The State land office will be offering more Northeastern New Meexico land up for oil and gas. The auction is to be held on June 15,2010. The tracts are in Mora, San Miguel, and Colfax Counties.
Click here to view listing of tracts
To map the leases, click here. Choose New Mexico, and enter the tract data.
Two sides have locked horns over white peak—which land commissioner candidate can sort out the tangle?
By Alexa Schirtzinger
In the far northeast corner of New Mexico, there’s a rugged sanctuary where eagles wing silently overhead and elk roam unmolested through forests of pine and juniper—at least until hunting season begins. Come autumn, this place roars to life with all-terrain vehicles and gunfire as hunters collect on this season’s elk licenses.
This is the now-infamous White Peak, a patchwork of state and private lands that has become a focal point for a series of political and ideological conflicts.
The brouhaha began last summer when New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands Patrick Lyons proposed to exchange state trust land for private ranch holdings. Just a few days before the first swap was set to close, on Nov. 20, a firestorm of criticism erupted. Jeremy Vesbach, the executive director of the hunters’ conservation group New Mexico Wildlife Federation, calls it a “sweetheart deal.” In a public statement, Gov. Bill Richardson condemned the swaps as “a behind-the-scenes deal with virtually no public input.” Hunters rallied and decried the loss of land they had accessed for decades. Others speculated the deal would lead to housing developments, and oil and gas drilling on one of the state’s most scenic corners.
Lyons and supporters of the deal say the swap will ease mounting tensions between hunters and ranchers. More pointedly, Lyons has reiterated the potential financial gains the cash-strapped state could realize under the deal.
These competing narratives in the White Peak controversy reveal larger tensions in New Mexico’s fraught oversight of its land and the concomitant conflicts between conservation and generating revenue.
Add politics to the mix: It’s an election year, and the open seat for land commissioner (Lyons is term-limited) has drawn a crowded field for the June 1 primary, which will lead to a partisan race come November.
The candidates—like so many others in the White Peak debate—see the outcome of the White Peak deal as one that could redefine not just the State Land Office but also the strategy behind public lands in New Mexico for years to come. More>>>
May 17, 2010
CASPER, Wyo. - The Gulf of Mexico oil spill has led Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to announce there will be reforms on how leases are granted for offshore drilling. Meanwhile, 60 former land managers have sent him a letter about onshore drilling, asking him to finalize reforms he announced in January.
Gloria Flora formerly supervised the largest national forest in the Lower 48 states, the Humboldt-Toiyabe, where she dealt with what she saw as the destruction of natural resources. She signed onto the letter because she claims accidents happen almost everywhere there is production - with Wyoming having more issues than many other states in recent years.
"We've seen problems crop up continuously with onshore oil and gas drilling, and so you do wonder what it's going to take."
Mike Dombeck, former Chief of the U.S. Forest and director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, also has signed the letter. His point is restoration of balance in all uses of public lands, instead of making development a priority.
"We should protect the health of the land that includes hunting and fishing and grazing and all the other uses, and have that be on an equal plane with oil and gas development."
Oil and gas companies say they take safety seriously; they accuse environmental groups of taking advantage of the Gulf accident to try to ban all domestic production.
The letter to Secretary Salazar does not call for a halt in drilling. It recommends a middle ground that allows development to continue, but be more tightly monitored.
Deb Courson, Public News Service - WY
Visit article source>>>
I realize that I have fallen behind on the blog lately. My apologies to anyone who may visit regularly for news or updates and I will once again be updating the blog on a daily basis.
I am quite happy about today's news. It brings with it the possibility of a huge step in the reform of our public lands management. While our public lands can be an important source of income for states, they are also an irreplaceable resource for our communities and should be managed accordingly, for the benefit of all.
For Immediate Release: Sunday, March 14, 2010
Contacts:
Ray Powell, 505-507-0697
Neri Holguin, Campaign Manager, 505-217-8705
Ray Powell Commands Top Spot at Democratic Convention
In a 4-way-election for Land Office, Powell wins 44% of the vote, while no other candidate makes the 20% minimum ballot requirement
SANTA FE (Sunday, March 14, 2010). On Saturday, March 13th, Democrats from around the state met to formally nominate candidates for their party at the Democratic Pre-Primary Convention at Buffalo Thunder in Pojoaque.
At yesterday’s convention, former State Land Commissioner Ray Powell handily beat out other Democratic challengers for the State Land Office.
State rules require that candidates garner 20% of delegate support in order to be on the ballot or gather additional petition signatures. The pre-primary vote determines June ballot positioning and is an indication of campaign strength.
Powell earned 44.4% of the pre-primary votes, Harry Montoya 19.3%, Sandy Jones 18.6%, and Mike Anaya 17.6%.
Former N.M. Land Commissioner Ray Powell thanked supporters saying, “I’m grateful to have so many democratic leaders from throughout the state endorsing my campaign. From Lea County to San Juan County, Hidalgo County, and Union—the support is tremendous.”
“Momentum is clearly on our side. After eight years of controversies and distractions it’s time to restore trust in the State Land Office. I love the Land Office and I have the experience, energy, passion and vision to make the New Mexico State Land Office one of the top land management agencies in the country.” Powell said.
Powell is running for Land Commissioner on a platform of reform in the State Land Office, creating economic development, and conserving and protecting New Mexico's valuable public lands. As Commissioner, Powell will protect and manage state trust lands.
New Mexico campaign law requires that candidates who did not receive a minimum of 20% delegate support at the Pre-Primary Convention must now collect 4% of vote total or 4,324 signatures and file a new declaration of candidacy within ten days . It’s unclear whether the Land Office candidates will turn in additional signatures.
A New Mexico native, Powell is from Albuquerque and lives in the North Valley with his wife, Jean. Powell served as Land Commissioner from 1993-2002, and was recognized for running one of the best land management agencies in the country. Ray is a veterinarian and currently works as a regional director for the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research Education and Conservation in Santa Fe.
The Democratic Primary election is June 1, 2010.
J.R. Logan | Sangre de Cristo Chronicle
Posted: Sunday, February 21, 2010 - 2/19/10 0 Comments and 0 Reactions 1
OCATE — White Peak is something of a misnomer.
The mountain known as White Peak isn't so much a "peak" as it is a bald hill that rises a few hundred feet above a mesa on the edge of Colfax and Mora counties.
Much of the mesa consists of malpais (an area of rough, barren lava flows) and is dissected by a few sharp canyons carved down into the volcanic rock.
Roads that traverse the area around White Peak are rugged and deeply pitted. They can turn a trip of just a few miles into hours of jockeying and jostling in a pickup.
"There's no good road," says Ty Jackson, one of two state Game and Fish Department officers who regularly patrol Game Management Unit 48 in the White Peak area. "People don't understand how truly rough it is."
When he makes his rounds in Unit 48, it normally takes him a full eight hours to travel a distance of 20 miles as the crow flies.
The vicious malpais is hard on trucks and other full-size vehicles, and for a long time it prevented a lot of off-road travel at White Peak.
However, a dramatic increase in the popularity of recreational all-terrain vehicles such as four-wheelers in the last 10 years has allowed outdoorsmen to navigate the uninviting terrain much quicker and reach places that previously weren't accessible.
Jackson says the freedom offered by four-wheelers has created a chaotic web of roads that crisscrosses both state and private land in the White Peak area.
"There's a road everywhere," Jackson says. "Some are old logging roads, and in other places it's just where somebody found a wide spot between some trees."
Though Game and Fish officers can cite people for driving off-road, vague definitions of what actually constitutes a road, especially in an area with so many primitive two-tracks, make it tough to enforce.
"The problem is that once a handful of vehicles drive there, it basically meets the standards of a road," Jackson says.
Rough roads make Unit 48 especially difficult for law enforcement officers who can only cover limited ground in a day's patrol.
"You can literally drive around all day and never cross the same spot twice," Jackson says. More>>>
(SANTA FE)---In petitioning the New Mexico Supreme Court today, Attorney General Gary King says the White Peak land exchanges violate state law and the bidding process used is unconstitutional.
"The public auction requirement for State Trust Land exchanges with private parties appears to be predetermined in the first two of the four proposed deals." says Attorney General King. "We are asking the Court for a writ of mandamus and an emergency stay that prohibits further exchanges of state trust lands by the land commissioner that violate the New Mexico Constitution."
Attorney General King's petition to the Court states in part:
On January 7, 2010, New Mexico’s Commissioner of Public Lands, Patrick H. Lyons (hereinafter, the “Commissioner”), consummated a land exchange with the Stanley Ranch, the first of four major land exchanges that comprise what the Commissioner refers to as the Whites Peak Exchange. On December 17, 2009, the Commissioner notified the Express UU Bar Ranch that it was the winning bidder for the second of these four land exchanges....New Mexico law requires that the Commissioner conduct a public auction before undertaking exchanges of State Trust Lands with private parties. This requirement derives directly from the Enabling Act of 1910, which provided terms for the admission of New Mexico to the Union and is fully incorporated into the Constitution as part of the “fundamental law” of New Mexico.... The Enabling Act deliberately established rigid procedural safeguards—including the public auction requirement—to prevent the exploitation of State Trust Lands by private parties. By the design of Congress, a public auction ensures that the trust obtains the maximum market price for its assets and all but eliminates the possibility of improper dealing between the Commissioner and private parties...In this case, however, despite purporting to comply with the public auction requirement, the Commissioner undertook the first two of these exchanges using public auctions that were, for all practical purposes, shams. The undisputed facts make clear that, notwithstanding the public auction requirement, the Land Commissioner made a predetermination to exchange specific and substantial portions of State Trust Lands with two specific private parties. The Commissioner then narrowly tailored the “public auction” process to effectively guarantee this result. In so doing, he rendered the constitutional requirement for a public auction into a meaningless formality... This Petition thus addresses a relatively narrow question never before addressed by a New Mexico court: Does the Commissioner violate the duty imposed on him by the Enabling Act, the New Mexico Constitution, and his fiduciary obligations to the trust by conducting substantially constrained “public auctions” in order to achieve a predetermined result?
Attorney General King says the unusual step of bypassing the lower courts and petitioning the Supreme Court was taken because of the constitutional issues in question, the immediate effects on the public interest, and the fact that more White Peak land exchanges are proposed.
New Mexico Attorney General Site
Some tout benefits of state land trade with private ranch; others say deal needs closer scrutiny
Staci Matlock | The New Mexican
Posted: Sunday, January 24, 2010 - 1/25/10 Comments 1 0
Rancher Alan Lackey and the New Mexico Wildlife Federation fought side by side to save the Valle Vidal in the Carson National Forest from oil and gas drilling.
But they are on opposite sides when it comes to a land trade involving private and state trust land around Whites Peak.
Lackey thinks the trade, meant to consolidate thousands of acres of private lands and state trust lands in the popular hunting area, is a good idea. "I think it is an equitable trade for everyone," said Lackey, a hunter and guide. "If I saw a net loss to the hunters, I would speak out about it. I'm a hunter, but I also support private property rights."
The sportsmen of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation think the trade benefits primarily the private landowners to the detriment of public access and hunting. "We've looked at the trades, and they are not a fair deal. They are a bad deal," said Jeremy Vesbach, executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation.
Moreover, Vesbach said, Lackey has a financial interest in the trade. Lackey is running his cattle on the ranch of David Stanley, whose deal to trade some of his land for state trust land around Whites Peak recently closed. It was the first of four proposed land trades. "Lackey is not a disinterested party," Vesbach said.
Many hunters have opposed the Whites Peak trades openly and passionately. Gov. Bill Richardson and several state legislators, including Santa Fe's Brian Egolf, have said they think the trades proposed by Republican State Land Commissioner Pat Lyons needs closer scrutiny. More>>>
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