For the June 6 New Mexico primary elections, SFR will call up candidates in the CONTESTED races to test their knowledge. The rules for Pop Quiz are as follows: No research allowed and if they call back later with the right answer, too bad. To see who answered correctly (or came closest), check out our answer key below.
Questions:
1. What is the only New Mexico county that doesn't contain any state trust land and why doesn't it?
2. What three conservation laws does the State of New Mexico allege the Bureau of Land Management violated with its oil and gas lease program in Otero Mesa?
3. What has been the State Land Office's role thus far in the development of the Southwest Regional Spaceport?
4. What project does the organization Local Energy want to implement so that Santa Fe can become the "renewable energy capital" of the United States?
5. How was the State Land Office involved in two recent projects at "Pork Chop Pass" in Rio Arriba County and "Three Corn Ruin" in San Juan County?
6. What is the New Mexico Wind Energy Center, where is it located and which organization operates it?
7. What former gubernatorial candidate is a member of the Land Office Advisory Board and which interest group does he or she represent?
8. If you had 1,000 acres of state trust land that you could do whatever you wanted with, how would you use those 1,000 acres?
9. Name the American folk artist who penned the song "This Land is Your Land" and recite (or sing) a stanza.
Answers:
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Jim Baca, 60, is retired and a former state land commissioner and former mayor of Albuquerque.
1. You know that's a good question. Uh…hold on, let me think here for a second…possibly San Miguel County because of the land grants there.
2. I would say the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Protection Act.
3. As I recall, they leased some state land for the spaceport to be built on.
4. You know, it would be a wild guess but I'm assuming it's going to be solar-based. I don't know what else to tell you because I haven't heard of this particular project.
5. Um…I do not know.
6. I'm not sure where it is. I don't know if it's the project out by Fort Sumner or not.
7. It was David Bacon. He was the Green candidate, wasn't he? I would imagine he represents the enviros and conservation kind of stuff.
8. My first inclination would be that it ought to be used for some sort of alternative energy project. It could be biomass, it could be geothermal, it could be wind or pure solar but it's something that we definitely have to do.
9. Oh, shoot. It's the guy from the Depression. Or no, maybe it's Arlo Guthrie [laughs]. I can't decide which one of them it is. It's the guy from the Depression but I can't bring his name up, I'm sorry…This land is your land, this land is my land, from the…I can't. I know the song-it's a beautiful song-but I can't bring it up right now. I'm 60 years old after all [laughs] so I think those brain cells may have died.
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Ray Powell, 56, is a veterinarian and a former state land commissioner.
1. That's Los Alamos County and the reason is that it was established after statehood for the Manhattan Project.
2. I haven't read the lawsuit so I'm just guessing but I'd say the Clean Water Act, possibly the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Air Act.
3. Well, I can tell you that during my administration we worked extensively with the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense to establish a spaceport so it's been ongoing and the current administration has worked with the Governor's Office and the various other agencies to continue to promote that.
4. My guess is that it has to do with solar energy or wind energy.
5. I was the first land commissioner that actually went to the Legislature to get funding for restoration and improvement projects on state trust land and my understanding is-like what I had initiated-they went back and did some restoration work on the archaeological sites in those areas.
6. I was the first land commissioner to go out and do a project with Florida Power and Light, which brought the wind energy companies to New Mexico, and they teamed with PNM but I don't know a specific location.
7. The only one that jumps to mind was the Green Party candidate in the last gubernatorial election and, gosh, I'm blanking on his name…Wait, I think it's Mr. Bacon and he represents people interested in conservation.
8. You'd have to take into consideration what there is on the land and what use would optimize it but, also, what uses would not negate its productivity and health over the long term. I'm giving you kind of a weasely answer there because it's entirely predicated on what you find on the land.
9. You know, we actually used that in one of my radio commercials in a previous campaign but I can't remember what that individual's name was…This land is your land, this land is my land, this land is our land…
SFR Key
1. Los Alamos County was created a little more than 50 years ago by the federal government as an area for studying atomic energy.
2. The National Environmental Protection Act, the National Historic Preservation Act and the Federal Land Policy Management Act.
3. The State Land Office has granted access to nearly 15,000 acres of state trust land for the project.
4. Local Energy is undertaking a project to install a biomass-fueled downtown heating system in Santa Fe.
5. The Land Office's "Cultural Resources" branch helped aid the archaeological restoration and stabilization of the two historic Native American sites.
6. The NMWEC is purportedly the world's third largest wind energy generation project and consists of 136 wind turbines. It straddles Quay and DeBaca counties 20 miles northeast of Fort Sumner. Florida Power & Light owns and operates the facility while PNM purchases and distributes its energy output.
7. David Bacon was the Green Party candidate during the last gubernatorial election and represents conservation interests on the Land Office Advisory Board.
9. Woody Guthrie.
