Much at stake in heated Land Commissioner race

The Land Commissioner is one of the most important public offices, but most voters are only faintly aware of how the management of state lands impacts wildlife and ecosystem function.

The State Land Office manages 13 million subsurface acres and 9 million surface acres of public trust land for the benefit of New Mexico’s public schools and hospitals. In the 2012-13 fiscal years alone, UNM received $8.9 million from the State Land Office.

Revenues are generated by leasing parcels of land for grazing, mining, drilling, commercial use and other activities. One important provision is that these lands must be conserved and protected to continue generating revenue for future generations.

This position has gained a lot of attention over the past few weeks, especially after the results of last Tuesday’s midterm election. The race between Republican Aubrey Dunn and Democratic incumbent Ray Powell was too close to call, with less than half of a percent difference in votes. This may prompt a recount by the State Canvassing Board on Nov. 25.

In early September Powell was up by 14 points, but by mid-October polls predicted that Dunn would win by one percentage point. How did Powell, the state’s longest-serving land commissioner, suddenly lose so much popularity in just a month’s time?

His popularity declined when Dunn began a negative ad campaign about the Dixon Apple Orchard, which was destroyed by the Las Conchas fire and subsequent floods in 2011. The ad features Becky Mullane who managed the orchard with her husband on leased state land for 25 years. She states they were wrongly treated by Powell after their orchard was destroyed. What the ad failed to mention was that the Mullane family eventually received $2 million in compensation from the State Land Office.

In his other TV ad, Dunn essentially blames his opponent for “poor land management,” showing images of fire-scorched landscapes. However, poor land management in New Mexico began 400 years ago with overgrazing by the Spanish sheep herders and later by Anglo cattle owners. Matters worsened in the 1940s when the Forest Service began their nation-wide Smokey Bear fire suppression campaign.

We now realize that fire suppression is a terrible idea in forests that are fire-adapted and fire-dependent. Centuries of overgrazing coupled with decades of Smokey Bear (and now prolonged drought due to our changing climate) have converted Southwest forests into a tinderbox.

It is wholly absurd to blame our state’s poor land management on a single individual, Powell, who only began his first term as land commissioner in 1993. Powell has long been known for his efforts to balance conservation and development issues. And last year the State Land Office generated record revenue for education in New Mexico.

But the voters have spoken. We’ll see who wins the battle for land commissioner by the end of the month. And if the winner is Dunn, as the current count suggests, will he live up to his promises of better land management?

On his website, he states that he will fight against “extreme environmentalism.” Does that mean there will be less emphasis on healthy ecosystems and no hope for New Mexico’s endangered species? Some of these species unfortunately happen to reside on prime grazing, timber and oil land.

Dunn clearly states he will run the State Land Office like a business. But will he be able to top Powell’s record revenues? And to what point must we compromise the long-term health of our ecosystems for short-term economic gain?

This is a state agency that all New Mexicans interested in conservation issues should watch more closely.

Adeline Murthy is a member of the UNM Wilderness Alliance Club.