N.M. wildlife group blasts ex-game official's deal

By Sue Major Holmes
The Associated Press
Posted: 11/13/2010 01:00:00 AM MST

ALBUQUERQUE — The New Mexico Wildlife Federation says a former state Game Commission member who donated to Gov. Bill Richardson's campaigns helped get 61 Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep moved to state trust land that his northeastern New Mexico ranch leases, then got the public banned from the land.

Leo Sims II said bighorn relocation was discussed openly and that he's repeatedly invited commissioners to the ranch.

"We're proud of what we do; we're proud of how we do it," said Sims.

Federation officials say minutes of commission meetings obtained under a public-records request do not show Sims told fellow commissioners that bighorns would be released on or near his family's ranch. Richardson appointed Sims to the commission in 2003.

The federation contends Sims plans to establish a private viewing and hunting operation.

The federation also said commissioners weren't told about Sims' request that the state Land Office withdraw public hunting and fishing access on 1,000 acres of trust land he leases in the Dry Cimarron area. The 2010 agreement put the leased land off-limits to hunters and recreational users for 50 years.

"We're not saying it was bad habitat for the bighorn sheep, but the public deserves to know who stood to benefit," said federation executive director Jeremy Vesbach. He also said the public should have been told about an agreement that closed public access to trust land.

Sims and state Department of Game and Fish officials said minutes don't reflect everything said in a meeting. Wildlife Federation spokesman Joel Gay said the federation has not yet reviewed audiotapes of the meetings.

Bighorns were moved to the area in 2007 and 2008. Game and Fish director Tod Stevenson said the first release involved state land associated with Sims' ranch; the second occurred on state land involving two other landowners.

Sims said he's spent $1.7 million of his money on conservation improvements on the ranch and leased land. Elk and mule deer as well as bighorn-sheep populations have risen, he said.

The department began working on a long-range plan for Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in 2004. The Dry Cimarron was not among three potential relocation sites in a draft-management plan but had been added when the final plan went to the commission in 2005, the federation said. It topped the list by the time commissioners unanimously approved the relocation in May 2006, it said.

Bruce Thompson, state Game and Fish director during the relocation study, said the process went on for about a year, with biologists evaluating habitat in northeastern New Mexico.

Sims said he's dealing with an organization that works with children with life-threatening illnesses. He said the children could view wildlife, and eventually, children who want to hunt could do so on the ranch but not the state trust lands.

More "pay to play" in (new) Mexico. I wish I could say I was surprised, but I've always contended that the Game Commission in this state is not interested in game management, but money management.