NM has history of selling off state lands
State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn’s attack on Wilderness Society misguided
Fake news is trending — even among the institutions that should know better. I’d hope to count the office of State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn among those able to separate fact from fiction. However, his recent misguided attack of The Wilderness Society report, “New Mexico Lands and Outdoor Recreation Lost to the Highest Bidder,” makes it difficult.
Although Commissioner Dunn was never mentioned in our indisputably valid report, his apparent desire for inclusion was fulfilled (in his op-ed in the April 17 Journal) when he accused me of “creating ‘fake news’ to support (my) own propaganda.”
The reality is that Commissioner Dunn and The Wilderness Society agree on our report’s most important facts: more than 4 million acres of New Mexico’s state trust lands have been sold off to private interests and the state’s remaining trust lands — which he manages — are not, in fact, “public” lands.
These sell-offs account for nearly 30 percent of the state’s original land holdings — a dangerous precedent considering recent efforts in Congress and the state Legislature to take over national public lands. In New Mexico, 12 pieces of legislation have been introduced since 2013 with the ultimate goal of confiscating national forests, refuges, parks and other shared lands that rightly belong to all Americans. While those attempting to seize our public lands claim they have no intention of selling off these treasured assets, history shows state-managed lands are often sold to mining companies, oil and gas interests and other extractive industries, some of which endanger the health, environment and economy of local communities.
Some politicians parade the argument that the state could manage public lands better than the federal government, but our report proves that claim is illogical and unworkable, as well as unconstitutional. Realistically, New Mexican taxpayers would face unreasonable economic burdens — potentially higher taxes, state budget cuts and restricted recreational freedoms if public lands are managed by the state. Ultimately, the public loses.
Our report makes no mention of Dunn’s Early Childhood Land Grant Permanent Fund proposal, but since that’s a primary point in his attack, it’s worth examining. Dunn’s proposal calls for the American people to turn over some 6.6 million acres of federal subsurface mineral rights under private land to the State Land Office, eventually using the leased minerals to generate revenue for early childhood education programs. Ranchers in rural New Mexico with private land sitting atop those reserves currently are quite content to not have them leased to oil and gas drillers.
While we support increased funding for early childhood education, Dunn’s proposal is actually part of this larger national movement to transfer America’s public lands and natural resources to the state so they can be developed and sold off to private interests. In fact, the Koch brother-backed American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which drafts model legislation often designed to benefit corporations like ExxonMobil at public expense, described Dunn’s proposal as an “innovative bipartisan approach to transfer of public lands.” Never mind that the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, withdrew the measure herself when it became clear “that the bill suffers from problems in its construction.” Afterward, she noted “this entire approach has little support from the public.”
That lack of public support may explain Dunn’s current attempt to disassociate himself from a 2014 campaign pledge supporting state takeover of some public lands, walking it back to this more subtle attempt to slip the camel’s nose under the tent. But opening the door to privatizing public lands and resources ultimately means less access for hikers, campers, sportsmen and all those who enjoy the history, beauty and cultural significance of our public lands. Once they’re gone, they’re gone for good.
And that’s a fact.