Non-Local News Releases

SANTA FE — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has signed two bills strengthening New Mexico's support for communities near military installations.

House Bill 158 establishes the Military Base Impact Fund to finance critical infrastructure projects in areas surrounding military bases across the state. The fund will provide grants for local infrastructure initiatives, with oversight from the Office of Military Base Planning and Support and the Economic Development Department. This legislation becomes effective June 20, 2025.

ALBUQUERQUE, NM — The Washington Post is reporting this morning ("Trump officials consider shrinking 6 national monuments in the West") that the Trump administration has drafted plans to remove federal protections for at least six national monuments, including Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, in Dona Ana County, New Mexico.

The stated rationale is to open these areas for mining and oil and gas development, activities that are expressly prohibited in national monument proclamations and a significant reason these special places were protected in the first place. The vast majority of public lands in New Mexico are already open to mineral development.

 CHECK OUT THE LATEST STOCKING REPORT

The weekly stocking report is posted each Friday, so it can include the latest stocking details right up to the weekend.

The 2025-26 license year is underway!

License sales for the 2025-26 license year have begun. Licenses from the 2024-2025 license year are no longer valid. The 2025-26 Fishing Rules and Information Booklet (RIB) is available online in both English and Spanish, and will soon be available in print at Department offices and vendors statewide.

LAS CRUCES, SAN ANTONIO - White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) will block US 70 for approximately one hour and US 380 for approximately two hours on Thursday, April 24, 2025, at 7 a.m.

US 70 will be blocked at 7:10 a.m. for approximately 1 hour. This block will be located at Red Block (top of San. Augustin Pass, mile marker 164) and Yellow Block (White Sands National Park, mile marker 200). Las Cruces Gate, Nike Ave, and Owen Road will also be impacted by this block.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-Mont.), and U.S. Representatives Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) and Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) introduced their bipartisan Continental Divide National Scenic Trail Completion Act, legislation that directs the Secretaries of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Department of Interior to prioritize the completion of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (CDT).

Designated by Congress as part of the National Trail System in 1978, the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail stretches more than 3,000 miles and passes through New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. The trail follows the Continental Divide and transverses some of the nation's most treasured natural, historic, and cultural resources.

Insects and warm conditions driving forest damage statewide 

SANTA FE – Tree deaths in New Mexico's forests more than doubled from 2023, according to the new Forest Health Conditions Report released by the Energy Minerals and Natural Resources Forestry Division. 

Key findings from the report show: 

 70,000 acres of dead conifer trees – up from the 33,000 acres in 2023. 

 406,000 acres damaged by insects, disease and harsh conditions — an increase of 42,000 acres or 12% since 2023. 

 39% rise in trees losing needles, leaves and turning brown or red statewide. 

(Washington, D.C., April 21, 2025) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins joined the 2025 White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn alongside American egg producers.

 "The White House Easter Egg Roll is the yearly Super Bowl for eggs! Egg farmers and consumers were hit hard by the negative impacts of the bird flu this past year, but, thankfully under President Trump's leadership, our five-point plan to combat avian flu and lower egg prices is working. Going into Easter weekend, wholesale egg prices are down 56 percent! This historic event is a great opportunity to celebrate this progress alongside America's hard working egg farmers," said Secretary Rollins.

On April 27, 1935, Congress established the Soil Conservation Service, which would later become the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), as a permanent agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For 90 years, NRCS has helped farmers, ranchers and forestland owners make critical investments in their operations and local communities to keep working lands working and boost agricultural production, while at the same time improving the quality of our air, water, soil, and wildlife habitats.

 This week, NRCS celebrates 90 years of Helping People Help the Land. See our compilation of videos, stories and resources here.  https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/about/history