N.M. Admin. Code § 19.30.5.8

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024

Section 19.30.5.8 - PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS AND AUTHORIZATION DISTRIBUTION IN THE PRIMARY MANAGEMENT ZONE

A. Minimum requirements:

(1) Private lands that lie within the primary management zone.

(2) Private lands that demonstrate regular elk use and provide meaningful benefits to elk as determined by appropriate department staff and in accordance with commission approved guidelines.

(3) Only landowners and ARCs who agree in writing to accept elk on their property will be considered for participation in EPLUS.

(4) Landowner and ARC must agree that participation is voluntary. Number of authorizations may vary annually and are based on GMU harvest objectives found in 19.31.14 NMAC. There is no guarantee of a specific number of authorizations issued each year.

(5) Any property which is part of a subdivision, village or town that does not allow hunting or restricts the discharge of all sporting arm types will be disqualified from participation in EPLUS. All other properties within a subdivision, village or town will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

(6) The department encourages landowners whose properties do not qualify to cooperate with other landowners to create co-ops to meet minimum participation requirements.

B. Enrollment and initial application:

(1) Landowners who wish to participate in EPLUS must submit a completed application provided by the department. Applications must include all required documentation as determined by the department and name a single ARC. Only the property owner(s) listed on the recorded deed(s) may submit an initial EPLUS application and assign an ARC. If there are multiple owners listed on the property deed(s), all co-owners must sign an affidavit authorizing one of the owners to be responsible for the initial application.

(2) The application must include the most recent recorded property ownership records including property legal descriptions and maps or surveys sufficient to establish the legal landowner(s) and property boundaries.

(3) Application must be submitted to the department, hand delivered or post marked, no later than January 5 of each year. Applications received without all required documentation or hand delivered or postmarked after January 5 shall be rejected. Applications rejected as a result of missing documents may be corrected and resubmitted through February 1 to be included that year if the original application was submitted by the January 5 deadline. Exceptions may be made for extenuating circumstances on a case-by-case basis.

(4) Applications will be reviewed by appropriate department staff so a determination can be made as to the application satisfying the requirements set forth in Subsection A of 19.30.5.8 NMAC.

(5) Ranches meeting the requirements set forth in Subsection A of 19.30.5.8 NMAC will be assigned an elk contribution rating and must meet a minimum ranch score to be eligible for authorizations pursuant to the processes set forth in Subsection D of 19.30.5.8 NMAC.

(6) ARCs with ranches that do not meet the requirements set forth in Subsection A of 19.30.5.8 NMAC will be advised and provided options including the right to request a review of the department's decision as outlined in 19.30.5.12 NMAC.

C. Participating ranches:

(1) All ARCs for participating ranches will receive an agreement annually.

(2) The annual agreement will list the name, address, and phone number of the authorized ranch contact, the number of deeded acres considered, the ranch score and the elk contribution rating assigned. It will provide the opportunity to request a review of the listed acreage, the ranch score and the assigned elk contribution rating. The agreement will set out the terms for participation and provide the ability to elect the ranch-only option. The annual agreement will require the ARC to notify the department of any changes affecting the ranch's enrollment or participation eligibility. The annual agreement must be signed and initialed by the ARC where designated and returned to the department via hand delivery or post marked no later than January 5 each year. Failure to meet these requirements will result in the agreement not being activated for the current license year. Exceptions may be made for extenuating circumstances on a case-by-case basis.

(3) Any ranch for which rightful ownership or legal representation cannot be determined shall be placed in review until such time as rightful ownership or legal representation is verified. If after one year, adequate documentation of ownership is not provided, the ranch will be inactivated.

(4) Landowners requesting to split their separately deeded properties currently under one ranch into separate ranches shall be required to submit a new application for each property. Ranches whose property is entirely contained on one deed may not be split.

(5) Upon the second consecutive year of non-receipt of the annual agreement, the department will inactivate the respective ranch until a new initial application has been submitted.

(6) Ranches that are sold or transferred to new ownership must apply as required for initial participation. The department may make reasonable accommodations in circumstances where transfer of ownership occurs after the January 5 deadline.

(7) Participating ranches that the department determines no longer qualify for participation shall be sent written notice of inactivation for the following license year.

(8) Appropriate department staff may adjust the elk contribution rating or ranch score for any participating ranch annually. In the case an adjustment is warranted, the ARC will be contacted and notified of the rating change.

(9) Any landowner who requests interventions to eliminate the presence of elk on their participating acreage in accordance with 19.30.2 NMAC shall be placed in review. If the depredation only applies to a portion of the ranch and the remaining acreage continues to provide meaningful benefit to elk, only the acreage where depredation response actions are to occur will be inactivated. Exceptions to this may be considered by appropriate department staff on a case-by-case basis.

(10) Should any landowner or ARC take action pursuant to Section 17-2-7.2 NMSA 1978 the ranch upon which the action occurred shall immediately be inactivated from EPLUS for a period of three years and all unconverted authorizations may be voided.

(11) All participating ranches will be subject to the requirements found in this section on an annual basis. Any change affecting a ranches qualifications for this program will result in that ranch being re-evaluated to determine if the ranch meets the minimum requirements.

D. Determination of authorizations:

(1) In each GMU, the pool of private land elk authorizations shall be comprised of the base allocation, bonus allocation, two year unconverted and SCR pool.

(2) A portion of the bonus allocations or two year unconverted, should they be available, may be distributed to specific ranches in the form of incentive authorizations issued in recognition of significant contributions to elk management.

(3) The base allocation per ranch will be set as follows:

(a) A ranch's deeded acres multiplied by that ranch's elk contribution rating equals ranch weighted acres.

(b) A ranch's weighted acres divided by the total private deeded acres in the GMUs primary management zone equals that ranches percent ranch weighted acres.

(c) Percent ranch weighted acres multiplied by the number of available private land elk authorizations for the GMU equals the number of authorizations per ranch.

(d) All ranches receiving at least one whole authorization through the allocation formula will be considered a base ranch and will receive a base allocation.

(e) When a ranch is unable to receive at least one whole authorization through the allocation formula, the ranch will become a SCR.

(f) The combined fractional authorizations from SCRs will comprise the allocations available in the SCR pool.

(4) Distribution of the SCR pool will be as follows:

(a) SCRs will compete in a yearly, random, drawing weighted on the ranches ranch score for authorizations.

(b) SCRs may receive not more than one authorization through the yearly, random drawing.

(c) Bonus allocations and two year unconverted authorizations remaining after the issuance of incentive authorizations will be added into the pool for the SCR drawing.

(5) Authorizations not distributed in the SCR draw will be redistributed to base ranches pursuant to the allocation formula.

(6) All authorizations issued to a ranch pursuant to this section will be:

(a) Considered unit-wide unless otherwise requested by the ARC, or

(b) In GMUs 4 and 5A, authorizations will be ranch-only but transferrable to other private lands within the specific GMU with written landowner permission.

E. Inactivation:

(1) A landowner or ARC, along with the ranch shall be inactivated for:

(a) providing or permitting misrepresentation of the ranch's participating deeded acreage, ranch ownership or designated ARC;

(b) prohibiting access to other unit-wide license holders or public draw hunting license holders; or

(c) the landowner or ARC violating Chapter 17 NMSA 1978 or state game commission rules involving licenses converted with the ranches' authorization(s), or being an accessory to the same, regardless of whether the violation occurred on or off the ranch, resulting in a violation(s) that accumulates 20 or more revocation points pursuant to 19.31.2 NMAC on any single individual.

(2) A landowner or ARC, along with the ranch may be inactivated for breaching or violating any other condition of the EPLUS agreement.

(3) Upon determination that a violation or breach of Paragraph 1 or Paragraph 2 of this Subsection or any other inactivation provision in 19.30.5.8 NMAC has occurred, the landowner and ARC shall be notified explaining the determination for the inactivation.

(4) Should the landowner or ARC have multiple properties in EPLUS, all properties may be inactivated from EPLUS and disqualified from participation in department sponsored programs.

(5) If a ranch is signed up in a co-op, inactivation action(s) may be taken against the co-op in its entirety or individual properties participating that form the co-op and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

(6) If the inactivated ranch(s) changes ownership during the disqualification period, the department may consider the ranch for future participation.

(7) Inactivation from EPLUS and disqualification from department sponsored programs may be for a period up to three years.

(8) The landowner may request a review that shall be held in accordance with the processes set forth in 19.30.5.12 NMAC. The standard of proof in cases where no conviction is involved shall be the preponderance of evidence. If a conviction has been rendered, a certified copy or a filed copy of the conviction from any court of competent jurisdiction shall be conclusive evidence of a violation.

N.M. Admin. Code § 19.30.5.8

19.30.5.8 NMAC - N, 10-17-2005; A, 12-14-2006; A, 2-13-2009, Adopted by New Mexico Register, Volume XXIX, Issue 24, December 27, 2018, eff. 4/1/2019