and is co-sponsored by Sens. Pete Campos, Crystal Brantley, and Reps. Matthew McQueen and Nathan Small. 

The legislation establishes a new removal process for State Wildlife Commissioners, building on legislation passed in Senate Bill 5 (SB5) during the 2025 session that reformed the process to allow for a commissioner only to be removed for "incompetence, neglect of duty or malfeasance" rather than simply serving at the will of the governor. 

Under the new bill, the process for removing a commissioner is initiated by the governor, the New Mexico Supreme Court is given "exclusive original jurisdiction over proceedings to remove commissioners," and the Court's decision would be final. 

The original language in SB5 called for the State Ethics Commission to bring an action in District Court for removing a commissioner "upon the Ethics Commission's information or upon the complaint of a person with knowledge of a commissioner's alleged incompetence, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office." The legislation also stipulated that a decision by the District Court could be appealed directly to the New Mexico Supreme Court. Those provisions were line-item vetoed by the governor in her March 20, 2025 veto message, which can be found here.

The State Wildlife Commission is an independent governing body that develops hunting and fishing regulations and oversees the New Mexico Department of Wildlife's $58 million annual budget. It was created more than 100 years ago to insulate wildlife management decisions from politics and to make decisions for the benefit of all New Mexicans.

More than 20 organizations representing 100,000+ New Mexicans successfully advocated for the passage of SB5 in the 2025 legislative session, which renamed the State Game Commission to the State Wildlife Commission and the Department of Game & Fish to the Department of Wildlife, respectively. 

It was the most significant piece of legislation affecting wildlife management in New Mexico since the founding of the Department of Game & Fish in the 1970s. SB5 was sponsored by Sens. Peter Wirth, Pete Campos, Crystal Brantley, and Reps. Matthew McQueen and Nathan Small and passed with bipartisan support in both chambers. 

The following reforms also became law with the governor's signature of SB5: 

  • New State Wildlife Commissioners will be appointed starting January 1, 2027;
  • Retains the governor's executive authority to appoint commissioners, after choosing from a list of qualified candidates sent to the governor by a new nominating committee;
  • Establishes a new nine-member nominating committee to include designees of legislative leadership from both parties and designees from UNM and NMSU's biology, fish, wildlife and conservation departments;
  • Adds new requirements for commissioners, including positions dedicated specifically to a farmer or rancher, a conservationist, a hunter and angler, a scientist, and one at-large member who must be a member of a federally recognized Indian nation, tribe or pueblo in New Mexico.;
  • Clarifies the Department of Wildlife's legislative authority to manage any species based on scientific evidence and in consideration of Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN); an
  • Adjusts resident and non-resident hunting and fishing permit fees for the first time since 200.7