Endangered Species - Enforcement and Penalties - New Mexico

A. Any person adversely affected by an order of the commission may appeal to the district court pursuant to the provisions of Section 39-3-1.1 NMSA 1978.

B. Any person adversely affected by a regulation adopted by the commission may appeal to the court of appeals. All appeals shall be upon the record made at the hearing or contained in the public repository file and shall be taken to the court of appeals within thirty days following the date of the filing of the regulation by the commission pursuant to the provisions of the State Rules Act.

C. Upon appeal, the court of appeals shall set aside the regulation only if it is found to be:

(1) arbitrary, capricious or an abuse of discretion; 

(2) not supported by substantial evidence in the record; or

(3) otherwise not in accordance with law.

D. After a hearing and a showing of good cause by the appellant, a stay of the regulation being appealed may be granted:

(1) by the commission or

(2) by the court of appeals if the commission denies a stay or fails to act upon an application for a stay within sixty days after receipt of the application.

E. The appellant shall pay all costs for any appeal found to be frivolous by the court of appeals.

Citation: N. M. S. A. 1978, § 17-2-43.1.

A. Any person who fails to procure any permit required by Subsection C or D of Section 17-2-42 NMSA 1978 or who fails to abide by the terms of such permit, is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than three hundred dollars ($300) or be imprisoned for not more than ninety days, or both.

B. Any person who violates the provisions of Subsection C of Section 17-2-41 NMSA 1978, or any regulations issued pursuant to that section is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined one thousand dollars ($1,000) or imprisoned for a term of not less than thirty days nor more than one year, or both.

Citation: N. M. S. A. 1978, § 17-2-45.

A. The director, each conservation officer, each sheriff in his respective county and each member of the New Mexico state police shall enforce the Wildlife Conservation Act and with probable cause shall:

(1) seize any wildlife, including any wild mammal, bird, amphibian, reptile, fish, mollusk or crustacean held in violation of the Wildlife Conservation Act; 

(2) arrest any person whom he knows to be guilty of a violation of the Wildlife Conservation Act; and

(3) open, enter and examine all camps, cars, vehicles, tents, packs, boxes, barrels and packages where he has reason to believe any game or fish taken or held in violation of the Wildlife Conservation Act is to be found, and seize it.

B. Any warrant for the arrest of a person shall be issued upon sworn complaint, the same as in other criminal cases, and any search warrant shall issue upon a written showing of probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, describing the places to be searched or the persons or things to be seized.

C. Conservation officers under the direction of the director may establish checking stations at points along established roads as needed.

Citation: N. M. S. A. 1978, § 17-2-46.

...D. The department shall have authority to protect species of plants determined to be endangered by prohibiting the taking, possession, transportation, exportation from this state, processing, sale or offer for sale or shipment within this state of such species. Any person who violates the provisions of this subsection or any regulations issued pursuant to this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not less than three hundred dollars ($300) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or be imprisoned for a term of not more than one hundred twenty days or both. As used in this section, “possession” shall be defined to be possession of listed plants or plant materials for purposes of taking, transportation, exportation from this state, processing, sale or offer for sale or shipment within this state...

Citation: N. M. S. A. 1978, § 75-6-1.

A. The director of the department of game and fish, or any other officer charged with enforcement of the laws relating to game and fish if so directed by the director, may bring a civil action in the name of the state against any person unlawfully wounding or killing, or unlawfully in possession of, any game quadruped, bird or fish, or part thereof and recover judgment for the following minimum sums as damages for the taking, killing or injuring:

...for each endangered species 500.00...

B. Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A of this section, the state game commission shall establish damages recoverable by civil judgment on a game animal, bird or fish designated to be a trophy animal by commission rule.

C. Damages recovered pursuant to this section are intended to compensate the state for the loss of unique public resources and shall not be limited or reduced by the extent of fines assessed pursuant to any criminal statute. The department of game and fish shall not award or issue a license, permit or certificate to a debtor owing damages pursuant to this section until the judgment has been paid in full to the department.

D. No verdict or judgment recovered by the state in an action shall be for less than the sum fixed in this section. The action for damages may be joined with an action for possession, and recovery may be had for the possession as well as the damages.

E. The pendency or determination of an action for damages or payment of a judgment, or the pendency or determination of a criminal prosecution for the same taking, wounding, killing or possession, is not a bar to the other, nor does either affect the right of seizure under any other provision of the laws relating to game and fish.

F. The provisions of this section shall not be interpreted to prevent, constrain or penalize a Native American for engaging in activities for religious purposes, as provided in Section 17-2-14 or 17-2-41 NMSA 1978.

G. The provisions of this section shall not apply to a landowner or lessee, or employee of either, who kills an animal, on private land in which the person has an ownership or leasehold interest, that is threatening human life or damaging or destroying property, including crops; provided, however, that the killing is reported to the department of game and fish within twenty-four hours and before the removal of the carcass of the animal killed(,) and provided further that all actions authorized in this subsection are carried out according to rules of the department.

Citation: N. M. S. A. 1978, § 17-2-26.