February 6, 2001

Mr. President:

Your PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, to whom has been referred

has had it under consideration and reports same with recommendation that it DO PASS, amended as follows:

1. Strike Senate Conservation Committee Amendment 1.

2. On page 2, between lines 9 and 10, insert the following subsection:

"A. The legislature finds that:

(1) numerous citizens and government officials in the state of New Mexico have repeatedly petitioned the United States forest service both collectively and individually at public meetings, by correspondence and by telephone to request that the forest service take appropriate action to remove or eliminate the conditions that have created a state of emergency caused by a present risk to the lives and property of citizens in and adjacent to national forests within New Mexico;

(2) all the petitions have for all practical purposes been either ignored or discounted by the United States forest service resulting only in what can be reasonably characterized as inaction on the part of the forest service to appropriately reduce, if not remove, the risk to the lives and property of the citizens of New Mexico;

(3) because the United States forest service has failed to exercise its responsibilities as a sovereign to protect the lives and property of the citizens of New Mexico and because it is a fundamental principle under the laws of any just society that the persistent failure of a sovereign to fulfill such obligations constitutes grounds for the forfeiture of jurisdictional supremacy, such a forfeiture must hereby be recognized and declared; and

(4) because of recognition and declaration of this forfeiture of jurisdictional supremacy, a jurisdictional vacuum has been created that requires the state of New Mexico to acknowledge its obligations as a sovereign power to protect the lives and property of its citizens and consequently to authorize any action it presently deems necessary to fill the vacuum created by the federal government by assuming jurisdiction to reduce to acceptable levels, if not remove, the threat of catastrophic fires posed by present conditions in national forests within its borders."

3. Reletter the succeeding subsections accordingly.

Respectfully submitted,

__________________________________

Shannon Robinson, Chairman

Adopted_______________________ Not Adopted_______________________

(Chief Clerk) (Chief Clerk)

Date ________________________

The roll call vote was 7 For 1 Against

Yes: 7

No: Feldman

Excused: Sanchez, B.

Absent: None

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