I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
If you need to find out more about the candidates for state land commissioner before casting your vote next week, you’re in luck. The New Mexico Wildlife Federation has compiled an excellent set of video clips from a forum sponsored by a broad range of New Mexico sportsmen’s organizations on May 12. The Independent’s Trip Jennings moderated the forum, and Matt Reichbach liveblogged the event.
New Mexico’s state land commissioner oversees a vast amount of public land—about 13 million acres—with a constitutional mandate to manage the land in a way to benefit public education in the state. In creating the office, the state constitution gives almost sole authority over state trust land to the land commissioner, although the methods which the office can use to develop state land to bring in revenue are limited by the constitution.
Historically, the land has been leased for grazing or oil and gas production. In recent decades, the office has entered into controversial leases for planning and development work on land it owns in urban areas. In addition to leasing the land to raise revenue, state trust lands are valued by sportsmen and environmentalists alike for their contribution to recreation and conservation efforts.
Now, the office is up for grabs, due to term limits that prevent current commissioner, Pat Lyons, from running again. There are five hopefuls up for election in the June 1 primary, three Democrats and Two Republicans.
The Democratic slate includes former land commissioner Ray Powell, who held the office from 1993 to 2002; Santa Fe County Commissioner Harry Montoya; and Sandy Jones, who currently holds a seat on the Public Regulation Commission.
The two Republicans vying for the seat are Bob Cornelius, a long-time Republican party activist, and Matt Rush, a farmer and rancher from Roosevelt County.
Among the video clips are discussions of the at times controversial land swaps engaged in by the land office with private parties; wolf reintroductions on public lands; and the role of public participation in the decisions made by the land office about how land should be used.
The candidates also addressed environmental regulations called by some the “pit rules,” which govern the lining of oil and gas pits in order to protect groundwater. The land commissioner sits on the Oil Conservation Commission, which may be asked to review the rules due to complaints by the oil and gas industry.
Registered New Mexico will be able to vote in the primary elections of their respective parties next Tuesday, June 1, which will determine in part which of these candidates will face off in the general election next fall.
