Dunn talks about state lands at RPOC meeting

ALAMOGORDO – New Mexico State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn was the guest speaker at the Republican Party of Otero County’s monthly meeting Thursday.

Dunn was born in Alamogordo but raised on an apple farm in High Rolls. He graduated from Alamogordo High School in 1974 then attended Colorado State University where he earned his bachelor’s degree in animal science. He was sworn into office as the State Land Commissioner Jan. 1, 2015 after ousting Democrat incumbent Ray Powell in the November 2014 election.

Dunn said he wanted to give RPOC members a brief overview of the N.M. Land Office’s duties and responsibilities of managing New Mexico’s lands trust.

“Since Otero County has more federal lands than state lands, a lot of people in town never really know what we really do,” he said.

Otero County has 338,624 acres of surface state land with about 474,343 acres of minerals or non-renewable resources. Lincoln County has 298,477 acres of surface state land with 702,298 acres of minerals or non-renewable resources.

Dunn said the Land Office funds about a 1/3 of the state’s budget from revenue generated from lease sales.

“It saves the average taxpayer and family between $800 and $1,000 per year,” he said. “About $700 million will go to the beneficiaries. We’re at about $81 million on lease sales so far this year.”

Statewide the NMSLO manages 9 million acres of surface and 13 million mineral acres held in trust for public schools, special schools, universities, hospitals, correctional facilities, water conservation projects and public building construction and repair, according to the State Land Office’s website.

“Ninety percent of the (Otero) county is either state, federal or military,” Dunn said. “It’s one of the highest there is. The only county there is no state trust lands is Las Alamos.”

He said when it comes to the Otero Mesa lands in southern Otero County, it’s intermixed with state, Bureau of Land Management and private lands.

Dunn said he mainly wanted to let RPOC members know about how much money or revenue from the Land Office that’s contributed to the state’s general fund.

“One of the toughest things to explain is recreational uses that we have to charge for,” he said. “We have a $35 fee for recreational use. A lot of people confuse BLM and state land that they can go on it anytime. It’s not really that way. The highway department and counties buy right of ways.”

The State Land Office was setup as beneficiaries for the schools, he said.

“We don’t give a county land to put a road in,” Dunn said. “They have to rent it from us. It’s a hard concept for people to understand. Each piece of land is designated to a beneficiary so each track of land has a different beneficiary. I mean they have multiple ones. Public schools has one, the blind schools have so much, hearing impaired have so much land, New Mexico State University and University of New Mexico, and they all have their pieces of land.”

He said when the Land Office rents that land out, it’s a royalty that goes into the Permanent fund.

“In the Permanent Fund is broken out per each beneficiary,” Dunn said. “If it’s a renewable use or maintenance use, that dollar we earn goes directly to that beneficiary. People don’t understand that each piece of land has a beneficiary behind it that get earnings from that piece of land. When people talk about raiding the Permanent Fund, they’re actually taking away from a beneficiary.”

He said he believes House Bill 24 passed during the 2017 Legislature then signed by Gov. Susana Martinez will help protect state lands but most importantly protect resident’s property.

“HB 24 takes 1 percent from the Maintenance Fund into a Restoration and Remediation Fund,” Dunn said. “I hope they use the fund. Through the years Pat Lyons, Ray Powell and myself did forest thinning.”

He said the Restoration and Remediation Fund will help fund forest thinning, water restoration projects and flood control.

“It will also help with dump cleanup,” Dunn said. “We’re going to set it up where it goes to no salaries or equipment. It has to go on the ground. It’s for healthy lands everywhere and protect our watersheds. If it would have been done before the Little Bear fire, Alamogordo would still have Bonito Lake.”