Community content submitted by the Las Placitas Association
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: Each year LPA tracks bills relating to the environment. Here’s how the 30-day session wrapped up: House Bill 111 was passed and signed by the Governor to increase the maximum penalty for some water law violations from $100 (a figure set in 1907) to $3,400. House Bill 80 passed unanimously in both chambers and was signed – increasing funding for the Oil and Gas Reclamation Fund for plugging abandoned wells. Senate Bill 235 stalled in the House Judiciary Committee – it would have required microgrids (used to fuel data centers) to follow certain energy standards. House Joint Resolution 3 also stalled in committee. It would have asked voters if they want the right to a clean environment to be enshrined in the state constitution. Senate Bill 18, the Clean Horizons Act, was voted down. This bill to codify the state’s emissions reductions goals failed to clear the Senate with legislators voting 23-19 to kill it. Short sessions are always a challenge; expect some of these failed bills to reappear in next year’s 60-day session.
OPEN OFFICE HOURS IN PLACITAS: Kenneth Born, Sandia District Ranger, is scheduled to resume open office hours in Placitas in May – continuing every 4th Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the offices of the San Antonio de las Huertas Land Grant, 41B Camino de las Huertas. Ken is also scheduled to be a presenter at PREP’s May 12th presentation at Las Placitas Presbyterian Church with computer generated simulations of how a wildfire might behave in the Placitas area. Open office hours at KUPR (next to the Land Grant building) with an LPA board member will resume once the BLM accepts, rejects or requests modifications to the proposed Buffalo Tract Environmental Assessment that LPA submitted in December.
NEW MEXICO’S DROUGHT: The 2025/2026 winter again saw below-normal precipitation, a trend that is expected to persist through April. There is a 61% chance of an El Niño developing by July, which could persist through the end of the year. With or without a monsoon, high temperatures and high fuel loads will continue to pose a risk of wildfire. NM Forestry has enacted state-wide restrictions on non-municipal, non-federal and non-Tribal lands statewide (smoking, fireworks, campfires, open burning). Nine out of ten wildfires in New Mexico are caused by human activity, which means that nine out of ten wildfires can be prevented. Do your part!
KUPR 99.9 LPFM: With construction complete on a small solar project designed to keep KUPR on the air in the event of a loss of power, the station is now exploring the best approach and cost for extending its broadcast coverage into the areas of Placitas that live in the shadow of our hills and mountains and don’t get the signal. Yes, these listeners can get the stream, but if power is down, so is the internet. This is all part of the emergency notification tools being implemented in cooperation with Sandoval County and PREP.
DID YOU KNOW? The County has launched SCAN (Sandoval County Alerts and Notifications), its new emergency mass notification program. KUPR got a preview recently when we met with Dan Heerding, the county’s Emergency Manager. Designed to deliver timely messages across multiple platforms, the goal is to reach as many residents as possible. While only one tool for emergency notification, it is an important one. Learn how to enroll on the county’s website (sandovalcountynm.gov/departments/scan)