State lawmakers are scrambling to find out why there was $5 million in funds given to the Department of Game and Fish as part of House Bill 2 (HB 2).
State lawmakers recently held a special session on Dec. 10 to look into the issue, and Sen. Crystal Diamond (R-Dona Ana) said they have left open the door as to why the money was allocated to the department in the first place, according to KRQE.
“It leaves us to believe that maybe it’s the environmental groups that are part of the process in purchasing that land – we’ve even heard maybe it’s some rogue game commissioner that has tried to include this in the budget without overall approval from the game commission itself,” Diamond said.
According to the New Mexico Legislature, HB 2 was authorized during the special session and took over $1 million that was left in COVID-19 relief funds and allocated them to various departments throughout the state.
KRQE reported that Director of the Department of Game and Fish Michael Sloane was himself perplexed by the funds the department was given in order to purchase property considering that had not asked for the funds.
“I guess I would first like to begin by expressing my surprise at the inclusion of the $5 million appropriation for property acquisition statewide,” said Michael Sloane, director of the department of Game and Fish.
The department does participate in buying land for conservation, recreation and hunting, and the grant will help the department buy L Bar Ranch, which comes with a price tag of $33 million, according to KRQE.
“There is a contract on the ranch, we don’t know who signed the contract, we don’t know anything. The total price is like $33 million,” Sen. George Nuñoz, (D-Gallup) told the station.