In this piece, Teresa highlights how the Outdoor Equity Fund helps communities across New Mexico—particularly rural and historically underrepresented communities—access the health, cultural, and economic benefits of the outdoors. Drawing from her work stewarding the 850 miles of the Continental Divide Trail that pass through New Mexico, she urges lawmakers to fully invest a one-time $4 million appropriation in the Outdoor Equity Fund during the current 30-day legislative session.

The Continental Divide Runs Through Our Communities—Outdoor Equity Must, Too
By Teresa Martinez

The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail runs more than 3,100 miles from Mexico to Canada. Here in New Mexico, 800 of those miles pass directly through our state—through small towns, Tribal lands, rural communities, and places people have called home since time immemorial.

Yet for many of the people who live along the trail, the outdoors has not always felt like it was meant for them.

Dear Editor,
The Trout Fire of 2025 was a wakeup call for residents. The wildfire spread quickly and affected many: volunteer fire-fighters worked tirelessly for two weeks alongside state and federal units, locals housed evacuees and their pets, people organized food delivery. The risk of dangerous fire in our area may have worsened since then, as the drought continues. We have all seen large stands of trees that have died in the last year. Climate change is not something that will affect us in the future – we are living through it now.

If the herders knew their names, a more difficult and important question follows: *Do we know who some of their descendants are today? *

Pages 111–121 and 139 of Robert Watt's book processing notes on *Horses Worn to Mere Shadows* discreetly records something the sweeping Chief Victorio epic often fails to notice. With its explicit documentation of raids, the military responses to them, and Indian Depredation Claims filed as a result, it also documents specific Apache people who did not disperse from the Gila–Mogollon–San Francisco country even after the U.S. experiment with reservation life ended in that region. These were not mere fugitives fading up into the mountains. They were families that went on living and ranching and reporting losses and being identified by local authorities because they were already known.

Two brothers stand out. They carried the surname Leyva, sometimes pronounced Leyba.

Pat O'Connell
Gabriel Aguilera
Gregory Nibert
Commissioners,
NM Public Regulatory Commission

Dear Commissioners...how interesting that just when the energy industry is getting interesting again --- after 20 years or so of flatlined demand --- Bernhard Capital Partners now seeks to acquire The NM Gas Company. Likewise, dear Commissioners, a private firm seeks to acquire PNM.

In the '70s the energy industry suffered thru a 'supply shock', today, the industry is now facing a 'demand shock'; and as New Mexico's Energy-Regulatory Commissioners, I urge you to perform due diligence and require Bernhard Capital to provide your Commission, with a dedicated review—Bernhard's complete record of industry activity, including any and all infractions of laws and regulations.

By Ruben Q. Leyva

One of the quiet truths buried in the Apache Victorio-era record is this: the people who lived on the land often knew exactly whom they were dealing with, even when later archives attempted to portray otherwise. On page 139 of the notes for the book *Horses Worn to Mere Shadows*, utilizing original U.S. military and civilian correspondence collected by Robert Watt, Hispano sheep herders in the Mogollon and San Francisco ranges of New Mexico's Catron County are described as naming individual Apaches involved in raids, not anonymous "hostiles," but actual human beings, known through familiarity, frequent encounters, and long presence among these people. This detail matters. It informs us that Apache movement through the Mimbres–Mogollon–San Francisco corridor was not random or undifferentiated. It was discernable to those who shared the landscape.

By Paul Gessing

The Rio Grande Foundation has been clear in expressing support for a multi-pronged approach to improving our State’s roads. To be clear, the deterioration of our roads is a real issue. Their poor condition costs New Mexicans thousands of dollars annually according to recent studies.

So, we applaud the focus on roads in Santa Fe. Sadly, SB 2 which would add $1.5 billion in road funding through bonding (debt) is the wrong approach for numerous reasons. Most notably:

As West Las Vegas Schools Superintendent, I support the road package currently going through the legislature. Here’s why.

Safety. Our school buses require efficient and reliable roads, as dangerous roads are a safety hazard.

Maintenance. When buses are forced to use substandard roads, it costs the district money to make repairs. This reduces funding available for student needs.

By Dan Lewis

A recent report from a national transportation research nonprofit organization called the TRIP Report came out last week and it's not a pretty picture for New Mexico. Over the last decade, roads in this state have deteriorated dramatically and if a solution is not found soon, our state could easily become dead last in road conditions, safety, and lost time. Here are some of the facts in the report.

The New Mexico Department of Transportation has identified more than $7.5 billion in needed but unfunded transportation throughout the state to address safety, reliability and preservation challenges, states the report. That's $7.5 billion with a capital B. Since our entire state budget now runs at $11 billion, you can see that we're in a world of hurt when it comes to our roads.

This number is going up dramatically year over year as well. In the last report, our state had only $5.6 billion in unfunded projects around the state. In 2017, there were only $1.3 billion in needed but unfunded projects. As you can see, we're headed in the wrong direction.