Record high visitors nationwide came to New Mexico in 2021 – Albuquerque Journal, Associated Press
New Mexico saw a record-breaking number of almost 40 million visitors last year, according to a new report released this week by the state's tourism office.
The study determined 39.2 million people came to the Land of Enchantment and generated $7.2 billion in spending across the state, the Albuquerque Journal reported. That is 1 million more than the previous record set in 2019.
"It should be a point of celebration for all of New Mexico that we were able to exceed even the most favorable trajectories for tourism recovery within calendar year 2021," Jen Schroer, the state's Tourism Department cabinet secretary, said in a statement.
The calculations were based on tax collections, lodging performance data and other information. Visitors not only included travelers who came from abroad but anyone who came from at least 50 miles away "and deviated from their normal routine."
The annual report found the total economic impact of tourism from last year to be around $10 billion. This includes indirect spending like purchases by tourism-centric businesses and "induced impacts" like workers' wages shaped by traveler spending.
The department attributes $7 billion to record spending by domestic travelers.
Since 2017, New Mexico has seen a steady rise in visitors each year until a dip in 2020 because of the pandemic. Still, the state received 35 million visitors despite travel restrictions. But as measures eased up in 2021, tourism also went up.
Tourism last year drove up the food and beverage industry in New Mexico, which saw $1.7 billion in direct sales. The report also found lodging led to $1.6 billion in direct sales.
Local and state tax revenue through tourism stood at more than $700 million last year.
The state Tourism Department is looking to branch out in its outreach. Officials plan to advertise in new markets like the city of San Francisco, Schroer said. They already made a request to the state Legislative Finance Committee last week for $20 million be budgeted for this.
It's the only way to stay competitive and "to meet growing demand," she added.
FBI investigating after Conservation Voters of NM gets letter with threats and ‘substance’ - By Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
The FBI is looking into a threatening letter received Wednesday at the Santa Fe office of the Conservation Voters of New Mexico, according to the organization and an FBI spokesperson.
The letter contained a chemical substance, which CVNM said in a statement “contained ingredients of a potent toxin used in terrorist attacks” but that the FBI determined was inert.
Reached Friday, CVNM spokesperson Michael Jensen referred any additional questions about the substance to the bureau. FBI spokesperson Frank Fisher told Source New Mexico on Friday that investigators are looking into the matter and that the substance was deemed not harmful.
“In order to protect the integrity of the investigation, we are not releasing specific details,” Fisher said. “FBI is looking into this substance, which was tested and determined not harmful.”
Anyone with information should call the FBI, he said. Santa Fe Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In addition to the substance, the letter contained campaign material attacking N.M. Rep. Nathan Small (D-Las Cruces), “offensive and threatening language directed at Small, the Democratic Party of New Mexico and CVNM,” along with antisemitic symbols, according to the organization’s statement.
The Conservation Voters staff member who first encountered the letter was sent to the hospital out of precaution, Jensen said, but she was unharmed. No one was injured, he said.
The CVNM office in Santa Fe is now closed and will be until at least after the election, Jensen told Source New Mexico.
In a statement, the organization’s Executive Director Demis Foster condemned what the group called a “politically charged domestic terrorism attempt.”
“We are relieved that no one was harmed, but whoever carried out this vicious act was clearly intending harm,” Foster said.” We want to be completely clear: someone has attempted to cause serious harm to people in our organization as part of a threat against Rep. Small and Democrats more broadly. There is no place in a functioning democracy for anyone to resort to the use of terror because they disapprove of a candidate for public office.”
Small, in the same statement, said it was “devastating” that the staff at CVNM would face such an attack, and he called for an end to dangerous and inflammatory political rhetoric that leads to events like this.
Conservation Voters New Mexico is a nonpartisan organization that pushes for environmental preservation and clean air and water. It also issues policy scorecards for different candidates and makes endorsements.
New US plan could lead to federal action on Colorado River - By Felicia Fonseca And Kathleen Ronayne Associated Press
The Interior Department announced Friday that it will consider revising a set of guidelines for operating two major dams on the Colorado River in the first sign of what could lead to federal action to protect the once-massive but shrinking reservoirs behind them.
The public has until Dec. 20 to weigh in on three options that seek to keep Lake Mead and Lake Powell from dropping so low they couldn't produce power or provide the water that seven Western states, Mexico and tribes have relied on for decades.
One of the options would allow the Interior Department's U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to take unilateral action, as it threatened this summer when it asked states to come up with ways to significantly reduce their use beyond what they've already volunteered and were mandated to cut.
"The Interior Department continues to pursue a collaborative and consensus-based approach to addressing the drought crisis afflicting the West," Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. "At the same time, we are committed to taking prompt and decisive action necessary to protect the Colorado River System and all those who depend on it."
The agency's announcement comes more than four months after Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton first told Congress that water use must be cut back dramatically as drought and overuse tax the river — an essential supply of water for farmers, cities and tribes in the U.S. West, as well as Mexico.
The seven states that tap the river failed to reach Touton's initial August deadline and have been working ever since to reach a compromise. It now appears unlikely a grand deal will be reached. In the meantime, the bureau has offered up billions in federal money to pay farmers and cities to cut back.
But Interior's new action marks the first time it's taking a clear step toward imposing its own, mandatory cuts. The agency anticipates changes to the conditions at which water shortages are declared in the river's lower basin. Lake Mead and Lake Powell were about half full when the 2007 guidelines were approved and are now about one-quarter full.
The other two options under the Bureau of Reclamation's plan are to let states, tribes, and non-governmental organizations reach consensus, or do nothing, which is a standard alternative in environmental impact statements.
The Bureau of Reclamation expects to produce a draft next spring based on public input. A final decision could come in late summer of 2023 around the time the bureau announces any water cuts for the following year.
The 2007 guidelines and an overlapping drought contingency plan approved in 2019 were meant to give states more certainty in their water supply. For the lower basin states — California, Arizona and Nevada — the agreements set elevation levels at Lake Mead on the Arizona-Nevada border at which they are subjected to mandatory and voluntary reductions. Mexico also shoulders cuts.
Water users have been delayed in renegotiating the agreements that expire in 2026 because the drought and climate change have forced quicker action.
Nevada, Arizona and Mexico will have to cut their water use in 2023 for a second year in a row under existing agreements. California is looped in at lower elevations in Lake Mead. Arizona was forced to give up 21% of its total Colorado River supply. Farmers in central Arizona, tribes and growing cities like Scottsdale are feeling the impacts.
Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, said he's been hoping the bureau would require cuts from water users rather than rely on voluntary action. But he also warned the prospect of mandatory cuts could make it less likely that farms or cities will choose to give up some of their water, calling it a "zero-sum game" of sorts.
Still, anything that results in savings is a worthwhile action, he said.
"The situation in my mind is so dire, we're so close to the edge," he said in a recent interview.
The Bureau of Reclamation also said it would publish a report next year to address ways to account for evaporation, seepage and other loss as water makes its way to states, cities and tribes.
In mid-October, the bureau announced a process for paying farmers and cities in Arizona, California and Nevada to conserve Colorado River water. Under one option, they can be paid up to $400 per acre foot of water left in Lake Mead. So far only the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona has publicly expressed interest in that option, saying it will conserve up to 125,000 acre feet of water on its reservation and offer another 125,000 acre feet of water stored underground to cities annually for the next three years.
But farmers in California and Arizona say that's not enough money to account to cover losses if they leave fields unplanted or to pay for things like installing more efficient irrigation systems. Instead, they plan to apply for money through a different option that allows them to name their price — and justify why they deserve it.
The Imperial Irrigation District, which supplies water to farms in southeast California, has said it can conserve up to 250,000 acre feet of water. But officials haven't said the price tag they plan to put on those savings. Farmers in Arizona's Yuma County also want more money.
A third pot of money would offer payment for larger projects aimed at achieving long-term water savings, like ripping up decorative grass in urban areas or building small, on-farm storage systems that make it easier for farmers to bank water rather than lose it to runoff.
The bureau says water users who take the $400 payments may be prioritized for that money over users who want more for short-term conservation.
California farmers' commitment is part of a broad offer by the state's water users to conserve up to 9% of its river water. That's contingent on adequate payment and help for the Salton Sea, a drying lake bed fed by farm runoff.
Approval of oil leases in New Mexico prompts legal challenge - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
The Biden administration's approval of oil leases in a corner of New Mexico that has become a battleground over increased development and preservation of Native American sites has prompted a legal challenge.
Environmental groups are suing the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. They contend in a complaint filed Wednesday that the federal government is going back on its word by clearing the way for oil and gas development on federal lands near Chaco Culture National Historical Park.
At issue are leases that span more than 70 square miles in northwestern New Mexico. The groups say the federal government agreed in April to reconsider the Trump-era leases given their proximity to homes and an area held sacred by Navajos.
"We are disappointed that the Bureau of Land Management decided to double down on fracking and ignore the cumulative impacts, inequities and injustices of oil and gas leasing and drilling in the Greater Chaco (area)," Ally Beasley with the Western Environmental Law Center said in a statement.
The Bureau of Land Management said Thursday that the parcels in question are outside an informal 10-mile (16-kilometer) buffer zone around Chaco Park that the agency has observed for years.
Under an initiative by Haaland, that buffer would be in effect for the next 20 years, prohibiting oil and gas development on federal land within that area.
Federal land managers are currently assessing the proposal, although Navajo Nation officials have argued for a smaller area to be protected because the tribe and its citizens benefit economically from oil and gas development.
Environmentalists have argued that the Bureau of Land Management has failed to consider the cumulative impacts of drilling in the area. Archaeologists and leaders of New Mexico pueblos with ancestral ties to the Chaco area also have concerns about damaging culturally significant sites that are outside the park's boundaries and the buffer zone.
A World Heritage site, Chaco Park is thought to be the center of what was once a hub of Indigenous civilization with many Southwest tribes tracing their roots to the high desert outpost. Archaeologists have found evidence of great roads that stretched from Chaco across what are now New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado.
Haaland, who is from Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico, has talked about her own tribe's connection to the area. She visited last November and announced her agency's intentions to develop a landscape-level plan to protect the region's cultural values.
The Bureau of Land Management, which is overseen by Haaland's agency, on Thursday reiterated its commitment to updating the environmental analysis that governs leasing in the area and promised that there would be more opportunities for public comment.
Prosecutors take charge of probe into Baldwin shooting - Morgan Lee Associated Press
A sheriff's department submitted on Thursday its investigative findings to prosecutors in the death of a cinematographer shot and killed by Alec Baldwin on a film set in New Mexico in October 2021.
Santa Fe Sheriff's Office spokesman Juan Ríos said that two binders of information were turned over to the Santa Fe-based district attorney's office, without setting forth any recommendations about possible criminal charges.
He said the case file outlines all the evidence collected, including investigative interviews and forensic analysis of physical evidence by the FBI. District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said through a spokeswoman that investigators and prosecutors will now begin a thorough review to make a timely decision about whether to bring charges, without mention of specific deadlines.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died shortly after being wounded by a gunshot during setup for a scene in the western movie "Rust" at a filmset ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe on Oct. 21, 2021. Baldwin was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when the gun went off went off, killing her and wounding the director, Joel Souza.
The Santa Fe Sheriff's Office already has made public a vast trove of law enforcement files concerning the deadly shooting, including lapel camera video of the mortally wounded Hutchins, witness interrogations, email threads, text conversations, inventories of ammunition and hundreds of photographs.
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza has described "a degree of neglect" on the film set for "Rust" but is leaving decisions about potential criminal charges to prosecutors.
The family of Hutchins — widower Matthew Hutchins and 9-year-old son Andros — recently settled a lawsuit against producers of "Rust" under an agreement that aims to restart filming with Matthew's involvement as executive producer.
Baldwin has said the gun went off accidentally and that he did not pull the trigger. But a recent FBI forensic report found the weapon could not not have fired unless the trigger was pulled.
New Mexico's Office of the Medical Investigator determined the shooting was an accident following the completion of an autopsy and a review of law enforcement reports.
Rust Movie Productions continues to challenge the basis of a $137,000 fine against the company by New Mexico occupational safety regulators who say production managers on the set failed to follow standard industry protocols for firearms safety. The state Occupational Health and Safety Review Commission has scheduled an eight-day hearing on the disputed sanctions in April 2023.
In April, New Mexico's Occupational Health and Safety Bureau imposed the maximum fine against Rust Movie Productions and distributed a scathing narrative of safety failures, including testimony that production managers took limited or no action to address two misfires of blank ammunition on set prior to the fatal shooting.
Rust Movie Productions told safety regulators that misfires prior to the fatal shooting of Hutchins did not violate safety protocols and that "appropriate corrective actions were taken," including briefings of cast and crew.
Other legal troubles persist in relation to the film and the deadly shooting.
County Commission spars over deadline to name NM senate replacement - By Patrick Lohmann,Source New Mexico
Westside Albuquerque residents might have only a few days to toss their names in the hat to become the area’s next state senator, and the tight deadline is drawing angry opposition from some Bernalillo County commissioners, who will have to make the selection.
Sen. Jacob Candelaria, a Democrat-turned-independent, announced Oct. 19 that he would be resigning that day, which was two years before his term was up. The announcement spurred frantic planning at the Bernalillo County Commission. Because District 26, which Candelaria represented, sits entirely in the county, the commission is tasked with naming his replacement.
Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas, a Westside Democrat, announced quickly that he had eyes on Candelaria’s seat and would soon apply. He told Source New Mexico that he hoped the commission would act quickly.
But in the days since Candelaria resigned, commissioners said they’ve gotten a flurry of emails from politicians and residents with opinions on when would be best to replace the 10-year senator.
The debate happens two weeks before an election, so a new commission would not be seated in time to name Candelaria’s replacement. The 60-day legislative session begins Jan. 17.
The commission met Tuesday for nearly three hours, though Candelaria’s seat was not on the agenda. At the end of the meeting, commissioners discussed when the meeting date would be set. Three of them announced support for an Oct. 31 meeting, though they did not reach a decision.
County spokesperson Tia Bland clarified on Wednesday that the commission still has not set a date to appoint Candelaria’s replacement. It’s not clear exactly when that date will be decided.
During the Tuesday meeting, Commission Chair Adriann Barboa proposed Nov. 18, a date she said was a compromise between competing voices seeking a speedy replacement while also drawing as many applicants as possible.
Instead, three of five commissioners — Charlene Pyskoty, Walt Benson and Steven Michael Quezada — supported a Halloween meeting. Psykoty said Candelaria’s resignation was expected and widely publicized, and it’s important to act quickly.
“I know that people did know this resignation was coming down the pipeline, and a few people have reached out to us wanting to apply for this position,” she said. “So I don’t see a reason to delay.”
But Debbie O’Malley, a Westside commissioner, said she fears the appointment is being rushed in a way that favors political insiders. Would-be senators now have only (four) days to apply. She agreed with Barboa that Nov. 18 would be a better appointment date.
“I think it’s important to be able to accept applications and give people time to apply,” O’Malley said. “Clearly, there are some folks that have the advantage, because they already knew that this was going to happen. But a lot of people did not.”
O’Malley said it was “rude,” “inconsiderate” and “disrespectful” that the commission would overrule her and Barboa. She said there’s no need to rush, given that the Legislature won’t meet for several months.
Maestas, in a text message, told Source New Mexico that the commission needs to establish written rules for filling legislative openings to avoid all this mess.
“It’s sad that after five appointments in the past four years, the county still has no written procedures to deal with legislative vacancies,” he said. “This gives rise to petty politics and Mitch McConnell-style shenanigans. The application process should’ve started the very next day.”
If Maestas is appointed to the New Mexico Senate, the commission will also name his replacement in the state House, likely at a later date.
Biotech and pharma contactor Curia to increase footprint and jobs in Albuquerque - By Nash Jones, KUNM
The biotechnology and pharmaceutical contractor Curia has begun expanding its Albuquerque campus with the support of state development funds focused on job creation.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham helped company officials break ground at an event Thursday, calling New Mexico a “sophisticated biosciences hub.” Her office says the state is chipping in $5 million for the project from the Local Economic Development Act job creation fund.
Curia, for its part, is expected to invest more than $100 million into the expansion — including a filling line for vials and syringes — according to the Governor’s Office.
The company works with biotech and pharmaceutical companies on researching, developing and manufacturing drugs. It’s promising as many as 274 new jobs paying an average yearly salary of $50,000.
The Governor's Office says Curia’s larger footprint in Albuquerque could infuse over $1 billion into the local economy over the next ten years.
Curia CEO John Ratliff said in a statement that, in addition to the project bringing more well-paying jobs to New Mexico, the new facilities will enable the company to “make a greater contribution to the production of vaccines and treatments, potentially saving millions of lives.”
President Biden to visit New Mexico amid tight governor's race - By Nash Jones, KUNM
The White House announced Thursday that President Biden will visit New Mexico next week to attend events with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham who's running in a tight race for reelection against former meteorologist Mark Ronchetti.
The President is expected to stop in the Land of Enchantment on Thursday. He'll also be meeting with other state and local officials, according to the White House.
The announcement follows quick on the heels of a visit by Vice President Kamala Harris, who fundraised for the governor and appeared alongside her for a discussion about reproductive rights at UNM on Tuesday. Additionally, former President Obama appeared in a video Thursday, urging voters to support the incumbent Democrat.
No further details were given about Biden's visit, though spokesperson for the Lujan Grisham campaign Delaney Corcoran said in a statement that the governor plans to discuss "growing the economy, investing in schools, and protecting healthcare and abortion access." These were the same topics touched on by Obama.
Republican challenger Mark Ronchetti, who out-raised the governor for the first time in the last reporting period, has welcomed former Vice President Mike Pence, along with prominent governors like Florida's Ron DeSantis on the campaign trail.
New Mexico marks progress with oil well plugging program - Associated Press
New Mexico land managers say more than 130 abandoned oil and natural gas wells have been plugged on state trust lands as part of an enforcement program that began two years ago.
Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard announced the progress Thursday, saying the savings to taxpayers are significant. She said plugging wells can cost anywhere from $50,000 to more than double that depending on the site.
"To be clear, this accountability work is having zero impact on the agency's ability to make money," she said in a statement. "In fact, it has been paired with the best fiscal year the State Land Office has enjoyed in its history, with multiple record-breaking months occurring since this program launched."
New Mexico is among the top oil producing states in the U.S., second only to Texas.
Enforcement by the State Land Office comes as New Mexico and other western states look to tap a new wave of federal funding to address the widespread problem of abandoned wells. Earlier this year, the federal government made available grants through the infrastructure spending package so states could plug and remediate orphaned wells.
New Mexico was awarded $25 million and has plans to cap 200 wells that are considered as high priorities.
Under the enforcement program Garcia Richard started in 2020, the State Land Office has filed 21 enforcement lawsuits and secured reclamation of more than a dozen oil and gas lease sites. The work includes the plugging of 134 wells by the companies legally responsible for that work.
Officials estimate there are about 1,700 orphaned and abandoned wells on state and private land across New Mexico.
Garcia Richard pointed to research done by a New Mexico consulting company that showed reclamation work related to abandoned wells could generate thousands of jobs and result in millions of dollars in state revenue from wages and taxes.
Garcia Richard, a Democrat, is running for reelection and has been pushing for more solar and wind energy development on state trust lands. Her office also has made it a priority to boost compliance among oil and gas operators through a satellite imagery program that identifies spills and ramped up auditing to ensure companies are paying the royalties that are owed.
Her Republican challenger, Jefferson Byrd, said he would ease some drilling regulations while also holding operators accountable for any environmental damage. Byrd, an environmental engineer, currently serves on the Public Regulation Commission, one of New Mexico's most powerful regulatory bodies.
Sentence handed down for slaying of New Mexico girl - Associated Press
A man convicted of child abuse and other charges stemming from the 2016 death and dismemberment of an Albuquerque girl was sentenced to 37 1/2 years in prison Thursday.
Prosecutors had sought a maximum sentence of 40 years for Fabian Gonzales. State District Judge Cindy Leos combined two of the tampering with evidence counts that related to the removal of the victim's body parts, thus resulting in a slightly shorter prison term.
During trial earlier this year, prosecutors said that although Gonzales didn't kill Victoria Martens, he set in motion events that created a dangerous environment that led to the girl's death.
Martens' death — on her 10th birthday — sent shockwaves through the community.
The girl's mother, Michelle Martens, will be sentenced for her role in the coming weeks. Gonzales was dating the woman and had moved into the apartment where she was living with her daughter.
According to investigators, Gonzales had allowed his cousin, Jessica Kelley, to stay at the apartment shortly after Kelley was released from prison. Investigators determined that Martens and Gonzales were not at the home when Victoria was killed but that Kelley was there.
Prosecutors said Victoria was killed either by an unknown man or by Kelley, who was using methamphetamine and acting paranoid that day. Gonzales' attorneys had argued that Kelley killed the girl and then tried to cover it up.
The case remains open and authorities are looking for an unidentified man based on DNA evidence that was found.
Kelley, who earlier pleaded guilty to child abuse and other charges, was sentenced to 44 years in prison and will be eligible for parole in half that time. Michelle Martens pleaded guilty to a child abuse charge in an agreement that calls for her to be sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison. Her sentencing has been postponed to Nov. 10.