Senate confirms Steve Pearce as BLM director - Algernon D’Ammassa, Albuquerque Journal
Former southern New Mexico Congressman Steve Pearce, 78, was confirmed Monday as the first Senate-confirmed director of the Bureau of Land Management under President Donald Trump.
The final confirmation vote took place on the U.S. Senate floor in Washington, although there were premature reports of the confirmation a week ago based on a final procedural vote closing debate on a bloc of 49 nominations, including Pearce’s.
The outcome was in little doubt, given Republicans’ majority in the Senate. The nominations were confirmed on a party-line vote of 46-43. New Mexico’s two senators, Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján, both Democrats, voted no.
In a statement issued after he cast his vote, Luján said, “His record makes it clear that he will not stand up for our public lands.”
During Trump’s first term, from 2017 to 2021, the agency was led by five acting directors who were not confirmed by the Senate. Since Trump returned to the White House in 2025, two more acting directors preceded Pearce.
President Donald Trump nominated Pearce to the position in November.
“Steve Pearce has spent decades fighting for the people of New Mexico, and there is no one better suited to understand the unique needs of our state, our industries, and our communities,” state Republican chairwoman Amy Barela said in a statement last week.
Pearce was opposed by public land advocates and environmental groups alarmed by his record in Washington over several terms representing southern New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, from 2003 to 2009 and again from 2011 until 2019. Pearce ran for governor in 2018.
Pearce lost his gubernatorial bid to Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham, and was subsequently elected the New Mexico Republican Party chairman, a position he held until the end of 2024.
At the BLM, Pearce will be responsible for an agency overseeing some 245 million acres of public lands across the U.S., including 13.5 million acres in New Mexico plus 42 million acres of federal oil, natural gas and minerals within the state as well as 2,200 livestock grazing allotments. It also oversees management of national monuments and conservation areas.
The BLM is organized under the U.S. Department of the Interior, headed by Secretary Doug Burgum.
Royalties from oil and gas production on BLM-managed lands in New Mexico are a crucial share of New Mexico’s annual revenue, and permits to graze cattle on public land are a major priority for livestock producers.
“Having someone at the helm of this agency who is from New Mexico and values the relationship our citizens have with the land is critical for the long-term success of our farmers and ranchers,” state Senate Minority Whip Pat Woods, R-Broadview, said last week.
Pearce is also known for having supported sell-offs of public land in the past and for opposing the designation of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, which President Barack Obama established in 2014.
When Pearce appeared before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee earlier this year, he acknowledged that the BLM does not have authority to sell off public lands in large quantities and said Burgum “does not visualize any large-scale sales of land.”
“Public lands belong to all of us, protecting wildlife, clean water and the freedom future generations deserve,” the Wilderness Society said in a written statement. “Given Steve Pearce’s record and performance before the committee, today’s confirmation raises troubling questions about whether those values will guide the Bureau of Land Management in the years ahead. He declined to clearly disavow past efforts to dispose of public lands, yet he has been entrusted with their stewardship.”
The vote followed the Interior Department’s announcement a week ago that it would scrap BLM’s Biden-era public land rule requiring land use decisions to consider conservation and potential development for mining, timber, grazing and other uses with equal weight, a move critics say will make millions of federal acres easier to deliver to extractive industries.
Pearce promised in a December letter to a federal ethics administrator that he would step down as president and board member of oil services company, Trinity Industries, upon confirmation, though his wife would continue to operate the business as president; and resign as managing member of two other Hobbs-based companies he jointly owns with his wife.
New Mexico wildfire sparked by fatal medical plane crash spreads quickly in rural area - By Savannah Peters, Associated Press
A fast-growing wildfire sparked by the fatal crash of a small medical plane outside Ruidoso, New Mexico, has triggered evacuations for a rural area north of the Capitan Mountains and closures in the Lincoln National Forest, officials said Monday.
The plane was en route from Roswell Air Center to Sierra Blanca Regional Airport when it crashed before dawn Thursday, killing the four people aboard. They were identified as pilots Keelan Clark and Ali Kawsara with the company Generation Jets and flight nurses Jamie Novick and Sarah Clark with Trans Aero MedEvac.
"Our hearts remain with the families and loved ones navigating an unimaginable loss," Matt Goertz, vice president of Trans Aero MedEvac, said in a joint statement with Generation Jets.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.
The wildfire grew rapidly over the weekend amid dry and windy conditions, nearly doubling in size between Sunday and Monday morning to more than 19 square miles (50 square kilometers). It was burning out of control in a sparsely populated area despite the efforts of more than 600 firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and several interagency Hotshot crews.
Adam Turner, a public information officer for the fire, said steep, rugged terrain has made it impossible for crews to engage the fire directly.
"This is what firefighters call 'mountain goat territory,'" said Turner, adding that crews were instead working to contain and steer the fire away from several evacuated cattle ranches to the northeast and the community of Arabella to the west.
A red flag warning remained in effect across southern New Mexico on Monday, with wind speeds forecast between 20-30 mph (32-50 kph).
Forward Party of New Mexico obtains minor party status for 2026 general election cycle - Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
New Mexico’s newest political party has made it official.
The Forward Party of New Mexico obtained minor party status for the upcoming general election cycle after party leaders submitted more than 5,500 voter signatures to the Secretary of State’s Office.
The Secretary of State’s Office notified party leaders and county clerks on Friday about the qualification, which means there will be three minor parties recognized in New Mexico for this year’s election cycle — the Libertarian Party, the Green Party and the Forward Party.
The Forward Party announced its plans to become a minor party in New Mexico in April, when party co-founder Andrew Yang — a Democratic presidential candidate in 2020 — traveled to Santa Fe and Albuquerque for launch events.
Party leaders have said they hope to capitalize on disillusionment with the political status quo, especially among younger voters, by offering an alternative that’s focused on data-driven policies and fair government.
But they also acknowledged that the party could face hurdles in a state where Democrats have held all statewide offices since 2019. Under New Mexico’s election code, minor party and independent candidates also must submit more voter signatures to qualify for the ballot than major party candidates.
After being approved as a minor party in New Mexico, the Forward Party announced Monday a preliminary slate of five candidates for general election races.
The slate includes Bob Perls, the New Mexico Forward Party’s chairman, who plans to run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Ben Ray Luján, a Democrat seeking reelection to a second term.
It also includes two candidates running for Public Education Commission seats, one state House candidate and a state auditor candidate.
Perls, who is a former state legislator from Corrales, said the slate of candidates could give voters additional choices in November.
“We want to move New Mexico not left, not right, but forward,” Perls said in a statement.
The official filing day for minor party and independent candidates is June 25, meaning the Forward Party could recruit additional candidates in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, political parties must also meet certain criteria in New Mexico in order to maintain their status, including no more than one general election in a row without at least one candidate on the ballot.
NM one of handful of states using AI to implement new federal Medicaid work requirements - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
New Mexico is one of six states that has already begun using artificial intelligence to comply with a major Medicaid overhaul contained in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that President Donald Trump signed last year.
That’s according to a study from the Kaiser Family Foundation that surveyed state officials across the county about how they intend to meet requirements contained in the bill ahead of the Jan. 1, 2027, deadline.
Only New Mexico and five other states — Missouri, Maryland, Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma — have started using AI to implement new federal requirements, though 21 states are still deciding whether to use the technology, according to the survey.
Under the new bill, most adult recipients of Medicaid, the nation’s low-income health insurance program, will now have to demonstrate to state officials that they have worked, volunteered or attended school at least 80 hours a month to continue receiving health insurance.
Collecting and verifying that information to keep people insured is “super complicated,” said Paula Morgan, chief information officer of the Health Care Authority, which administers Medicaid. She told Source NM that using artificial intelligence is necessary to help process an expected deluge of pay stubs and other materials, while also ensuring the state is complying with new federal regulations.
“Our main goal is to make sure that eligible people keep the benefits that they’re eligible for, that the families in New Mexico keep the health coverage that they need,” Morgan said. “And as we lean on automation, the first thing we want to do is help alleviate any of the disruption to those benefits, the procedural burdens that folks may be feeling.”
State officials told Kaiser Family Foundation that the Health Care Authority would use artificial intelligence for document processing, merging datasets and “back-end” automation, as well as to help identify cases where recipients are exempt from the new work requirements.
Morgan told Source NM that the authority will use AI tools to help verify pay stubs and other documents recipients submit as proof of eligibility, like volunteer-hours timesheets or college class schedules. The technology will also help link an existing Medicaid eligibility system with a newly launched Medicaid claims system called Turquoise Claims.
“That’s why we’re using multiple levels of AI and automation, in general, to be able to look at the multiple ways that folks are able to verify and be compliant,” she said.
But Morgan stressed that the authority is not allowing artificial intelligence to determine eligibility. That decision rests with humans.
“AI is not making decisions,” she said. “The AI that we are developing is assisting our caseworkers as they work with New Mexicans to make sure that New Mexicans get the benefits that they’re eligible for. So caseworkers are making decisions. People are making decisions.”
New Mexico awards $13 million to map, test and treat brackish water - Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
In an effort to address forthcoming freshwater scarcity, New Mexico water and environment officials on Monday announced the award of three contracts totaling $13 million for mapping, testing and treating brackish water.
In the last two legislative sessions, New Mexico lawmakers earmarked more than $75 million for the Strategic Water Supply, a state program to advance the uses of brackish water, naturally-occurring salty water deep underground. That included funding for grants to explore its uses as-is in manufacturing, dust control or cement-making, as well as further treatment for its use in agriculture or as drinking water.
Water experts across the state estimate that changing climate patterns and groundwater overuse could reduce water supplies by 25% in coming decades. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s 50-year water action plan places the development of brackish water as a policy centerpiece to address the crisis. New Mexico is estimated to have more than 1 trillion gallons statewide of the underground water, according to the state environment department.
“By advancing brackish water desalination, resource mapping, and real-world demonstration projects, we are building the technical foundation needed to unlock new water sources statewide,” Environment Secretary James Kenney said in a statement. “These investments move New Mexico closer to a future where every community has access to reliable, drought-resilient water supplies.”
The awards announced on Monday follow $26 million awarded in December 2025, and mark the final portion of a $40 million fund established by the Legislature in 2025. Lawmakers earmarked an additional $35 million in funds for 2026, and additional contracts and grant opportunities will open in August.
On Monday, the state announced that two Albuquerque companies, WSP and Indewater, received $9.1 million and $3.7 million, respectively. WSP will use the grant for drilling, testing and mapping the extent of brackish water aquifers, and make recommendations for the best sites for future use, according to a news release.
Indewater will develop a mobile treatment plant to remove salt from brackish water in rural and tribal New Mexico communities. The state will own the plant, according to a news release, which stated the tool will “quickly determine whether desalination is an option for communities that are seeing their water supply become more brackish.”
The final grant of just over $270,000 went to Harmony, a company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts to install a water filtration system at Menefee Farms in Lake Arthur to provide drinking water for cattle there.
“These contracts give us the data, tools, and experience needed to make long-term, science-based decisions about New Mexico’s water future. We are grateful for these new partnerships on this important work,” State Engineer Elizabeth Anderson said in a statement. “Understanding where and how we can responsibly develop brackish water resources is essential to easing pressure on our freshwater systems.”
'Pure love': Community mourns slain transgender teen in Santa Fe Plaza vigil - Santa Fe New Mexican
In Santa Fe Sunday evening, about 200 people gathered for a vigil honoring the memory of a 19-year-old Juniper Blessing.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that Blessing was a graduate of the New Mexico School for the Arts and was enrolled at the University of Washington in Seattle.
On May 10th, Blessing, who was transgender, was fatally stabbed in the laundry room of the off-campus housing complex where she lived.
A suspect in the murder, 31-year-old Christopher Leahy [lay-HEE], turned himself in to Seattle police last Thursday.