Senator Tom Udall used a hike through Chaco Canyon with a federal Interior Department Deputy Secretary on Monday to make a point about the importance of carefully planning oil and gas development in the region. The New Mexico Democrat and the Interior Department’s Mike Connor toured the Park and then met with concerned residents and local officials with the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The visit comes after Udall sent a letter to the Interior Department in which he highlighted constituent concerns development and potential effects on archaeological sites in the region. Udall has said federal leasing activities should take into consideration the cultural, historical and ecological values of the area. Chaco Canyon is designated as a World Heritage site. In a related item, New York State on Monday became the first to ban fracking for natural gas after a seven-year environmental and health review.
Tourism is on the rise in New Mexico, and 2014 was a record year for the state’s third-largest industry. Governor Susana Martinez announcing Monday that nearly 33-million people visited the state last year, making it a record-breaking year. Martinez says that half a million more people visited New Mexico than in 2013. She’s crediting the state's New Mexico True campaign. That campaign features the state's famous outdoor locations and New Mexico celebrities, such as mixed-martial arts fighter Carlos Condit. In 2014, officials say the New Mexico True campaign helped lead to an all-time high in marketable overnight trips, or vacations, showing a nearly 41 percent increase since 2010. Tourism Department Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Latham says an advertising budget increase allowed the state to aggressively pursue those types of trips.
The troubled Waste Isolation Pilot Plant has a new acting director. The U-S Department of Energy has named Dana Bryson to replace Joe Franco, who has taken a job with the agency’s Hanford Site in Washington. Bryson has more than three decades’ worth of experience in the nuclear industry, and has been the deputy manager of the DOE’s Carlsbad office since 2013. He previously worked at the DOE's Richland Operations Office, where he was responsible for cleanup and restoration of 220 square miles of the Columbia River corridor. Agency officials say they're confident he's up to the challenge WIPP, which has been closed since a February 2014 radiation leak.
New Mexico Highlands University has a new president. The Las Vegas Optic reports that the university's regents on Monday unanimously selected Sam Minner from among six finalists. Minner was provost and vice president for academic affairs at Radford University in Radford, Virginia. He replaces Jim Fries as Highlands’s president effective tomorrow. Fries announced in October that he planned to retire this summer after nearly eight years at the university's helm.
According to a new report, the United States is now the world’s second largest Spanish-speaking country after Mexico. And U-K newspaper The Guardian reports New Mexico is the state with the highest concentration of Spanish speakers, at 47-percent of the population. The Guardian report lists California, Texas and Arizona as runners-up. With more than 52 million Spanish speakers, the U-S comes in ahead of Colombia, and even Spain itself. The U-S Census Office estimates New Mexico’s Spanish-speaking population will hit 138 million by 2050, which will make ours the biggest Spanish-speaking region on Earth.
A new listing from Glassdoor Economic Research paints a grim picture for Santa Fe. It ranks the City Different seventh from the bottom of more than 300-metro areas analyzed for employment and wage growth since 2009. The New Mexican reports the stagnant wage growth comes even as the Santa Fe Council has mandated annual increases in its Living Wage Ordinance. But increases have been offset by the loss of government jobs — especially in the federal sector, where salaries are much higher. The worst-off city on the list? Ocean City, New Jersey.
Santa Fe Weather: Mostly sunny today with the high reaching 88 and a 20-percent chance for showers and thunderstorms. Tonight, Partly cloudy, the overnight low down to 61 and a continued 20-percent chance for showers and thunderstorms. Tomorrow: Mostly sunny, the high 89, with the chance for precipitation increasing to 40-percent.