As a wake-up call for conservation in ranching, this transaction is a loud one. Al Schneberger, executive director of the New Mexico Cattlegrowers Association, said his group would be reviewing the lease to make sure it is legal. I'm watching and a lot of others are, too. NM is required to maximize revenue from state lands to benefit schools. This, in fact, happened in two other bids the groups made this year.
Competitive bidding can mean a significant increase in funds for education.
In Oklahoma, the National Educational Association and American Federation of Teachers successfully sued to open the bidding process in 1980. But they were too worried about reprisals. Ironically, accuser Wayne Allard has one of the worse environmental voting records in Congress, voting against the environment on 12 of 13 major votes this past session, including selling national forest lands to ski areas and supporting a panel to study closing national parks. On the other hand, Democratic rival Tom Strickland was instrumental in pushing through a program to buy park lands with state lottery funds. He is backed by all of Colorado's environmental groups and has served on the regional board of the Environmental Defense Fund and contributed pro bono legal work to the Sierra Club.