State-by-state connectivity policy guide: New Mexico

This digest is #5 in a series of posts highlighting states that are leading the way in corridor and connectivity policies (see Colorado – Wyoming – Florida – Vermont).

States that have connectivity policies enacted or introduced. More information can be found in the Corridor Policy Library. Credit: Center for Large Landscape Conservation. (Click to enlarge)

In 2019 New Mexico enacted its seminal migration corridor legislation, the Wildlife Corridors Act. The Act specifically defined large mammals as a focal point of legislation, but did not limit New Mexico’s efforts to large mammal migration only. It also permits New Mexico to focus on any species of concern that may “pose a risk to the traveling public.”

The Act’s primary goal is to reduce the number of wildlife-vehicle collisions in high-accident areas throughout the state. A secondary concern is preserving the environment and studying how infrastructure barriers impact migration corridors. Several counties passed resolutions expressing support for the state’s effort to conserve migration corridors within their borders, signifying local support for migration corridor legislation.

The Act required New Mexico’s Departments of Transportation and Game and Fish to develop a statewide action plan identifying “wildlife-vehicle collision hotspots that pose a particularly high risk to the traveling public.”  The Act required that agencies focus on the movements of six large mammals: elk, deer, black bear, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, and mountain lions.

The state action plan also had to focus on vehicle collision crash data and ecological data involving wildlife movements to identify high-priority spots for future projects. The Act stated that the plan had to include a prioritized ‘wildlife corridors project list’ ordered by “(1) the potential to reduce wildlife-vehicle collision[s] and enhance safety to the traveling public; and (2) the relative current population size of select large mammal species and species of concern; or the value of proposed infrastructure that will improve wildlife corridors.”

New Mexico’s legislature included criteria for the agencies’ consideration as they created the plan, such as identifying existing highway crossings that pose risks to both motorists and wildlife, identifying human-caused barriers that negatively affect wildlife movements, detailing projections of anticipated drought and other stressors on wildlife movements, and identifying anticipated economic benefits associated with preserving wildlife corridors and implementing the priority projects.

New Mexico completed its Wildlife Corridors Action Plan in 2022. The report includes a spectrum of mitigation recommendations, including installing exclusionary fencing, retrofitting existing structures, and installing new underpasses.

To further advance the Act’s goals, in 2023 New Mexico established a permanent fund for wildlife corridor projects through Senate Bill 72, which amends the Wildlife Corridors Act. New Mexico’s Department of Transportation is responsible for administering funding allocation; however, the fund can only be used in a limited capacity: (1) for projects involving road crossings to help reduce collisions; (2) for matching money that is required in federal grant programs; and (3) for any administrative or personnel expenses related to the Wildlife Corridors Act. Any funding for migration corridor projects cannot revert to New Mexico’s general legislative fund, ensuring that money for wildlife corridors is put to its intended use.

Please note: This digest is intended to provide up-to-date information on policy development from a neutral, unaffiliated position as it relates to connectivity and corridor science and management.

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