Latest news with #StateLandOffice
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Chaves County Commissioner Michael Perry first GOP candidate in land commissioner race
Jul. 14—SANTA FE — Michael Perry isn't oblivious to the fact New Mexico has only elected three Republicans to lead the State Land Office since 1930. But the Chaves County commissioner and former state Department of Game and Fish official says he's hopeful his conservation-rich background can lead to a GOP breakthrough in next year's land commissioner race. "My hope is that people will put politics aside and look at resumes," said Perry, who recently announced his campaign for the 2026 contest. As the first Republican in the contest, Perry joins a race that currently features three Democratic candidates — state legislator Matthew McQueen, former Biden appointee Jonas Moya and ex-Democratic Party official Juan Sanchez. The race does not feature an incumbent since current Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard is barred under the state Constitution from seeking a third consecutive term. Garcia Richard announced in March her plans to run for lieutenant governor in 2026. Perry, who currently owns a private consulting firm focused on habitat restoration, worked for more than 20 years with the Game and Fish Department as a game warden and, in later years, as a top administrator overseeing the agency's operations in southern New Mexico. He then worked for former Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn, a Republican-turned-Libertarian, as an assistant commissioner. In that role, Perry said he worked with sportsmen's groups on access issues, including easements and right-of-way leases for certain hard-to-reach state trust lands. He said those experiences make his resume unmatched among the candidates in the land commissioner race. "I feel like I'm a good fit based on my biological background and my on the ground experience," Perry said. He also said that, if elected, he would ensure companies who lease state trust land for oil drilling or other commercial activities clean up their waste, while also saying he would oppose selling public lands. The idea of selling federal public lands to build more affordable housing drew criticism and protests in New Mexico, before eventually being removed from a massive budget bill signed this month by President Donald Trump. "I'm not an advocate of selling lands," Perry said. "I'm for us making money, but it's got to be done in a way that can last forever." The State Land Office oversees more than 9 million acres of state trust land, plus 13 million subsurface acres, for the benefit of New Mexico public schools, hospitals and other beneficiaries. The annual earnings recorded by the office jumped from roughly $1.1 billion during the 2019 budget year to nearly $2.6 billion in the 2024 fiscal year, with more than 90% of that amount coming from oil and natural gas royalties. In running for land commissioner next year, Perry will have to forego a reelection bid to the Chaves County Commission. That's because state law bars candidates from running for two separate elected offices in the same election cycle.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
'They're our greatest asset': NM State Land Office ranks No. 3 in Top Workplaces midsize category
Jul. 13—A connection to public land and an employee-prioritized workplace is what compels staff to join and stay at the New Mexico State Land Office. The public agency is ranked No. 3 in the midsize category of Top Workplaces. It marks the third consecutive year the State Land Office has garnered a place on the list. The office has been around for more than a century and employs 180 people, offering benefits like telework, at least 10 days of paid vacation leave and 13 days of paid sick leave, paid holidays, two months of paid parental leave and a physical fitness policy. "We prioritize the Land Office employees first and foremost because they're our greatest asset," said Public Lands Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard. The following is an excerpt from an interview with Garcia Richard. It has been edited and condensed for clarity. What compels workers to join and stay with the State Land Office? Our mission — because we manage those public resources on behalf of New Mexico's public schools, universities and hospitals. Plus, land is part and parcel of our identity in New Mexico. Think public resources, public land — no matter who you ask across the political spectrum, they have a connection to land here and have had for generations. One benefit offered at the agency is the ability to telework. That is something that is unique to the Land Office: two days in office and three days work from home, for the most part. Sometimes that varies between the divisions depending on the workload, but in general, that is the model. What we saw is that during COVID, productivity didn't really suffer from work-from-home policies, so we decided to just keep those in place after the pandemic waned a little bit. How do you ensure that your staff aren't just making ends meet, but actually living comfortably? We have pretty systematically and methodically gone in and ensured that we are eliminating pay disparities, between gender pay disparities, between amount of experience and years of service we want. We want to recruit, certainly, but we want to retain our very quality employees, and so we do everything we can to do that. Now, are we perfect? No, there's still a lot of work to be done around fair compensation for state employees. But I think the State Land Office stands head and shoulders above other agencies in trying to do everything we can to elevate these positions, both in terms of classification and pay. What are some of the challenges the State Land Office has faced over the past year with that? State work is challenging. I have never been a state employee myself, but I worked in public schools, and I draw a comparison there. There is a lot of criticism that state employees face, I think, unfairly. A lot of times, the burden of things that go wrong are placed on state employees' shoulders. So it's a hard place to be. And then we are limited. We're not like a private company, where if someone is deserving of a raise, we can just grant them that raise. We have to work within the budget that we're appropriated. So those are some of our challenges.
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Republican Michael Perry jumps into race for New Mexico land commissioner
The statewide race for commissioner of public lands is no longer a one-party affair. Chaves County Commissioner Michael Perry announced Monday he is seeking the Republican nomination for state land commissioner in the June 2026 primary election. Perry, 53, is the fourth candidate but first Republican to launch a campaign to succeed Democrat Stephanie Garcia Richard, who is term-limited and seeking the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor. Perry, a Roswell native and retired game warden who served as assistant land commissioner from 2016 to 2019 under former State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn, called conservation his wheelhouse. 'I want to get back to wise use of our natural resources, and that's why I want to do this,' Perry said in an interview. 'It's very, very important to the whole state that our forests and our lands are in great shape.' Perry joins a growing field of candidates vying to take the reins at the New Mexico State Land Office, which oversees 9 million acres and 13 million subsurface acres of state trust land. Revenue earned by the agency through leases for oil and gas, agriculture and renewable energy, among other uses, benefits New Mexico's public schools, universities and hospitals. So far, all the candidates are men. In addition to Perry, they include state Rep. Matthew McQueen, an attorney who has served six terms in the Legislature; Juan De Jesus Sanchez III, a former state Democratic Party official who most recently worked as U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich's political director and deputy campaign manager; and Jonas Moya, who served as state director of the Farm Service Agency for 3½ years under the Biden administration. Perry earned a degree in wildlife science from New Mexico State University in 1995, the same year he started working for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. 'I was in the law enforcement side of things, and I did that for 22 years,' he said, adding he was a district officer in Questa, Hobbs, Roswell and Carlsbad before serving as district supervisor in Roswell and then as a major of southern operations. 'I looked over all the wildlife and the law enforcement actions that occurred on the south half of the state while I was in that position as major,' he said, adding he joined the State Land Office as assistant commissioner over the Field Division in 2016. Perry said his experience at the State Land Office gives him an advantage over the other contenders. 'I don't know the intricate details of all the divisions, but I sure know the intricate details of the field division, and that's what I want to do, is make sure that we have some good sound management practices on the landscape,' he said. Asked about his accomplishments during his time at the State Land Office, Perry said his top projects were 'access-minded.' 'We worked some great access projects [where] people couldn't get into that landscape and now they have vehicular access and can, so it's open to everybody,' Perry said, adding he is also proud of the work he did on habitat projects. 'I would like to make sure that those live on because that's how you really start affecting landscapes,' he said. 'It's by decreasing that woody vegetation even from the prairies and even in the forest because that's how you get catastrophic wildfires, and that's something right now that we need to be very, very mindful of because when we preserve a forest, we're going to suffer from a catastrophic wildfire instead of conserving the place, which is the wise use of natural resources.' Perry said logging and prescriptive wood cutting are examples of how woody vegetation can be utilized. 'We need to put those lands to use but in a very mindful, prescriptive way that's good for the habitat and watershed,' he said. Perry said New Mexico needs to be 'environmentally sound' when it comes to the production of oil and gas. 'I think the previous land commissioners have set us on the right track to make industry a little bit better, and I think industry standards have gotten better over time,' he said, adding some people are also concerned about wind turbines when they are no longer functional. 'We're going to be stuck with it when it's left,' he said. 'I just want to make sure that we're doing that in a mindful way, that when we are left with an old oil well or we are left with an old wind turbine, that we make that industry properly maintain and clean up those issues.' Perry said his degree in wildlife science also gives him an edge in the race. 'I think my résumé is probably as good as anybody that's ever been the land commissioner, honestly,' Perry said. 'Everything I've done fits right into caring for the landscapes across a diversified state, which we have.' Perry owns and operates Wildlife and Habitat Prescriptions, which a news release describes as a consulting firm focused on sustainable land use. 'I've served in the field, in the Roundhouse, and in the State Land Office,' Perry said in a statement. 'Now, I'm ready to serve as Commissioner — to keep public lands productive, protected, and working for all New Mexicans.'
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Juan Sanchez announces public land commissioner candidacy
Former Democratic Party of New Mexico vice chair Juan Sanchez is the first candidate to announce a bid to become the next Commissioner of Public Lands. (Courtesy photo) While Belen resident Juan Sanchez only decided to run in the 2026 Democratic primary for New Mexico Land Commissioner in the last few months, he's been thinking about it for longer, he says. 'I've been traveling the state for the last 10 years, working in natural resources, conservation and public engagement, and some of the things I've realized while doing that is, we are a state that is so rich in our lands and our culture and all the things around us, and it feels like it came to me over the last few months that this is something I think I could do,' Sanchez told Source NM. Sanchez so far is the only candidate for land commissioner in the 2026 election. Voters twice sent current Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard to the State Land Office, and so the state constitution term-limits her from running again. She is instead seeking the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor, the Los Alamos Daily Post reports. A former natural resource specialist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and consultant for the New Mexico Acequia Commission, Sanchez also is a former vice chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, and worked as political director for U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), who endorsed his candidacy. 'I'm a 13th-generation New Mexican,' Sanchez said. 'I learned to start caring for the land at a very young age, from my grandfather, who was a rancher, and just like his father and his father before them, all on the same piece of property in northern Socorro County. I'm really proud of the experience I've accumulated, and the people I've met because I learned so much from our elders, and want to continue a legacy of managing land in New Mexico for generations to come.' The following interview has been edited for clarity and concision. Source NM: Can you talk about equitable access to state lands? What does that mean to you, and why is it a priority for your campaign? Juan Sanchez: We live in a place where the State Land Office manages over 9 million acres of public lands, and the other 13 million acres of mineral rights as well. But of those 9 million acres, there's 1 million of them that are landlocked and are not accessible to the public. As someone who takes a lot of pride in accessibility to the outdoors and making sure folks in communities around the state can go and enjoy those areas, it's something I plan to make a priority. We live in a beautiful place to go out, explore and learn about the land and our culture. But also, there's opportunities with the outdoor economy, as well: teaching our young students and our young children in our schools about these lands and creating equitable access, and being able to open up these lands to all these different folks is definitely a priority. Your campaign website talks about ensuring rural and Indigenous communities have a voice in land use decisions. What does that mean for people who don't understand what land use is, and how will you ensure it ? That's something I'd like to build on from Land Commissioner [Garcia Richard], who I think has done a great job in creating the Cultural Resources Office. They're going into these communities and finding out what makes them special or sacred. Some of these areas definitely do need some protection. A great example of this is the Caja Del Rio up in Santa Fe County, which the current land commissioner has protected from mineral exploration, oil and gas, as well as large transmission. She was in consultation with tribal communities, with traditional Hispanic communities that have been there for centuries, and learning about how sacred and important that land is to the way of life. Looking at Garcia Richard's time in office, is there anything else you would continue? The Cultural Resources office is absolutely one of those; the other one is the Office of Renewable Energy, she created that, and then it was put into statute a couple years later by the Legislature. The Cultural Resources Office has not been put into statute yet, so the next commissioner can decide whether or not to keep that or no longer have that. With the Office of Renewable Energy, continuing to try to expand and diversify some of the money we make off our state lands is something that will be important to me. It's important to maintain a relationship with the oil and gas industries. They are the revenue that comes from our state lands, predominantly. I appreciate the most recent work that was done this last legislative session, the royalty rate increase; that's something I support. I think it'll be great for New Mexicans and for our public institutions. Is there anything you would do differently? A lot of the work at the Surface Resource Division is something I'd really like to expand upon, make my own and try to find ways to diversify our economy through outdoor recreation and accessibility to lands, whether that be hiking, hunting or fishing. We have communities like our tribal and historical land use Hispanic communities that have been collecting wood in these areas for keeping their homes warm. What does the phrase 'water is life' mean to you, both as a new Mexican and as a candidate for this role? I'm a content creator and I have about 100,000 followers on my social media. Just this morning, I posted about how, when I was on a run yesterday, I was running along one of our acequias, and the water just started coming through for the first time in the year. You could actually watch the water pouring in. Look, I spent about five years as a consultant with the New Mexico Acequia Commission, working with leaders across the state, predominantly in Northern New Mexico, maintaining water access and traditional way of lives. Whenever we talk about our acequias, our water, we're talking about the life blood to our lands and to our life. As the waters start pouring through our acequias, they start to grow in our fields, they start to feed our plants, they start to give water to the animals we end up eating later on. It's a balance. Our communities cannot survive without clean water, and I'm really adamant about the idea of protecting that and protecting the ways of life, learning from our tribal and our historical communities on how they've survived with scarcity of water, and finding ways to continue to protect it, for us and for future generations. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
State officials say generation of renewables not enough to replace oil revenue
Apr. 16—New Mexico should've started diversifying its revenue a decade ago. That's according to Stephanie Garcia Richard, the public lands commissioner in New Mexico. Garcia and other officials spoke at a Wednesday discussion on energy in an event hosted by Axios in Santa Fe. "We don't have time on our side for this," Garcia Richard said. Meanwhile, state officials are also waiting to see how a federal administration not fond of renewable energy generation will impact New Mexico, an alternative form of energy the state has been increasingly promoting and trying to generate revenue from. The State Land Office oversees 13 million mineral acres and 9 million surface acres of New Mexico public land. Revenue-wise, Garcia Richard said most state money generated from land leases comes from 2 million acres of state land leased out for oil and gas operations in southeastern New Mexico. Garcia Richard said that needs to change. She's not the only one who thinks so. "While we want to continue producing the high levels, we have got to find a way to diversify," Missi Currier, president and CEO of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, said on a separate panel at the event. She pointed out that fossil fuels are a finite resource. "And until our state is able to create a business climate that will attract other businesses here, it will be increasingly difficult to diversify," Currier said. It's already a challenge to lessen the state's dependence on fossil fuels. "I've always said that we're never going to replace money from oil and gas development one to one with any other industry," Garcia Richard said. "We have a resource there that is world-class, and so unfortunately we will not be able to replace those billions of dollars one for one to any other diversification tool. "But we should be looking at all kinds of diversification for our revenue." She pointed out that renewable energy resources in the state have increased nearly sevenfold under her tenure, which started in 2019. She added that roughly 2,800 megawatts of renewable energy are generated on state lands today. The money New Mexico gets from clean energy generation is still nowhere near that of oil and gas. And the politicization of renewable energy is making the market more volatile. Garcia Richard said Inflation Reduction Act funds are hanging in flux under the Trump administration. Melanie Kenderdine, secretary for the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, said on another panel her agency in the last year alone brought in $400 million in federal funds. "That's a lot of money for New Mexico," she said. "We don't know what is going to happen in this administration (around) budget reconciliation." Nonetheless, EMNRD is working on what Kenderdine described as an energy analysis of the state, which she hopes can help shape roadmaps around the country and even around parts of the world. "The renewables and the natural gas need to be working together," Kenderdine said.
