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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Nunez

DATE TYPED 02-22-05 HB 866

SHORT TITLE NMSU Vegetation Monitoring Studies

SB

ANALYST Woods

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

$250.0

Recurring General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to the appropriation for New Mexico State University in the General Appropriations Act.

Duplicates SB894

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

New Mexico State University (NMSU)

No Response Received From

New Mexico Commission on Higher Education (CHE)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 866 – Making an Appropriation for Vegetation Monitoring Studies to Assist the Live-

stock Industry by the College of Agriculture at New Mexico State University – appropriates

$250,000 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of New Mexico State University for ex-

penditure in FY06 to assist the livestock industry with vegetation monitoring studies by the Col-

lege of Agriculture. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY06

shall revert to the general fund.

House Bill 866 -- Page 2

Significant Issues

NMSU indicates that this legislation will provide the requisite funds to allow the NMSU

Cooperative Extension Service (CES) and Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) assist the New

Mexico livestock industry with vegetation monitoring studies.

NMSU further notes that sound science and site-specific monitoring and assessment data are

critical for management decisions, which need to be dynamic and flexible in order to respond to

rapidly changing resource conditions. Long-term range condition and trend data are

fundamentally necessary for grazing operations and agency personnel to make comprehensive

assessments of resource conditions, livestock management strategies and wildlife numbers.

Federal agency objectives, rancher livestock management objectives, and New Mexico

Department of Game and Fish responsibilities may all be simultaneously addressed with solid

monitoring data. Without these types of site-specific data, officials and ranchers cannot make

informed decisions and carry out their responsibilities. A core team of objective, impartial

resource monitoring expertise is necessary to: be proactive to the challenge of resource

management; provide continuity of management; provide a foundation of vegetation data

collected with established methodologies and an inventory of improvements on the ground.

NMSU adds that this legislation will support NMSU’s rangeland vegetation monitoring

programs and will facilitate increased growth in external research funding generated by faculty

with dedicated appointments to rangeland system function. Moreover, this initiative will

compound fiscal benefits by increasing professional expertise, providing state matching funds,

making grant requests more successful, and leading to more resolutions of costly rangeland

natural resource problems.

This initiative is not included in CHE’s 2005-2006 Higher Education Funding Recommendation.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

Cooperative Extension Service and Agricultural Experiment Station will employ the NMSU

Range Improvement Task Force (RITF) – a response team approach in conjunction with

traditional education outreach methods – to address rangeland health issues. The RITF

investigates impacts to federal lands, focusing at the ranch-unit level, while providing objective

information to ranchers and governmental policy makers, and offering scientific solutions to

rangeland issues and disputes. NMSU notes that the RITF is nonpartisan, and concerned only

with the long-term health of rangeland.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $250,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY06 shall revert to the gen-

eral fund.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

New Mexico State University will retain oversight of this appropriation.

House Bill 866 -- Page 3

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

Relates to the appropriation for New Mexico State University in the General Appropriations Act.

Duplicates SB894 in that SB894 also seeks to appropriate $250,000 from the general fund to the

Board of Regents of New Mexico State University for expenditure in FY06 to assist the livestock

industry with vegetation monitoring studies by the College of Agriculture.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

NMSU suggests that new resources will allow the RITF to enhance its role as a provider of

unbiased, state-of-the-art, scientific information, evaluation, and assessment. For NMSU to

continue providing leadership, new strengths must be included in our natural resource Extension

and research programs. To ensure uniform and planned implementation of management policies,

these scientists, along with the existing RITF team, must provide input and assessment on

policies affecting both public and private land users in the West. This expanded RITF focus will

assist in good stewardship and long-term health of the West’s natural resources, while

recognizing the multi-cultural heritage of the region and the importance of management for long-

term sustainability.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

As general background, NMSU indicates that the New Mexico range livestock industry has gross

revenues of greater than $1 billion. The industry affects more than 70 million acres within the

state. Forage supply has been shrinking state-wide over the last century. Reduction of timber

harvesting during the last decade, exclusion of frequently occurring low-intensity fires,

increasing densities of small-diameter trees, piñon-juniper encroachment, and a decreasing area

of mountain meadows due to tree encroachment have all contributed to reducing forage available

for ungulates and other ecological functions. Additionally, a rapidly expanding elk population

has intensified the competition for forage with a static, or decreasing, livestock population. These

phenomena, coupled with extended drought, have created an imbalance between already stressed

forage conditions and the demands being placed upon them. The manner in which these

imbalances are addressed will make the difference between success and failure. Lack of proper

funding will impede, and possible prevent, the cooperative and adaptive resource management

strategies needed to successfully address these challenges of maintaining valuable natural

resources while preserving the economic viability and structure of small New Mexico

communities.

BFW/lg