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

SPONSOR Altamirano

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/7/06

HB

SHORT TITLE UNM Wild Friends of New Mexico Program

SB 268

ANALYST Hoffmann

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$75.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

No Duplicates.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

Department of Game and Fish (DGF)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 268 appropriates $75,000 from the General Fund to the Board of Regents of Univer-

sity of New Mexico (UNM) to increase funding for the Wild Friends of New Mexico program to

$146,500.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $75,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2007 shall revert

to the general fund.

Senate Bill 268 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

UNM included $71,500 in its fiscal year 2007 budget request under the Wildlife Law Education

Program. This bill increases the funding request to $146,500. This request for the increase is not

included in the New Mexico Higher Education Department’s recommendations. The LFC’s ap-

propriations recommendations include a lump-sum amount of $71,500 to the Wildlife Law Edu-

cation Program.

According to the Higher Education Department, the Wild Friends of New Mexico is incorporated

under the University of New Mexico’s Center for Wildlife Law. Wild Friends of New Mexico is

a network of students, teachers, and mentors who support wildlife and seek common-ground so-

lutions to wildlife issues. The goal of Wild Friends of New Mexico is to bring together people

with different points of view and together develop common ground. Currently, the cost of law-

suits tie-up the use of natural resource extraction activities such as logging and have a negative

impact on the economy of New Mexico, particularly in small population centers where the econ-

omy is strongly linked to logging or mining. Funding of a group that seeks to bring together

groups with different views to find a common or middle ground could benefit the economy of

New Mexico.

CH/mt