New Mexico v. Mescalero Apache Tribe

New Mexico v. Mescalero Apache Tribe
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 19, 1983 Decided June 13, 1983
Full case name	New Mexico, et al. v. Mescalero Apache Tribe
Citations	462 U.S. 324 (more) 103 S.Ct. 2378, 76 L.Ed. 611
Prior history	Mescarlero Apache Tribe v. State of New Mexico, 630 F.2d 724 (1980)
Holding
The application of New Mexico's laws to on-reservation hunting and fishing by nonmembers of the Tribe is preempted by the operation of federal law.
Court membership
Case opinions
Majority	Marshall, joined by unanimous

New Mexico v. Mescalero Apache Tribe, 462 U.S. 324 (1983), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the application of New Mexico's laws to on-reservation hunting and fishing by nonmembers of the Tribe is preempted by the operation of federal law.

The Mescalero Apache Tribe is a Native American (Indian) tribe with a reservation in south central New Mexico in the Rocky Mountains, generally south of Ruidoso and west of Tularosa. The current reservation was established by a series of Executive Orders, with the most recent dating from 1883. The tribe is governed by the Indian Reorganization Act, which provided for self-government of the tribe and reservation, subject to approval by the Secretary of the Interior.

The tribe's major source of income, lumber, was in decline and the tribe started looking at other sources of income. These included a casino resort complex, Inn of the Mountain Gods, a ski resort, Ski Apache, and development of fish and game resources. All of these programs provided revenue for the tribal government to provide services to tribal members. In the hunting and fishing areas, the tribe entered into a sustained collaborative effort with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. This included creating eight lakes, stocking the lakes with fish, and the federal government operating a hatchery on the reservation. The state was not involved in these efforts. The federal government also provided a herd of 142 elk, which the tribe's game management program has increased to 1,200. New Mexico was not involved in these efforts, nor of the other game on the reservation. The tribe and the federal government jointly conduct a fish and game management program. Every year the tribe adopts hunting and fishing ordinances based on the recommendations of the federal government. These ordinances are then approved by the Interior Secretary. The state of New Mexico also has hunting and fishing regulations.