SENATE MEMORIAL 76

51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2014

INTRODUCED BY

William P. Soules

A MEMORIAL

RECOGNIZING AND HONORING THE PUBLIC LANDS LEGACY IN NEW MEXICO.

     WHEREAS, both the Enabling Act for New Mexico and the constitution of New Mexico state that the "people inhabiting this state do agree and declare that they forever disclaim all right and title to the unappropriated and ungranted public lands lying within the boundaries thereof"; and

     WHEREAS, approximately twenty-six million acres of land in New Mexico are owned by the people of the United States and managed for the benefit of all citizens by federal public land management agencies; and

     WHEREAS, although New Mexicans have the good fortune to live near these federal public lands and benefit from them economically, New Mexicans own them no more or less than any other citizen of the United States; and

     WHEREAS, at least sixty-five percent of New Mexicans participate in some form of outdoor recreation every year; and

     WHEREAS, the outdoor recreation economy in New Mexico generates four hundred fifty-eight million dollars ($458,000,000) in tax revenue and six billion one hundred million dollars ($6,100,000,000) in consumer spending each year, while employing more than sixty-eight thousand people; and

     WHEREAS, preserving access to outdoor recreation on public lands protects the economy, businesses, communities and people of New Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, access to and use of large tracts of healthy, viable, contiguous public lands are essential to the perpetuation of traditional land uses, such as hunting, fishing, grazing, firewood gathering and herb gathering; and

     WHEREAS, hunting and fishing are activities that have long been part of the traditional New Mexico lifestyle; and

     WHEREAS, eighty-nine percent of New Mexico sports enthusiasts use public lands to hunt and fish; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico sports enthusiasts spend more than five hundred seventy-nine million dollars ($579,000,000) annually in pursuit of recreational activities in New Mexico, supporting more than two hundred fifty-eight million dollars ($258,000,000) in salaries and wages, contributing fifty-eight million dollars ($58,000,000) to state and local taxes and supporting seven thousand six hundred ninety-five jobs;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the country's founders' foresight and wisdom be honored by protecting a public lands legacy vital to the state and national economy and to the health and well-being of the residents of New Mexico; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to the New Mexico wildlife federation.

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