New Mexico State University can resume its plans to build a reforestation center with funding from a spending bill recently signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
The reforestation center comes after the devastating Hermit Peak-Calf Canyon Wildfire that destroyed more than 300,000 acres in northeastern New Mexico. The New Mexico Reforestation Center will include a comprehensive seed bank, a seedling nursery, planting operations, research facilities, and outreach and education resources.
“What the New Mexico Reforestation Center will be is a regional hub to meet current and future reforestation needs,” Claire Montoya from the NMSU Agricultural Experiment Station told KRQE.
The NMRC is expected to produce up to five million tree seedlings a year. It comes as the state continues to recover from a backlog of reforestation needs long before the Hermit’s Peak-Calf Canyon fire. “New Mexico has a need of about 150-390 million seedlings and that estimate was actually made for the severe 2022 wildfire season,” Montoya said.
Staff had to evacuate the NMSU John T. Harrington Forestry Research Center in Mora due to an approaching wildfire. The bank that contained about 75,000 seedlings was spared though the need for many more seedlings remains.
“About 28% of our state is actually made up of forests,” Montoya said. “New Mexico has a really diverse geographical landscape and reforestation efforts are critical to water supply and providing valuable ecosystem services throughout New Mexico.”
Construction on the reforestation center is expected to begin next summer, per KRQE. The NMRC will be created in four phases. Phase One utilized $8.5 million in funding approved by the previous legislative session. The Center will operate under a partnership that includes, NMSU, the University of New Mexico, New Mexico Highlands University, and the Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Forestry Division.
EMNRD’s Forestry Division will coordinate seed collection and storage and tree planting logistics.
