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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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NM Projects at Stake in Senate LWCF Hearing Today

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Wednesday, April 22, 2015   

SANTA FE, N.M. - Efforts are under way in Congress today that could preserve a program that supporters say helps to add millions of dollars and thousands of jobs to New Mexico's economy. The U.S. Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on whether to reauthorize and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

In New Mexico, said Bryan Martin, president of the Continental Divide Trail Coalition, the fund could be critical for the purchase of a small piece of privately owned land that could add many miles to the 3,100-mile Continental Divide Trail that stretches across five states.

"We're only talking about essentially two miles of trail on this piece of private land that we're looking to buy," he said. "But it could open up an entire 40-mile new construction project."

Martin said the fund has been vital in purchasing and preserving privately owned land from willing sellers that happens to be located between huge tracts of publicly owned land. Often, he said, it can involve a conservation easement, where the seller still owns the land but allows public access to it.

Created in 1965, the LWCF is supported by fees paid by oil and gas companies for drilling offshore. It's set to expire in September.

U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall, both D-N.M., are backing legislation to permanently reauthorize and fully fund the LWCF at $900 million per year. Heinrich, a member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said the popular program should get bipartisan support.

"If you're a county commissioner or city councilor almost anywhere in the country who has had personal experience seeing Land and Water Conservation Funds buy soccer fields or baseball fields," he said, "there is a real awareness of how important this program is to people on both sides of the aisle."

The LWCF usually is funded at about a third of its capacity, Heinrich said, adding that his legislation would stop Congress from raiding the fund in the future.

Outdoor recreation contributes an estimated $6 billion to New Mexico's economy each year and supports about 70,000 jobs.

More information on the Continental Divide Trail Coalition is online at continentaldividetrail.org. The livestream of the hearing is at energy.senate.gov. The legislation to renew LWCF. S 890, is at govtrack.us.


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