11-18-2024 1:02pm

New Mexico invests $4.3 million in outdoor recreation and trail restoration

Chris Edwards Editor

New Mexico Economic Development Department’s (EDD) Outdoor Recreation Division (ORD) is pleased to announce $4.3M in Outdoor Recreation Trails+ Grant awards to 16 recipients across 10 counties. The Trails+ Grant program supports the design, construction, and maintenance of outdoor recreation infrastructure throughout the state.

“We’re extremely proud to support projects that enhance the safety, accessibility, and sustainability of outdoor recreation across New Mexico,” EDD Secretary-Designate Rob Black said. “This round of grants will restore over 350 miles of fire-damaged trails, supporting the recovery of New Mexico’s forests and increasing access to these wild and vital spaces.”

Since the inception of the Outdoor Recreation Trails+ Grant program in 2020, ORD has invested over $22.4 million in 179 projects across 30 counties and 11 Tribal communities. In a first for the program, ORD awarded a new Tier 3 grant of $1 million to support a regional project. The City of Carlsbad received this funding for major renovations to the Lower Tansill Recreation Area along the Pecos River.

“This increased funding level empowers communities to move forward with large-scale projects that boost access to quality outdoor experiences and create economic opportunities across New Mexico,” ORD Director Karina Armijo said. Carlsbad Mayor Rick Lopez added, “This award allows the City of Carlsbad to complete critical phases of the Lower Tansill Recreation Area Improvement Initiative, providing much-needed safety and accessibility improvements.”

Another major recipient, Rocky Mountain Youth Corps (RMYC), will use its award to engage more than 60 young adults in paid service work to restore over 300 miles of New Mexico’s most vulnerable burnt trail corridors. “This work, conducted in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, Trout Unlimited, the Continental Divide Trail Coalition, and the National Forest Foundation, aims to create a sustainable, fire-informed trail system while training the next generation of New Mexico’s conservation leaders,” RMYC Program Manager Quinn Mendelson said.

Proposals were evaluated by a panel of highly qualified volunteers, including representatives from the State Land Office, Maddox Foundation, N.M. Game and Fish, the Tourism Department, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

Applications are now open for the third round of Outdoor Recreation Trails+ Grant projects, with a deadline of December 31, 2024. Visit www.NMOutside.com to learn more and apply.

FY25 Round 2 Outdoor Recreation Trails+ Grant Recipients:

Asombro Institute for Science Education ($37,000, Doña Ana County): A new 75-seat ADA-accessible amphitheater and outdoor classroom will be constructed at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park. The project will enable field trips for more than 1,000 K-12 students annually, public education programs, and self-guided exploration, recreation, and learning by visitors.

City of Carlsbad ($1,000,000, Eddy County): This project will renovate Area 5 of the Lower Tansill Recreation Area along the Pecos waterfront, which will include a floating walkway and upgrades to the surrounding trail and park, increasing accessibility, safety, sustainability, and economic activity.

City of Sunland Park ($485,234, Doña Ana County): This project will build a segment of the NM 273 trail, part of a 10-mile corridor, which will include a 10-foot-wide concrete trail, native plantings, seating areas, clear signage, and wayfinding points along the trail.

Continental Divide Trail Coalition (CDTC) ($99,982, Rio Arriba County): CDTC will support community-based stewardship work on the CDT throughout NM, including single-day community stewardship events, one in each designated CDT Gateway Community, volunteer stewardship projects, and three training projects to address trail maintenance and safety.

Glorieta Adventure Camps ($500,000, Santa Fe County): Glorieta will expand trail infrastructure with an adaptive, family-friendly, stacked loop trail system, an additional 120 trailhead parking spaces, self-composting toilets, a bike maintenance station, educational interpretive trail signage, and an 18-hole disc golf course.

Jornada Resource Conservation & Development Council ($51,475, Sierra County): This project will install interpretive panels, trailhead signs, and wayfinding markers along a seven-mile stretch of the Rio Grande between Truth or Consequences and the Village of Williamsburg, emphasizing the Turtleback Trail Network Trail Plan.

Keshet Dance Company (dba Keshet Dance & Center for the Arts) ($99,999, Bernalillo County): Keshet will create an urban outdoor accessible movement circuit in midtown Albuquerque that will combine dance/movement prompts with creative opportunities to engage with outdoor space and age-appropriate environmental education information in seasonally changing “learning & movement hubs.”

Las Cruces Public Schools (LCPS) ($51,000, Doña Ana County): LCPS will construct a 0.17-mile trail segment along the frontage of the new Columbia Elementary School that will serve as a vital connection between an existing trail and a planned future extension and provide a safe, accessible pathway for pedestrians, cyclists, and other non-motorized users.

McKinley County ($102,031.25, McKinley County): The Northside Planning and Design project will consist of reports, surveys, and assessments to evaluate the potential for large-scale expansion of recreational access and open space preservation in McKinley County to support regional outdoor economic development and natural resource conservation goals.

National Audubon Society ($53,900, Santa Fe County): The Randall Davey Audubon Center will install bilingual, interpretive signs that connect visitors with Audubon’s conservation work, the natural and cultural resources of the center, and promote outdoor experiences beyond their Nature Discovery Area and main campus.

National Forest Foundation (NFF) ($499,600, Grant County): NFF’s New Mexico Post-Fire Landscape Trail Improvement Initiative will restore and enhance recreational opportunities on trails impacted by the 2022 Hermit’s Peak Calf Canyon and Black Fires in the Santa Fe and Gila National Forests. This project will develop community leaders, boost the outdoor economy, and create sustainable and thriving trail networks throughout the state.

Public Lands Interpretive Association ($80,650, Socorro County): The Fort Craig Accessibility Project includes the installation of a wheelchair-accessible outdoor diorama, a replica of the fort as it stood during the Civil War, interpretive panels, audio storytelling options in English and Spanish, and written narrative descriptions in English, Spanish, and Braille.

Rocky Mountain Youth Corps ($500,000, Mora County): This project will restore over 326 miles of wildfire-damaged trails in the Carson, Santa Fe, and Gila National Forests, while protecting ecosystems and watersheds affected by increased erosion and will provide restoration training to RMYC youth, developing the next generation of conservation leaders and enhancing long-term resilience in New Mexico’s landscapes.

Santa Fe Conservation Trust ($292,319.46, Santa Fe County): This project will build a half-mile, accessible loop trail on their Galisteo Property that will provide access to 18,000+ county residents living with disabilities to an area with 50 miles of dirt trails in the Galisteo Basin Preserve.

Southwest New Mexico Arts, Culture and Tourism (swnmACT) ($402,000, Grant County): The award will be used as a match to complete the Waterworks Restoration Project, which includes planning, designing, and constructing camp host accommodations, a 20-site parking lot with ADA spaces, refurbishment of an existing commercial space into a supply store for outdoor enthusiasts with an internet café, coffee shop, laundry facilities, and a satellite bike rental shop.

West Las Vegas Schools ($99,385, San Miguel County): This project will establish a heritage apple orchard and community amenities in Gallinas River Park, linking trails to natural spaces around Las Vegas, and creating an educational hub with picnic tables and interpretive signage.