New Mexico

$300M needed for New Mexico land conservation; Supporters argue for funding in budget bill

Published

2 years ago

February 11, 2024

0M needed for New Mexico land conservation; Supporters argue for funding in budget bill

A $300 million state appropriation for land conservation across New Mexico was included in the House’s budget bill passed by the chamber and being considered by the Senate in the final days of the 2024 Legislative Session.

The money, included in House Bill 2, would send the funds to the Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund create via legislation in last year’s session.

The Legacy Fund operates in two ways: the Expandable Fund will dole out $12.5 million a year to existing state conservation programs beginning in July and a Conservation Permanent Legacy Fund would invest the dollars at the behest of the State Investment Council.

More: ‘Fundamental disagreement’ puts GOP and ‘bureaucrats’ in Santa Fe at odds for conservation

Both received an initial $50 million appropriation when they were established and the $300 million for Fiscal Year 2025 would go to the investment fund, meaning it could be transferred to the expendable fund for future projects as needed.

Supporters estimated the resulting $350 million balance would sustain current funding levels for 10 agency conservation programs until FY 2031 and would double the dollars available to the expendable fund.

They also said the money would provide matching funds for federal grants needed for work throughout the state.

More: Record $2.75 billion in New Mexico revenue driven by oil and gas industry

“We have continued to try to bring federal dollars to New Mexico to put things on the ground for farmers and ranchers,” said Debbie Hughes, executive director the New Mexico Association of Conservation Districts. “We desperately need a state fund to help match this. We could get a lot more federal dollars.”

She said using matching funds required by the federal Farm Bill passed by Congress in 2014 and signed into law by former-President Barrack Obama, New Mexico was able to bring $52 million that was matched by $102 million in federal matching funds.

She said the Legacy Fund would strengthen those efforts to gain funding for projects to improve New Mexico’s water supplies, soil health and wildlife areas.

More: $175 million in oil and gas assets bought by Permian Resources

The money can also be used to improve facilities like dams owned by municipalities, conduct wildlife surveys and address invasive species like mesquite which impact native grasslands.

Hughes said the added funding will help the state work with landowners when their acreage is needed for conservation projects but was unlikely to involve any “large-scale” land acquisitions.

“These agencies can do it now. You can’t really blame it on the legacy fund. We haven’t seen them going after large-scale swaths of land. This is to improve natural resources,” she said. “It definitely will help farmers and ranchers. The work has to be done on somebody’s land, and in most cases it’s a farmer or rancher. All of these programs will benefit agriculture.”

More: $11B wind power project is being built in southern New Mexico

Concerns were voiced by Republican lawmakers worried more funding and government authority on conservation could lead to the state exerting control over private landowners.

That took the form of a series of bills sponsored by New Mexico Sen. Steven McCutcheon (R-42) during the ongoing session, removing authorities of various state agencies to acquire lands for conservation.

“No bureaucrat will ever understand how to better use the land than those whose legacy is dedicated to managing it,” McCutcheon said in a statement backing his legislation.

But Gillian Joyce, government relations advocate at the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union which supported the fund, countered that the State is legally barred from buying and lands at more than appraised value, meaning it was likely priced out of large land acquisitions.

More: Lawmakers hope to block oil wells near homes, schools via New Mexico Senate memorial

The small purchases the state could afford, she said, would not significantly impact the agricultural industry.

“If you get tiny acquisitions that the state could afford, it’s not going to take enough land out of the agricultural tax base. There’s just not enough funds to do that,” Joyce said. “The state can’t out compete people on the private market. This isn’t precluding these lands from getting purchased by private producers.”

Joyce argued the dollars would instead go to specific, existing conservation projects and agencies in New Mexico, used to maintain natural resources in the state.

More: Lawmakers look to send more state funds to clean up New Mexico’s abandoned oil wells

“This is a great opportunity to respond to issues across our state,” she said. “Land stewardship and water stewardship require years and years of planning. Many of the programs across our state are not able to take that long, broad approach.

“We’ll know we have consistent funding for conservation across our state.”

That work could become more important amid worsening aridification of the state, and the impacts of perilous drought conditions around New Mexico, said Lesli Allison chief executive officer at the Western Landowners Alliance.

More: Feds plan prescribed burns in southeast New Mexico as wildfire season gets underway

“We’re dealing with long-term drought in New Mexico. You can really see the impacts hitting New Mexico more than any other state. “We need very much to investment in our forests, take care of our rangelands. These are large-scale projects. None of this is anything a landowner can take care of on their own.”

Federal conservation dollars were also available in the recently passed Inflation Reduction and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs acts, and could be matched, Allison said, using some of New Mexico’s recent budget surplus brought on by surging oil and gas revenue.

But that surplus could be temporary, she said, arguing this session was the time to make the investment.

“We have the opportunity in our budget with our surplus to make this investment happen,” Allison said. “We might not get this opportunity again. We don’t know how long that surplus would last.”

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.

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New Mexico

New Mexico deserves speedier game commission appointments

Published

11 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

New Mexico deserves speedier game commission appointments

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New Mexico

What bills have been filed for New Mexico’s 2026 legislative session?

Published

23 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

What bills have been filed for New Mexico’s 2026 legislative session?

The governor sets the agenda for the session, including for the budget, so here is what they are looking at so far.

SANTA FE, N.M. — As the regular session of the New Mexico Legislature is set to begin Jan. 20, lawmakers have already filed dozens of bills.

Bills include prohibiting book bans at public libraries and protections against AI, specifically the distribution of sensitive and “Deepfake” images

Juvenile justice reform is, again, a hot topic. House Bill 25 would allow access to someone’s juvenile records during a background check if they’re trying to buy a gun.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham sets the agenda and puts forth the proposed budget lawmakers will address during the session. The governor is calling for lawmakers to take up an $11.3 billion budget for the 2027 fiscal year, which is up 4.6% from current spending levels.

Where would that money go? More than $600 million would go to universal free child care. Meanwhile, more than $200 million would go to health care and to protect against federal funding cuts.

There is also $65 million for statewide affordable housing initiatives and $19 million for public safety.

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New Mexico

Understanding New Mexico’s data center boom | Opinion

Published

1 day ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Understanding New Mexico’s data center boom | Opinion

Paul Gessing, Rio Grande Foundation
| Las Cruces Sun-News

After years of failure to land a “big fish” business for New Mexico’s economy (or effectively use the oil and gas revenues to grow the economy) Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham with the help of her Economic Development Secretary Rob Black have lured no fewer than three large data centers to New Mexico. These data centers are being built to serve the booming world of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and they will have profound impacts on New Mexico.

It is our view that having these data centers locate in New Mexico is better than having them locate elsewhere. While we have many differences of opinion with this governor, we are pleased to see her get serious about growing and diversifying New Mexico’s oil-dependent economy albeit quite late in her second term.

Sadly, the governor and legislature have chosen not to use broad based economic reforms like deregulation or tax cuts to improve New Mexico’s competitiveness. But, with the failure of her “preferred” economic development “wins” like Maxeon and Ebon solar both of which the governor announced a few years ago, but haven’t panned out, the focus on a more realistic strategy is welcome and long overdue.

Currently, three new data centers are slated to be built in New Mexico:

Oracle’s Project Jupiter in Santa Teresa with an investment of $165 billion.
Project Zenith slated to be built in Roswell amounts to a $11.7 billion investment.
New Era Energy & Digital, Inc. While the overall investment is unclear, the energy requirement is the largest of the three at 7 gigawatts (that’s seven times the power used by the City of San Francisco).

What is a data center? Basically, they are the real-world computing infrastructure that makes up the Internet. The rise of AI requires vast new computing power. It is critical that these facilities have uninterrupted electricity.

That electricity is going to be largely generated by traditional sources like natural gas and possibly nuclear. That contravenes New Mexico’s Energy Transition Act of 2019 which was adopted by this Gov. and many of the legislators still in office. Under the Act electrical power emissions are supposed to be eliminated in a few years.

With the amount of money being invested in these facilities and the simple fact that wind and solar and other “renewable” energy sources aren’t going to get the job done. In 2025 the Legislature passed and MLG signed HB 93 which allows for the creation of “microgrids” that won’t tax the grid and make our electricity more expensive, but the ETA will have to be amended or ignored to provide enough electricity for these data centers. There’s no other option.

New Mexicans have every right to wonder why powerful friends of the governor can set up their own natural gas microgrids while the rest of us face rising costs and decreased reliability from so-called “renewables.” Don’t get me wrong, having these data centers come to New Mexico is an economic boon.

But it comes tempered with massive subsidies including a 30-year property tax exemption and up to $165 billion in industrial revenue bonds. New Mexico is ideally suited as a destination for these data centers with its favorable climate and lack of natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. We shouldn’t be giving away such massive subsidies.

Welcoming the data center boom to New Mexico better than rejecting them and pushing them to locate in other states. There is no way to avoid CO2 emissions whether they happen here or somewhere else. But, there are questions about both the electricity demand and subsidies that must be addressed as New Mexico’s data center boom begins.

What will the Legislature, radical environmental groups, and future governors of our state do to hinder (or help) bring these data centers to our State? That is an open question that depends heavily on upcoming statewide elections. It is important that New Mexicans understand and appreciate these complicated issues.

Paul Gessing is president of New Mexico’s Rio Grande Foundation. The Rio Grande Foundation is an independent, nonpartisan, tax-exempt research and educational organization dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico based on principles of limited government, economic freedom and individual responsibility

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