Land Office In The News

8.25.2025  Public Lands Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard announced a new lease Monday of state trust land on the city’s east side to housing developer Sierra Norte Land Holdings in a deal aiming to boost the city’s affordable housing stock and build residential communities of mixed income levels

8.25.2025   Las Cruces will be getting about 1,700 new affordable housing units under a lease announced Monday, Aug. 25 by the New Mexico State Land Office

8.21.2025  SANTA FE – New Mexico’s State Land Office shattered revenue records for the second consecutive month, earning $256 million in bonus payments from an oil and gas lease auction held this week, officials announced Tuesday

8.21.2025  SANTA FE – The deal, paid for by an agreement between the State Land Office and NextEra Energy, included restricting major developments on a 20,000-acre parcel of state land in a key habitat area and working on voluntary partnerships with landowners on approximately 5,000 acres surrounding the area

7.23.2025  SANTA FE – For the first time, the New Mexico State Land Office has auctioned oil and gas leases at a 25% royalty rate after a new state law backed by Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard kicked in.

7.19.2025  SANTA FE – Amid alarm bells from state government staff over mounting costs to the public related to plugging and remediating abandoned oil and gas wells, the State Land Office has found one avenue to force oil companies to pay for their own cleanup: taking them to court

7.15.2025  SANTA FE – For the first time, the New Mexico State Land Office has auctioned oil and gas leases at a 25% royalty rate after a new state law backed by Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard kicked in

7.15.2025   SANTA FE, N.M. — The auction — the first held since a law went into effect increasing royalty rates on the state’s most productive tracts — brought in $56 million, according to a news release Tuesday. The maximum rate was increased from 20% to 25%.

5.27.2025   SANTA FE, N.M. — Clean up your own mess.

4.17.25   SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico officials hope that better community consultation means the next SunZia doesn’t get caught in a permitting labyrinth

4.11.2025   SANTA FE, N.M. — Renewable energy development on public lands has skyrocketed in recent years amid efforts at both the national and state levels to transition away from fossil fuels.

3.12.2025   SANTA FE, N.M. — The Upper Pecos is under “attack,” according to State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard.

1.16.2025   SANTA FE, N.M. — Former state Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard of Los Alamos was elected as the New Mexico’s Commissioner of Public Lands in 2018, becoming the first woman and first Latina to manage the office responsible for stewardship of state trust lands and maximizing revenue through leases on those holdings.

12.5.2024   SANTA FE, N.M. — It was the third straight year the state broke the $2 billion threshold from its land, and its second-biggest windfall of that type ever.

8.22.2024   SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard today executed long-term leases for two major wind projects on state lands

5.26.2024 PERMIAN BASIN — Her eyes through dark sunglasses focusing on the ground, a state environmental specialist scraped off a top layer of dirt with her boot to reveal darker, potentially contaminated soil underneath it.

2.28.2024   SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard oversees 9 million surface acres and 13 million mineral acres, with the mission of raising money for public education and other public institutions.

2.7.2024   SANTA FE, N.M. — Oil and gas operators must abide by their contractual obligations to run productive wells on public lands and clean up when they’re finished — or face a new enforcement hammer.

7.6.2023   SANTA FE, N.M. — Joseph Yaroch visits the public lands in southern New Mexico twice weekly to hike or run.

6.20.2023   SANTA FE, N.M. — Environmental advocates say a moratorium on future oil and gas leasing on state lands within a mile of schools is a good first step in protecting children’s health, but more needs to be done to ensure the industry that largely funds the state’s education system doesn’t also poison the students.

6.2.2023   SANTA FE, N.M. — On Thursday, the state put a temporary halt on granting new fossil fuel leases near places where children and students gather.

6.1.2023   SANTA FE, N.M. — Members of the Navajo community have complained to Samuel Sage for years about the noise and vibrations that rattle their homes.

5.9.2023   SANTA FE, N.M. — Federal nuclear officials gave the green light to a project which would store high-level nuclear waste at a facility in southeast New Mexico, despite concerns from state and federal leaders it would expose residents to radiation.

9.30.2022   LAS CRUCES, N.M. — A solution for wildlife in the deserts of southern New Mexico suffering from perilous drought conditions was installed amid the West Potrillo Mountains by state officials last week, hoping to quench the thirst of struggling animals in the region.

1.14.2023   ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A new senior housing community will soon break ground in Albuquerque after a bid for a lease on state land was approved by the New Mexico State Land Office. The lease for the building of Farolito Senior Community, a 92-unit senior community at Eubank Boulevard and Central Avenue, was awarded to Farolito Apartments Limited Partnership

1.8.2021 SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Audits of oil and natural gas royalty collections turned up an additional $2.3 million for New Mexico in 2020, officials with the State Land Office said.

12.15.2020 SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico State Land Office announced Tuesday that it will be halting the practice of allowing fresh water to be pumped from state trust land and sold for use in oil and gas development.

12.7.2020  Albuquerque, N.M.— The Albuquerque City Council on Monday unanimously approved Netflix’s planned expansion at Mesa del Sol, including millions of dollars in city incentives. Netflix — which bought Albuquerque Studios two years ago — is planning to add 10 new sound stages, offices, training facilities and more, while boosting production spending by $1 billion by 2033

12.3.2020  ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — State officials say a blighted parcel along historic Route 66 in Albuquerque will be the new home of an affordable housing project for seniors. State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard has signed a lease for the state trust land that will allow a subsidiary of the Greater Albuquerque Housing Partnership to move forward with the project. The four-story senior living space will consist of more than 90 low-rent units.