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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Balderas
DATE TYPED 3/10/05
HB 760
SHORT TITLE White Peak Area Land Purchase
SB
ANALYST Aguilar
APPROPRIATION
Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY05
FY06
FY05
FY06
$15,000.0
Nonrecurring General Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
REVENUE
Estimated Revenue
Subsequent
Years Impact
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY05
FY06
NFI
Indeterminate Recurring State Lands Main-
tenance Fund
NFI
Indeterminate Recurring Land Grant Perma-
nent Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Revenue Decreases)
Duplicates SB 24
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Commissioner of Public Lands (SLO)
Department of Game & Fish (DGF)
Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Bill 760 appropriates $15 million from the General Fund to the State Land Office for ex-
penditure in FY05 and FY06 for the purchase of the Stanley Ranch in the White Peak area in
Mora and Colfax counties, contingent on a purchase agreement between the State Land Office
pg_0002
House Bill 760 -- Page 2
and the owner of the land. Any unencumbered balance would revert to the General Fund at the
end of FY06.
Significant Issues
The White Peak area has a long history of conflict between private landowners and local mem-
bers of the public who have used the area for hunting, firewood gathering and other outdoor ac-
tivities for several generations. Consolidation of the land into a continuous block of state land
could reduce conflicts between hunters and landowners and provide additional land for recrea-
tional opportunity on state lands that could include hunting, fishing, hiking, wildlife watching
and wood gathering depending on how the state land office administered the land.
The State Forestry Division notes this bill would result in the acquisition of approximately
12,000 acres of primarily forested land in the northeastern portion of the state that provides ex-
ceptional qualities for forest, watershed and wildlife habitat. This property occurs on the east-
slope of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on the Mora/Colfax County line north of the town of
Ocate. The landowner also leases the adjacent 26,000 acres of State Trust Land. This project
would protect important watershed, critical wildlife habitat, and productive timber resources
from subdivision and conversion to recreational homes and other development. These collec-
tively make a large block of undeveloped land that could be maintained for forest values that
could benefit the land and those that enjoy its use.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of $15.000.0 contained in this bill is a nonrecurring expense to the general
fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2006 shall
revert to the general fund.
PA/lg