New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 19 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND WILDLIFE › Chapter 1 - NATURAL RESOURCES GENERAL PROVISIONS › Part 3 - ADMINISTRATION OF THE NATURAL HERITAGE CONSERVATION ACT › Section 19.1.3.7 - DEFINITIONS

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A. "Agricultural
				easement" means a less than fee simple interest in land that is granted in
				perpetuity, which creates a legally enforceable land protection or preservation
				agreement and restricts or prohibits the future development, including
				subdivision, or alteration of the land or the permanent severance of any
				appurtenant water rights for a purpose other than agricultural production or
				the natural values of the land. The fee simple ownership remains with the
				landowner and the landowner continues uses of the land that are consistent with
				the provisions of the easement with no requirement for public access although
				the landowner may allow such access.
B. "Agricultural production" means the
				production for commercial purposes of crops, livestock or livestock products,
				including the processing or retail marketing of crops, livestock or livestock
				products that are primarily produced on site by an operator of a working farm,
				ranch or other agricultural land. The term includes use of land that is devoted
				to and meets requirements and qualifications for soil conservation programs
				under an agreement with an agency of the federal government and may include
				periodic fallowing and practices that promote conservation of land and water on
				and near the property.
C.
				"Applicant" means a qualified entity.
D. "Committee" means the natural lands
				protection committee established pursuant to NMSA 1978, Section
				75-5-4(A).
E. "Conservation
				easement" means a less than fee simple interest in land granted in perpetuity,
				which creates a legally enforceable land protection or preservation agreement
				that restricts or prohibits further subdivision and may restrict or prohibit
				development, commercial and industrial uses or other activities, or alteration
				of the land or any appurtenant water rights necessary to maintain or preserve
				certain conservation values (
e.g.
, natural resource, wildlife
				habitat, scenic, open space, cultural, historic or recreational and
				educational) on the subject property. The fee simple ownership remains with the
				landowner and the landowner continues uses of the land that are consistent with
				the provisions of the easement with no requirement for public access although
				the landowner may allow such access.
F. "Conservation entity" means a private
				nonprofit charitable corporation or trust authorized to do business in New
				Mexico that has tax-exempt status as a public charity pursuant to the internal
				revenue code of 1986 and that has the power to acquire, hold or maintain land
				or interests in land.
G.
				"Conservation project" means the acquisition of conservation or agricultural
				easements from a willing seller or a land restoration project that protects the
				state's natural heritage, customs and culture through action that preserves and
				conserves water quality and quantity to conserve and restore natural ecosystem
				function and processes; protects agricultural production on working farms,
				ranches and other agricultural lands; protects and restores New Mexico's
				forests and watersheds; conserves and restores wildlife habitat; maintains
				natural areas; provides outdoor recreation opportunities, including hunting and
				fishing and trails; or preserves cultural and historic sites with natural
				resources heritage value.
H.
				"Department" means the energy, minerals and natural resources
				department.
I. "Fund" means the
				natural heritage conservation fund.
J. "In-kind" means property or services that
				benefit a grant-supported conservation project that are contributed without
				charge or at less than fair market value. In-kind contributions for purposes of
				land restoration projects may consist of the cost of operating equipment or
				equipment rental, goods or services, including labor, directly benefitting the
				land restoration project and specifically identifiable to the land restoration
				project. Labor costs included as in-kind shall be documented as reasonable and
				reference rates applicable to the local area and type of service. In-kind
				contributions for purposes of agricultural or conservation easements means the
				donation of interests in real property or the payment of transactional costs
				such as appraisals, environmental assessments, title insurance or
				surveys.
K. "Land restoration
				project" means actions intended to renew a degraded, damaged or destroyed
				natural land area and associated vegetation or water features through active
				intervention, where the action is founded upon science-based technical
				information and prediction of the intervention's outcome such that it
				stimulates or accelerates natural system health, integrity and sustainability
				toward a specified outcome. Restoration includes an array of actions including
				erosion control, reforestation, forest thinning, re-vegetation of disturbed
				sites, repair of aquatic systems, removal of non-native species of animals and
				plants and the related sustainable re-establishment of native species,
				re-establishment of extirpated native species, measures taken to restrict
				disturbance to areas of crucial habitat or to develop and restore more suitable
				habitat and improved outdoor recreation opportunities and overall habitat and
				range improvements for native species benefit. A project includes related
				assessment and monitoring to judge long-term effectiveness and determine and
				implement periodic corrective or additional actions needed to achieve
				objectives.
L. "Natural resource
				heritage value" means a vegetation community component, animal species
				assemblage or combination thereof; other naturally occurring representation of
				biological diversity; or esthetically appealing vistas of natural landscape
				that are significant or important.
M. "Partner" means a conservation entity or
				other individual or entity cooperating or assisting a qualified entity with
				planning, applying for and executing a conservation project, which is
				specifically identified in an application, and will be a participant in a
				public-private conservation project.
N. "Qualified entity" means a state agency, a
				state educational institution named in Article 12, Section 11 of the
				constitution of New Mexico, a political subdivision of the state; or, for
				conservation projects wholly within New Mexico, an Indian tribe or
				pueblo.
O. "Working farm, ranch or
				other agricultural land" means land that has been primarily devoted to active
				agricultural production for at least two of the five years immediately prior to
				consideration for an agricultural easement or other conservation
				project.