NEW MEXICO

More Mexican gray wolves roaming Southwest

ALBUQUERQUE — The recovery of the smallest subspecies of gray wolf in North America is inching forward, an annual population survey conducted by federal and state wildlife managers has found.

The survey released this year shows there are now at least 286 Mexican gray wolves roaming parts of New Mexico and Arizona — 11% more than the previous year, marking the ninth straight year that the population of endangered animals has grown. A look at the numbers also shows there are 26 breeding pairs in the wild. Of the more than 160 pups born in 2024, just under half survived to the end of the year.

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The survey involves a ritual that takes place every winter — wildlife managers use remote cameras, scat collection, radio telemetry devices and helicopters to count Mexican gray wolves that are roaming mountain ranges in parts of New Mexico and Arizona.

The predators that are captured during the annual survey are weighed and vaccinated, their blood is drawn and their radio collars are checked. It is all part of a decades-long effort to gauge the success of the work being done to return the endangered species to its historic range in the southwestern U.S. and in Mexico.

The smallest subspecies of gray wolf in North America, Mexican wolves were listed as endangered in 1976, and a binational captive breeding program was started to guard against extinction. The reintroduction program has been the source of many legal battles over the years — with environmentalists seeking to get more captive wolves released into the wild and ranchers fighting to protect their way of life.

The subspecies’ recovery effort carries a $203 million price tag based on a 25-year time frame, according to estimates included in the 2022 revised recovery plan. Environmentalists are concerned that recent federal funding and job cuts could derail the progress made so far.

Bill hikes oil royalty rates

SANTA FE — The state legislature has endorsed a bill that would raise royalty rates for new petroleum development on prime pieces of land in New Mexico, on one of the world’s most prolific oil production areas.

The proposal would increase the top royalty rate for oil and gas development from 20% to 25% on New Mexico’s state trust lands with implications for the energy industry in the Permian Basin, which overlaps southeastern New Mexico and western Texas. The area accounted for 46% of U.S. oil production in 2023, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

New Mexico deposits royalty payments from oil and gas development in a multibillion-dollar investment trust that benefits public schools, universities and hospitals.

Democratic state Rep. Matthew McQueen of Galisteo, a co-sponsor of the bill, said the state has a duty to maximize benefits from the asset.

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Legislative approval was the culmination of a yearslong effort backed by Public Lands Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard to increase top-tier royalty rates.

Proponents say neighboring Texas already charges up to 25% on state trust land amid intense competition to drill in the Permian Basin. The royalty changes in neighboring New Mexico would not go into effect in Texas.

Opponents say the rate change threatens to penalize petroleum producers and public beneficiaries, noting that oil production is significantly taxed in other ways and hinges on volatile commodity prices.

WYOMING

Bill requiring citizenship proof becomes law

A bill requiring people to reside in Wyoming for 30 days prior to registering to vote in the Cowboy State will become law, but without a signature from Gov. Mark Gordon.

House Bill 156, sponsored by Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, requires people seeking to register to vote in Wyoming to show proof of U.S. citizenship and Wyoming residency, a measure that Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray identified as a key issue during the 2025 Legislative Session. The bill also says that people seeking to register to vote must be a resident of the state for at least 30 days prior to registering.

The bill makes Wyoming the first state in the nation to apply proof of citizenship for registering to vote for all elections.

Gordon, a Republican, announced that he would allow the bill to go into law and penned a letter alongside the announcement stating that he believes only citizens should be voting in elections but that the 30-day residency requirement conflicts with federal law, which he noted says no citizen otherwise qualified to vote can be denied that right by state residency requirements.

He added that he believes Wyoming’s elections are secure and that the residency requirement would likely have to be resolved in court.

The bill is set to go into law July 1.

MONTANA

Court backs pro-housing laws

A district court judge in Bozeman ruled on March 3 against most of the claims made by a homeowners group that sued to challenge four pro-construction housing laws passed by the 2023 legislature. But he also concluded that provisions of one law intended to prevent not-in-my-backyard-style activism from derailing development proposals violate the Montana Constitution’s right of participation.

District Court Judge Mike Salvagni additionally concluded the 2023 laws, which include measures forcing cities to permit more accessory dwelling units and duplexes, can’t override homeowner association covenants.

The split ruling was applauded by supporters and detractors of the housing laws, with Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte and free-market housing advocates focusing on three zoning laws passing constitutional muster and a plaintiffs’ attorney stressing the judge’s ruling on public participation in project-specific development decisions.

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An attorney for the plaintiffs, Bozeman-based Montanans Against Irresponsible Densification — or MAID — said the court had correctly struck down provisions of a 2023 bill that cut the public out of the land use decisions.

MAID filed the legal challenge in late 2023, arguing the laws would force its homeowner-members to live in more-densely populated areas with larger buildings, more traffic and “any number of other changes that spur uninterrupted development under the guise of affordable housing.”

The three laws upheld in their entirety by Salvagni’s ruling require cities of 7,000 residents or more to allow apartment-style housing in most commercial zones, requires cities of at least 5,000 residents to allow duplexes on any home lot, and requires cities to allow more accessory dwelling units.

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