TUES: UNM president Garnett Stokes announces retirement, + More
By KUNM News
September 16, 2025 at 5:38 AM MDT
UNM president Garnett Stokes announces retirement
—Noah Alcala Bach, Albuquerque Journal
University of New Mexico President Garnett Stokes, the first woman to hold the position, is retiring after more than seven years.
"As I approach eight years of service as your president — and after several wonderful decades of service in higher education leadership, it soon will be time for me to step away and begin a new chapter in my life with my husband, Jeff, who has served as my partner throughout this leadership journey," she wrote in a campus-wide email Tuesday. "I have informed the Board of Regents that the 2025-26 academic year will be my last serving as your President."
Stokes' contract was renewed through July 1, 2026, by the Board of Regents on Tuesday. She began serving as UNM president on March 1, 2018.
Upon her July 2026 retirement, she will have headed the school for longer than any president since Richard Peck, who headed the school from 1990 to 1998.
"But I want to be clear — I am not going anywhere yet. There is still a great deal of work ahead of us this academic year as we move forward in pursuit of our vision and face head-on the challenges being encountered by higher education institutions across the country," Stokes wrote in the email.
Paul Blanchard, chair of UNM's Board of Regents, thanked Stokes for her leadership and her "visionary stewardship and steadfast commitment to the University," in a statement Tuesday.
"Her work has advanced UNM as a national leader in research, student success, and as a partner and major driver of economic development for communities across our state, including expansion and modernization of treatment facilities for UNM Health Sciences," Blanchard said.
The state's Higher Education Secretary Stephanie Rodriguez also thanked Stokes for her time at UNM in a statement to the Journal and said she provided "much-needed stability for the university since 2018."
"President Stokes has not only kept UNM moving forward, but charted a path for sustainable growth in partnership with the state and our landmark scholarship programs for New Mexicans," Rodriguez said. "My colleagues at the New Mexico Higher Education Department and I appreciate her service and we look forward to continuing our work with university leadership on supporting students and faculty, enhancing public safety efforts, and expanding opportunities for more New Mexicans.”
In a news release from UNM on Tuesday, the school touted enrollment increases, strides made in research and improvements in athletics during her tenure. She is the 23rd president in the university's history.
"She’s been a great president, been very supportive," UNM Football head coach Jason Eck said Tuesday. "She’s obviously done a lot of this university, and should get to enjoy retirement. So hopefully we get somebody who’s really good and very pro-athletics for that spot.”
Stokes was not made available for an interview Tuesday.
"President Stokes looks forward to reflecting on her tenure and sharing her thoughts on her retirement plans at an appropriate time closer to her departure in 2026," Ben Cloutier, interim spokesperson for UNM, said in an email. "At this point, she is focused on continuing the important work underway at the University."
Before coming to New Mexico's flagship university, Stokes worked from 2011 to 2014 as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Florida State University. Following the resignation of then-President Eric Barron, she briefly held the title of interim president for FSU.
She then served for three years as provost and subsequently executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Missouri at a time when the school was receiving national attention over the Concerned Student 1950 protests about turbulent race relations on campus, leading to the resignation of many of the university's top leadership staff.
In a 2018 article from the Columbia Missourian, just weeks before she took the post at UNM, her colleagues credited Stokes, saying she would be remembered for "her leadership during turbulent times."
NM GOP lawmakers call on governor to loop them in on special session agenda - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
With a little over two weeks before New Mexico lawmakers will convene in Santa Fe for a special legislative session to respond to anticipated federal spending cuts, Republican leaders are calling on the governor to consult with them on the agenda and consider a host of other issues they’d like to address instead.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a news release earlier this month announcing the Oct. 1 start date of the session along with a few actions the Legislature would likely consider to make up for federal cuts to rural hospitals, Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and public broadcasting. It also said she was in “discussions” with the Legislature to address behavioral health and criminal justice issues.
But Republican leaders in the House and Senate said in a letter Monday that they have not been consulted on any of the specifics about the session, and that Democrats’ fears of federal cuts are unwarranted this early.
“Republican legislators should be given the same courtesy and opportunity to thoroughly review the fiscal impact and programmatic requirements associated with these proposals,” according to the letter. “This review is particularly necessitated because your public statements have, unfortunately, left the impression that New Mexicans will immediately lose Medicaid and SNAP benefits. Needless to say, nothing could be further from the truth.”
The letter goes on to state changes in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” President Donald Trump signed July 4 are “highly complex,” and changes to Medicaid and SNAP “will not become effective until January 2027 at the earliest.”
The letter’s authors said the Legislature should direct more immediate consideration to other issues in the state, including, crime, the state’s child welfare department, medical malpractice reform and homelessness, according to the letter.
They urged her to issue a proclamation for the session that enables lawmakers to consider all of those topics.
“The people of New Mexico are convinced these are the real emergencies facing our state and we ask for your leadership in helping provide the Legislature with the opportunity to work in a bipartisan basis to adopt long overdue solutions to these most pressing problems,” according to the letter.
A statement provided by the governor’s Deputy Communications Director Jodi McGinnis Porter notes that Lujan Grisham “has been working closely with the majority in the legislature to craft an agenda that has consensus. However, the Governor proposed and continues to argue for urgent public safety legislation now and in future legislative sessions.”
The special session’s current topics, the statement continues, “are not new and have been the subject of discussions since the passage of the federal Republican budget bill H.R.1. ”
The statement also says, “The notion that New Mexicans’ will not lose crucial benefits until 2027 is false…The country as a whole and New Mexico in particular will see a substantial reduction in federal SNAP benefits as well as the loss of federal subsidies for healthcare premiums in the immediate future. In the special session, the state will act to blunt the worst of these attacks on New Mexicans’ cost of living.”
This story was updated following publication to include a response from the governor's office.
Bear necessities: NM Game and Fish Department readies for change with familiar logo - Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
Facing a looming agency rebranding and mission expansion, New Mexico’s Department of Game and Fish is sticking with the bear that got them here.
The agency’s director told lawmakers last week the department’s logo will be left largely intact when its name is officially changed to the New Mexico Department of Wildlife, starting in July 2026.
While the agency’s name will be changed, the image of a black bear’s head in the center of the logo will not.
“It’s an iconic species that represents the state well, I think,” Game and Fish Director Michael Sloane told members of the legislative Water and Natural Resources Committee during a meeting in Taos.
He also pointed out that New Mexico’s official mammal is the American black bear, and the state is home to the iconic Smokey Bear.
Lawmakers this year approved legislation overhauling the Game and Fish Department and increasing license fees for fishing, hunting and trapping. In addition to changing the agency’s name, the legislation also provides it with more authority to regulate wildlife species in New Mexico.
However, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham line-item vetoed a portion of the bill that would have made it harder to remove sitting state Game Commission members.
The governor said in her veto message the change could have led to protracted struggles to remove even the “most blatantly incompetent or corrupt” individuals from the seven-member Game Commission.
While backers of the bill questioned the legality of the governor’s veto, it has not been challenged in court. But the vetoed language could still be revived in future legislation, supporters said.
They also cited the governor’s removal of former Game Commissioner Sabrina Pack last month. The Governor’s Office said at the time Pack was fired for failing to disclose that she’d worked on an outside marketing campaign related to the Mexican gray wolf.
Jesse Deubel, the executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, said removal of Pack had once again left the seven-member Game Commission with a vacant seat.
“We need a process in place that ensures that any removal is fair and just,” Deubel told legislators. “The removal of a commissioner should not be up to one single individual.”
However, Deubel lauded the Game and Fish Department’s preparation to implement the parts of the bill that were signed into law, saying the increased license fees that take effect in April 2027 will provide the agency with a necessary funding infusion.
In addition, at least some legislators said they support the department’s decision to keep some things familiar as it prepares for change.
“I love the bear,” said Rep. Matthew McQueen, D-Galisteo. “I’m happy it’s staying.”
Pueblo governors head to D.C. to advocate for keeping Chaco Canyon buffer zone oil ban - Cathy Cook, Albuquerque Journal
From 8,500 feet overhead, the half moon shape of an ancient ruin can be seen clearly, packed with neat boxes and perfect circles, the walls left by people who lived in Chaco Canyon thousands of years ago.
Rocks worn smooth by erosion look fragile from the air, like crumpled tissue paper. The ruins in Chaco Canyon are part of a national historical park, and no oil and gas drilling or mineral development is allowed within a 10-mile radius.
Three minutes northeast by airplane, dirt squares dot the land. On each pad, brush has been cleared away to make room for oil wells. Three there, three more, then more. It’s hard to count them all. The straight lines of dirt road connecting the oil operations contrast with the curves of cliffsides and riverbeds.
Late Sunday morning, a pumpjack that looked like a toothpick moved up and down at a steady pace. Light reflected off evaporation ponds full of brackish water, a byproduct of oil and gas production.
“For me, it’s just more land getting ruined that we’re not going to get back,” said Pueblo of Pojoaque Gov. Jenelle Roybal, after flying over Chaco Canyon and the surrounding region Sunday with support from LightHawk Conservation Flying and Native Land Institute. “And this is land that our ancestors used for prayer or for traditional doing. It’s not like we can just pick up and start that somewhere else. You shouldn’t. You want to keep that spirit alive — keep it in the same location.”
In 2023, former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland issued an order that banned drilling and exploratory mining on federally owned land within a 10-mile radius of Chaco Culture National Historical Park for 20 years.
Under a new presidential administration, the buffer zone is being reconsidered, a move at least one tribal government in New Mexico favors and others do not.
Thirteen current and former pueblo governors and lieutenant governors are in Washington, D.C., this week to meet with members of Congress from both sides of the aisle and convince them to maintain the buffer zone, something Congress could accomplish with legislation.
“To us, it’s a sacred site, and it is something that is very cherished and hallowed, almost like visiting a memorial, or when you visit your relatives’ grave site,” said Cochiti Pueblo Lt. Gov. Jeff Suina, who landed in D.C. Sunday. During his three days at the nation’s capital, Suina plans to advocate for Chaco protections and build relationships with a new presidential administration.
All five of New Mexico’s Democratic senators and House representatives support legislation led by Sen. Ben Ray Luján and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández to make the 10-mile protected area permanent. But Rep. Eli Crane, R-Arizona, has introduced a bill that would rescind the order.
The Navajo Nation sued the Interior Department in January, trying to reverse the 10-mile buffer zone, saying it harmed tribal members who depend on income from oil and gas drilling in the area. The lawsuit argues that the federal government did not properly consider Navajo officials’ proposal for a 5-mile buffer zone instead of 10 miles.
“This area remains one of the least economically developed places in the United States, and Navajo allottees residing in this rural region rely heavily on royalty payments from oil and gas leasing for their livelihoods,” the lawsuit reads.
Two pueblos, Acoma and Laguna, joined the lawsuit on the side of the Interior Department, with the goal of keeping the buffer zone in place. The All Pueblo Council of Governors wants the protection to stay in place, passing a resolution reaffirming its opposition to weakening Chaco protections earlier this year.
The lawsuit was paused in July to see if the Interior Department, which is reconsidering all federal land withdrawals, overturns the buffer zone on its own.
The office of Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren did not respond to a request for comment.
Three weeks ago Roybal and other pueblo governors met with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to advocate for keeping the buffer zone. Burgum seemed receptive to their concerns, according to Roybal. The governors invited Burgum to fly over Chaco and he seemed interested, she said.
“I just got a good impression of him,” Roybal said. “The way he responded and kind of reiterated everything we were talking to him about, it felt to me like he was paying attention.”
Santa Fe's Arthur Sze named U.S. poet laureate - Santa Fe New Mexican, KUNM News
Santa Fe poet Arthur Sze has been named the new United States poet laureate. He officially began his tenure as Sze has 12 published poetry collections, including Into the Hush and The White Orchard.
Sze will visit Washington to read a selection of his work Oct. 9 in the library's Coolidge Auditorium.
Sze is the son of Chinese immigrants. His work includes the translation of ancient Chinese poetry into English. He was the chancellor of the Academy of American Poets from 2012 to 2017 and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
The U.S. poet laureate honor is managed by the Library of Congress. The title was created in 1937. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the Poet Laureate’s duties are broadly defined, giving poets laureate freedom to make their own mark on the role. The nation's poet laureate receives a $60,000-a-year stipend.
The honor makes it the second time in four years that a former Institute of American Indian Arts instructor has been named the national poet laureate. Joy Harjo (HAR-joe) served as the 23rd United States Poet Laureate from 2019 to 2022. Harjo was the first Native American to hold that honor and studied under Sze at IAIA before later teaching there.
Civilian aircraft mechanics at Kirtland Air Force Base unanimously vote yes to union - Natalie Robbins, Albuquerque Journal
After a unanimous vote last month, some civilian aircraft mechanics at Kirtland Air Force Base will now belong to a union.
A group of nonmanagerial aviation mechanics and electronic tech maintenance workers employed by defense contractor Yulista Aerospace and Defense at Kirtland voted 10-0 to join the local chapter of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers on Aug. 27.
A Yulista spokesperson did not respond to an email request for a comment.
IAM represents almost 600,000 active and retired members and is the largest airline union in North America, according to the union’s website. The employees who voted to join the union at Kirtland all work on the CV-22 Osprey, a type of aircraft used by special operations forces with the U.S. Air Force, said IAM Local 794 President Ashley Long.
“This outcome reflects the shared recognition that workers deserve a collective voice in ensuring fair treatment, strong safety standards and the respect their skills merit,” Long said in a statement.
Fair compensation, working conditions, reliable scheduling, adequate staffing, clear communication and worker involvement in major decisions are among the issues important to the employees, Long added.
“We believe this union victory will lead to improved morale, higher job satisfaction and ultimately enhanced readiness and aircraft safety — all of which benefit all parties involved,” she said.
Long said the union intended to enter the bargaining process “in good faith” with a commitment to “work collaboratively.”
Last October, a different classification of aviation and aircraft mechanics, dispatchers, technicians and support staff employed by Yulista at Kirtland also voted to join IAM Local 794, according to filings with the National Labor Relations Board.
Yulista is an Alaska-based defense and aviation company and a U.S. military contractor. Yulista began doing business with the federal government in November 2023 and has been paid $8.4 million since then for machinery maintenance services, according to government financial filings.
When asked for a response to the election, representatives for Kirtland Air Force Base told the Journal that, as a private company, Yulista manages its own labor relations.
—Noah Alcala Bach, Albuquerque Journal
University of New Mexico President Garnett Stokes, the first woman to hold the position, is retiring after more than seven years.
"As I approach eight years of service as your president — and after several wonderful decades of service in higher education leadership, it soon will be time for me to step away and begin a new chapter in my life with my husband, Jeff, who has served as my partner throughout this leadership journey," she wrote in a campus-wide email Tuesday. "I have informed the Board of Regents that the 2025-26 academic year will be my last serving as your President."
Stokes' contract was renewed through July 1, 2026, by the Board of Regents on Tuesday. She began serving as UNM president on March 1, 2018.
Upon her July 2026 retirement, she will have headed the school for longer than any president since Richard Peck, who headed the school from 1990 to 1998.
"But I want to be clear — I am not going anywhere yet. There is still a great deal of work ahead of us this academic year as we move forward in pursuit of our vision and face head-on the challenges being encountered by higher education institutions across the country," Stokes wrote in the email.
Paul Blanchard, chair of UNM's Board of Regents, thanked Stokes for her leadership and her "visionary stewardship and steadfast commitment to the University," in a statement Tuesday.
"Her work has advanced UNM as a national leader in research, student success, and as a partner and major driver of economic development for communities across our state, including expansion and modernization of treatment facilities for UNM Health Sciences," Blanchard said.
The state's Higher Education Secretary Stephanie Rodriguez also thanked Stokes for her time at UNM in a statement to the Journal and said she provided "much-needed stability for the university since 2018."
"President Stokes has not only kept UNM moving forward, but charted a path for sustainable growth in partnership with the state and our landmark scholarship programs for New Mexicans," Rodriguez said. "My colleagues at the New Mexico Higher Education Department and I appreciate her service and we look forward to continuing our work with university leadership on supporting students and faculty, enhancing public safety efforts, and expanding opportunities for more New Mexicans.”
In a news release from UNM on Tuesday, the school touted enrollment increases, strides made in research and improvements in athletics during her tenure. She is the 23rd president in the university's history.
"She’s been a great president, been very supportive," UNM Football head coach Jason Eck said Tuesday. "She’s obviously done a lot of this university, and should get to enjoy retirement. So hopefully we get somebody who’s really good and very pro-athletics for that spot.”
Stokes was not made available for an interview Tuesday.
"President Stokes looks forward to reflecting on her tenure and sharing her thoughts on her retirement plans at an appropriate time closer to her departure in 2026," Ben Cloutier, interim spokesperson for UNM, said in an email. "At this point, she is focused on continuing the important work underway at the University."
Before coming to New Mexico's flagship university, Stokes worked from 2011 to 2014 as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Florida State University. Following the resignation of then-President Eric Barron, she briefly held the title of interim president for FSU.
She then served for three years as provost and subsequently executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Missouri at a time when the school was receiving national attention over the Concerned Student 1950 protests about turbulent race relations on campus, leading to the resignation of many of the university's top leadership staff.
In a 2018 article from the Columbia Missourian, just weeks before she took the post at UNM, her colleagues credited Stokes, saying she would be remembered for "her leadership during turbulent times."
NM GOP lawmakers call on governor to loop them in on special session agenda - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
With a little over two weeks before New Mexico lawmakers will convene in Santa Fe for a special legislative session to respond to anticipated federal spending cuts, Republican leaders are calling on the governor to consult with them on the agenda and consider a host of other issues they’d like to address instead.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a news release earlier this month announcing the Oct. 1 start date of the session along with a few actions the Legislature would likely consider to make up for federal cuts to rural hospitals, Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and public broadcasting. It also said she was in “discussions” with the Legislature to address behavioral health and criminal justice issues.
But Republican leaders in the House and Senate said in a letter Monday that they have not been consulted on any of the specifics about the session, and that Democrats’ fears of federal cuts are unwarranted this early.
“Republican legislators should be given the same courtesy and opportunity to thoroughly review the fiscal impact and programmatic requirements associated with these proposals,” according to the letter. “This review is particularly necessitated because your public statements have, unfortunately, left the impression that New Mexicans will immediately lose Medicaid and SNAP benefits. Needless to say, nothing could be further from the truth.”
The letter goes on to state changes in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” President Donald Trump signed July 4 are “highly complex,” and changes to Medicaid and SNAP “will not become effective until January 2027 at the earliest.”
The letter’s authors said the Legislature should direct more immediate consideration to other issues in the state, including, crime, the state’s child welfare department, medical malpractice reform and homelessness, according to the letter.
They urged her to issue a proclamation for the session that enables lawmakers to consider all of those topics.
“The people of New Mexico are convinced these are the real emergencies facing our state and we ask for your leadership in helping provide the Legislature with the opportunity to work in a bipartisan basis to adopt long overdue solutions to these most pressing problems,” according to the letter.
A statement provided by the governor’s Deputy Communications Director Jodi McGinnis Porter notes that Lujan Grisham “has been working closely with the majority in the legislature to craft an agenda that has consensus. However, the Governor proposed and continues to argue for urgent public safety legislation now and in future legislative sessions.”
The special session’s current topics, the statement continues, “are not new and have been the subject of discussions since the passage of the federal Republican budget bill H.R.1. ”
The statement also says, “The notion that New Mexicans’ will not lose crucial benefits until 2027 is false…The country as a whole and New Mexico in particular will see a substantial reduction in federal SNAP benefits as well as the loss of federal subsidies for healthcare premiums in the immediate future. In the special session, the state will act to blunt the worst of these attacks on New Mexicans’ cost of living.”
This story was updated following publication to include a response from the governor's office.
Bear necessities: NM Game and Fish Department readies for change with familiar logo - Dan Boyd, Albuquerque Journal
Facing a looming agency rebranding and mission expansion, New Mexico’s Department of Game and Fish is sticking with the bear that got them here.
The agency’s director told lawmakers last week the department’s logo will be left largely intact when its name is officially changed to the New Mexico Department of Wildlife, starting in July 2026.
While the agency’s name will be changed, the image of a black bear’s head in the center of the logo will not.
“It’s an iconic species that represents the state well, I think,” Game and Fish Director Michael Sloane told members of the legislative Water and Natural Resources Committee during a meeting in Taos.
He also pointed out that New Mexico’s official mammal is the American black bear, and the state is home to the iconic Smokey Bear.
Lawmakers this year approved legislation overhauling the Game and Fish Department and increasing license fees for fishing, hunting and trapping. In addition to changing the agency’s name, the legislation also provides it with more authority to regulate wildlife species in New Mexico.
However, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham line-item vetoed a portion of the bill that would have made it harder to remove sitting state Game Commission members.
The governor said in her veto message the change could have led to protracted struggles to remove even the “most blatantly incompetent or corrupt” individuals from the seven-member Game Commission.
While backers of the bill questioned the legality of the governor’s veto, it has not been challenged in court. But the vetoed language could still be revived in future legislation, supporters said.
They also cited the governor’s removal of former Game Commissioner Sabrina Pack last month. The Governor’s Office said at the time Pack was fired for failing to disclose that she’d worked on an outside marketing campaign related to the Mexican gray wolf.
Jesse Deubel, the executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, said removal of Pack had once again left the seven-member Game Commission with a vacant seat.
“We need a process in place that ensures that any removal is fair and just,” Deubel told legislators. “The removal of a commissioner should not be up to one single individual.”
However, Deubel lauded the Game and Fish Department’s preparation to implement the parts of the bill that were signed into law, saying the increased license fees that take effect in April 2027 will provide the agency with a necessary funding infusion.
In addition, at least some legislators said they support the department’s decision to keep some things familiar as it prepares for change.
“I love the bear,” said Rep. Matthew McQueen, D-Galisteo. “I’m happy it’s staying.”
Pueblo governors head to D.C. to advocate for keeping Chaco Canyon buffer zone oil ban - Cathy Cook, Albuquerque Journal
From 8,500 feet overhead, the half moon shape of an ancient ruin can be seen clearly, packed with neat boxes and perfect circles, the walls left by people who lived in Chaco Canyon thousands of years ago.
Rocks worn smooth by erosion look fragile from the air, like crumpled tissue paper. The ruins in Chaco Canyon are part of a national historical park, and no oil and gas drilling or mineral development is allowed within a 10-mile radius.
Three minutes northeast by airplane, dirt squares dot the land. On each pad, brush has been cleared away to make room for oil wells. Three there, three more, then more. It’s hard to count them all. The straight lines of dirt road connecting the oil operations contrast with the curves of cliffsides and riverbeds.
Late Sunday morning, a pumpjack that looked like a toothpick moved up and down at a steady pace. Light reflected off evaporation ponds full of brackish water, a byproduct of oil and gas production.
“For me, it’s just more land getting ruined that we’re not going to get back,” said Pueblo of Pojoaque Gov. Jenelle Roybal, after flying over Chaco Canyon and the surrounding region Sunday with support from LightHawk Conservation Flying and Native Land Institute. “And this is land that our ancestors used for prayer or for traditional doing. It’s not like we can just pick up and start that somewhere else. You shouldn’t. You want to keep that spirit alive — keep it in the same location.”
In 2023, former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland issued an order that banned drilling and exploratory mining on federally owned land within a 10-mile radius of Chaco Culture National Historical Park for 20 years.
Under a new presidential administration, the buffer zone is being reconsidered, a move at least one tribal government in New Mexico favors and others do not.
Thirteen current and former pueblo governors and lieutenant governors are in Washington, D.C., this week to meet with members of Congress from both sides of the aisle and convince them to maintain the buffer zone, something Congress could accomplish with legislation.
“To us, it’s a sacred site, and it is something that is very cherished and hallowed, almost like visiting a memorial, or when you visit your relatives’ grave site,” said Cochiti Pueblo Lt. Gov. Jeff Suina, who landed in D.C. Sunday. During his three days at the nation’s capital, Suina plans to advocate for Chaco protections and build relationships with a new presidential administration.
All five of New Mexico’s Democratic senators and House representatives support legislation led by Sen. Ben Ray Luján and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández to make the 10-mile protected area permanent. But Rep. Eli Crane, R-Arizona, has introduced a bill that would rescind the order.
The Navajo Nation sued the Interior Department in January, trying to reverse the 10-mile buffer zone, saying it harmed tribal members who depend on income from oil and gas drilling in the area. The lawsuit argues that the federal government did not properly consider Navajo officials’ proposal for a 5-mile buffer zone instead of 10 miles.
“This area remains one of the least economically developed places in the United States, and Navajo allottees residing in this rural region rely heavily on royalty payments from oil and gas leasing for their livelihoods,” the lawsuit reads.
Two pueblos, Acoma and Laguna, joined the lawsuit on the side of the Interior Department, with the goal of keeping the buffer zone in place. The All Pueblo Council of Governors wants the protection to stay in place, passing a resolution reaffirming its opposition to weakening Chaco protections earlier this year.
The lawsuit was paused in July to see if the Interior Department, which is reconsidering all federal land withdrawals, overturns the buffer zone on its own.
The office of Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren did not respond to a request for comment.
Three weeks ago Roybal and other pueblo governors met with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to advocate for keeping the buffer zone. Burgum seemed receptive to their concerns, according to Roybal. The governors invited Burgum to fly over Chaco and he seemed interested, she said.
“I just got a good impression of him,” Roybal said. “The way he responded and kind of reiterated everything we were talking to him about, it felt to me like he was paying attention.”
Santa Fe's Arthur Sze named U.S. poet laureate - Santa Fe New Mexican, KUNM News
Santa Fe poet Arthur Sze has been named the new United States poet laureate. He officially began his tenure as Sze has 12 published poetry collections, including Into the Hush and The White Orchard.
Sze will visit Washington to read a selection of his work Oct. 9 in the library's Coolidge Auditorium.
Sze is the son of Chinese immigrants. His work includes the translation of ancient Chinese poetry into English. He was the chancellor of the Academy of American Poets from 2012 to 2017 and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
The U.S. poet laureate honor is managed by the Library of Congress. The title was created in 1937. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the Poet Laureate’s duties are broadly defined, giving poets laureate freedom to make their own mark on the role. The nation's poet laureate receives a $60,000-a-year stipend.
The honor makes it the second time in four years that a former Institute of American Indian Arts instructor has been named the national poet laureate. Joy Harjo (HAR-joe) served as the 23rd United States Poet Laureate from 2019 to 2022. Harjo was the first Native American to hold that honor and studied under Sze at IAIA before later teaching there.
Civilian aircraft mechanics at Kirtland Air Force Base unanimously vote yes to union - Natalie Robbins, Albuquerque Journal
After a unanimous vote last month, some civilian aircraft mechanics at Kirtland Air Force Base will now belong to a union.
A group of nonmanagerial aviation mechanics and electronic tech maintenance workers employed by defense contractor Yulista Aerospace and Defense at Kirtland voted 10-0 to join the local chapter of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers on Aug. 27.
A Yulista spokesperson did not respond to an email request for a comment.
IAM represents almost 600,000 active and retired members and is the largest airline union in North America, according to the union’s website. The employees who voted to join the union at Kirtland all work on the CV-22 Osprey, a type of aircraft used by special operations forces with the U.S. Air Force, said IAM Local 794 President Ashley Long.
“This outcome reflects the shared recognition that workers deserve a collective voice in ensuring fair treatment, strong safety standards and the respect their skills merit,” Long said in a statement.
Fair compensation, working conditions, reliable scheduling, adequate staffing, clear communication and worker involvement in major decisions are among the issues important to the employees, Long added.
“We believe this union victory will lead to improved morale, higher job satisfaction and ultimately enhanced readiness and aircraft safety — all of which benefit all parties involved,” she said.
Long said the union intended to enter the bargaining process “in good faith” with a commitment to “work collaboratively.”
Last October, a different classification of aviation and aircraft mechanics, dispatchers, technicians and support staff employed by Yulista at Kirtland also voted to join IAM Local 794, according to filings with the National Labor Relations Board.
Yulista is an Alaska-based defense and aviation company and a U.S. military contractor. Yulista began doing business with the federal government in November 2023 and has been paid $8.4 million since then for machinery maintenance services, according to government financial filings.
When asked for a response to the election, representatives for Kirtland Air Force Base told the Journal that, as a private company, Yulista manages its own labor relations.