A person who commits any of the following acts is guilty of a petty misdemeanor and shall be sentenced in accordance with the provisions of Section 31-19-1 NMSA 1978:

A. cut, break, injure, destroy, take or remove a tree, shrub, timber, plant or natural object in any state park and recreation area, except in areas designated by the secretary and permitted by rules adopted by the secretary. Such rules shall only permit the removal of a tree, shrub, timber, plant or natural object for scientific study or for noncommercial use by an individual as a souvenir. The quantity of material authorized for removal from any area shall be strictly regulated by park personnel in order to minimize resource damage;

B. kill, cause to be killed or pursue with intent to kill a bird or animal in a state park and recreation area, except in areas designated by the secretary and except in conformity with the provisions of general law and the rules of the state game commission;

C. take a fish from the waters of a state park and recreation area, except in conformity with the provisions of general law and the rules of the state game commission;

D. willfully mutilate, injure, deface or destroy any guidepost, notice, tablet, fence, enclosure or work that is for the protection or ornamentation of a state park and recreation area;

E. light a fire in a state park and recreation area, except in those places authorized for fires by the secretary, or willfully or carelessly permit any fire that is authorized and that the person has lighted or caused to be lighted or under the person's charge to spread or extend to or burn the shrubbery, trees, timber, ornaments or improvements in a state park and recreation area or leave a campfire that the person has lighted or that has been left in the person's charge unattended by a competent person without extinguishing it;

F. place in a state park and recreation area or affix to an object in a state park and recreation area a word, character or device designed to advertise a business, profession, article, thing, exhibition, matter or event without a written license from the secretary permitting the person to do it; or

G. violate a rule adopted by the secretary pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 16, Article 2 NMSA 1978 when the violation has caused or contributed to the cause of an accident resulting in injury or death to a person or disappearance of a person.

History: Laws 1935, ch. 57, § 19; 1941 Comp., § 4-119; 1953 Comp., § 4-9-21; Laws 1963, ch. 98, § 21; 1967, ch. 31, § 1; 1977, ch. 254, § 31; 1987, ch. 234, § 26; 1997, ch. 149, § 1; 2013, ch. 136, § 2.

The 2013 amendment, effective June 14, 2013, provided that it is a petty misdemeanor when a violation causes an accident resulting in injury or death to a person or the disappearance of a person; in Subsections A through C, deleted "regulations" and added "rules"; and in Subsection G, after "violate a rule", deleted "or regulation" and after "Article 2 NMSA 1978", added the remainder of the sentence.

The 1997 amendment, effective June 20, 1997, rewrote the introductory paragraph; added the exception to Subsection A; rewrote Subsections E and G; and made minor stylistic changes throughout the section.

The 1987 amendment, effective July 1, 1987, substituted "secretary" for "state park and recreation division" in Subsections B and E through G and "Chapter 16, Article 2 NMSA 1978" for "this article" in Subsection G and made minor changes in language throughout the section.