New Mexico Land Office

06/04/2026

to all!

This morning, our new Water Bureau member Bryson Hood hoisted the pride flag and gave a speech honoring this year’s Pride Month.

06/04/2026

“Thank you to State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard for all of her work to protect our air, land and water. From preventing the use of fresh water for fracking, to establishing a buffer zone on state lands around Chaco Historic Park, to ensuring competitive royalty rates on high-producing oil lands and effectively saving our state budget last year, the commissioner is a true conservation leader!

“The Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter stands in support today of rules to update insurance or bonding rules for oil and gas operators’ extraction of natural resources off our state lands.

“We are particularly concerned about low producing, high polluting wells in New Mexico and the financial viability of the companies that own them. There is now federal legislation to exempt these types of wells from the very rules that protect our communities from their pollution. We want to make sure that companies that threaten to pollute our land are in a position to clean up any messes they make. We want to make sure the final rule prohibits self bonding and includes the cost of cleaning up produced water.” — Camilla Feibelman, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter Director. New Mexico State Land Office

05/20/2026

New Mexicans face huge financial risk due to bonding levels for oil and gas development that have been way too low for way too long.

Commissioner Garcia Richard has proposed a new bonding rule for state lands that would ensure much stronger financial protections for the state are in place when an oil or gas operation goes out of business or creates a mess that needs to be cleaned up.

When I was the secretary of Department of Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources in the 2000s, bonding levels for oil and gas development in New Mexico were woefully inadequate. In

05/12/2026

This news is incredibly disappointing. The BLM public lands rule placed conservation on equal footing with other land uses and recognized the importance of thorough tribal consultation to sound land management. The Trump administration's decision to rescind this rule takes us backwards in all the wrong ways.

In 2023 I testified before Congress in support of the rule because it offered a comprehensive and responsible way to steward our natural resources. I will keep doing everything I can as Land Commissioner to defend New Mexico's state lands through conservation leases, mineral withdrawals, and other tools available to me.

The Bureau of Land Management, which oversees 13.5 million acres in New Mexico, said Monday it was officially nixing the "Public Land Rule."

04/22/2026

Happy Earth Day, New Mexico!

Under Commissioner Garcia Richard's leadership, the State Land Office has focused on projects and policies to protect your natural resources, including:

🌎 Conserving over 200,000 acres of state trust lands at cherished landscapes like Chaco Canyon, the Upper Pecos Watershed, and the Caja del Rio
🌎 Increasing renewable energy development by more than eightfold
🌎 Plugging over 850 abandoned oil and gas wells at no cost to New Mexico taxpayers (making companies responsible pay up)
🌎 And much more!

04/21/2026

Commissioner Garcia Richard is proposing an updated bonding rule for oil and gas development to provide more financial assurances and protect New Mexico taxpayers from the costs of cleaning up damage to your state lands!

A public hearing will be held on May 27 and 28 at 9:00 a.m. at the State Land Office: 310 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, NM 87501.

Learn more here: http://bit.ly/3QzEB3C.

04/17/2026

The Trump administration's decision to remove federal protections from mining for the Upper Pecos Watershed is a disastrous public lands management decision and an insult to the communities that have relied on the river and the surrounding landscape for centuries.

I issued an executive order to protect over 2,500 acres of state trust lands in the Upper Pecos Watershed last year, and will continue doing everything in my power to stand up to the Trump administration's threats to our cherished lands and waters.

The reversal of the process, which would have protected a large swath of the watershed, has been expected for the past year.

04/15/2026

Commissioner Garcia Richard has once again teamed up with New Mexico Land Conservancy and the Department of Defense to protect over 60,000 acres of state trust land in southern New Mexico known as Turkey Ridge.

Combined with an agreement last year to protect an additional 60,000 acres, the area is now the 2nd largest protected through a conservation easement in New Mexico!

The combined 120,000-acre parcel in southern New Mexico is the second-largest property protected by a conservation easement in New Mexico.

04/03/2026

New Mexico is updating its Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP), and public feedback plays a critical role in shaping the future of parks, trails, and outdoor recreation across the state.

Take the survey to share your thoughts here:

04/01/2026

Commissioner Garcia Richard issued the following statement regarding the Trump administration's announcement of a 7-day public scoping period as it considers reopening federal lands around Chaco Culture National Historical Park to oil and gas drilling.