Land, Wildlife and Clean Energy (LWCE) Act

Funding Conservation for New Mexico: A Case for the Land, Wildlife and Clean Energy (LWCE) Act

New Mexico is one of the few western states that do not have a comprehensive, state-funded land and wildlife conservation program.

At present, state agencies and private conservation and land trust organizations must approach the legislature every year for piecemeal, incremental funding for specific projects. To help remedy this situation, a group of private, non-profit organizations representing land and wildlife conservation, agricultural production, and outdoor recreation have joined together to form a Coalition to help create New Mexico's first wide-ranging, financially sustainable land and wildlife conservation program.

In 2004, the Coalition was successful in passing House Joint Memorial 37, which directed the Departments of Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources and Game & Fish to conduct a study to investigate sustainable alternative funding mechanisms to protect New Mexico's unique landscapes, wildlife habitats, working farm and ranch lands, open spaces, and recreation areas.

For a copy of the Funding Conservation for New Mexico: Providing for Future Generations--a Report to the Legislature: http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/EMNRD/MAIN/Publications.htm.

In 2005, the Coalition was successful in securing a $5 million appropriation from the state legislature for the Department of Game and Fish to initiate a pilot land and wildlife conservation program. The department is currently reviewing a number of applications for land and wildlife conservation projects around the state.

In 2006, the Coalition introduced the Land, Wildlife and Clean Energy (LWCE) bill into the state legislature (HB188 and SB407), which proposed to fund a land and wildlife conservation and clean energy program on a much wider and more financially sustainable basis. The proposed source of funding for this program was the existing Oil and Gas Conservation Tax, which is a .19% tax on oil and gas revenue produced in the state. This tax currently generates approximately $20 million to the state coffers. At present approximately 10% of this gas tax goes into the Oil and Gas Reclamation Fund (OGRF) and the balance goes into the general fund. LWCE proposes to redirect the portion of this tax that is currently going to the general fund to the Department of Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources to set up the Land, Wildlife and Clean Energy Program which would be administered by a 14 member-Board of which four members would represent state agencies and 10 members would be appointed by the Governor and represent different sectors such as land and wildlife conservation, energy conservation, farming, livestock and dairy production, hunting and fishing, local government , tribal lands, community land grants and acequias.

Unfortunately, LWCE did not pass during the 2006 legislative session, but the Coalition is now preparing to reintroduce a modified version of the LWCE bill into the 2007 legislative session. The Coalition is mounting a much larger effort this year to promote support for LWCE by raising awareness about the bill through targeted outreach and media/informational campaigns, vetting the bill through the interim committee hearing process, and lobbying key legislators.

To view the fact sheet, click here.

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