17-4-2: Eminent domain power; abandonment or relinquishment of property acquired.

Any property or rights-of-way required for use by the state game commission [state wildlife commission] may be acquired as for a public purpose and as a matter of public necessity under the power of eminent domain, by and with the written approval of the board of county commissioners of the county in which the property or rights-of-way sought are located, in an action instituted and prosecuted in the name of the state, according to the procedure for condemnation provided by the Eminent Domain Code [42A-1-1 to 42A-1-33 NMSA 1978]. Provided nevertheless, that any property right acquired under the provisions of this section, if and when the use for which it was acquired has been abandoned for three years or otherwise relinquished, shall revert to the grantor from whom it was derived.