Follow the money
New Mexico should stop pretending these trail and outdoor-equity programs exist in some political vacuum. The state’s own budget documents say New Mexico relies heavily on oil-and-gas revenue to finance a large share of state operations, yet that fact is often missing when officials and media outlets promote new recreation spending.¹
That omission matters. If state leaders want credit for new trails, restored public spaces, and outdoor-access equity programs, they should also acknowledge the revenue base that helps make those announcements possible.¹
Uneven by design
The other issue is distribution. Trails+ is a competitive grant program, not a county-by-county formula, and the state says it has funded 282 projects across 29 counties since 2020.²³
That means uneven outcomes are not a bug. They are built into the model.²
Some communities have staff, nonprofits, and local governments that know how to package a project and win grants. Others do not. That may be efficient on paper, but it is not the same thing as statewide fairness.²
The county question
This is where the public should press harder. If the state says the fund has reached 29 counties, then four counties are still outside the published award footprint.³
That does not automatically mean those counties were cheated. It may mean they never applied, lacked eligible sponsors, or were outmatched by places with stronger grant-writing capacity.²
But that is exactly the point: the public should not have to guess. A program sold under the language of access and equity should publish county-by-county applications, denials, awards, and per-capita distribution.²³
What leadership should do
Start with honesty. Every announcement tied to these programs should plainly say that New Mexico’s broader budget still depends heavily on oil and gas.¹
Then fix the structure. Keep a competitive pool for large or ambitious projects, but pair it with a guaranteed base allocation for every county and a state field team that helps smaller counties scope projects, assemble paperwork, and move money to the ground. That would shift the system away from rewarding the best grant writers and toward serving the whole state.
Finally, publish the map in a way regular people can read in five minutes: which counties got funding, which counties got nothing, whether they applied, and why. If the administration wants to call this equitable, it should be willing to show the public the scoreboard.
Endnotes
¹ New Mexico budget materials state that the state relies heavily on oil-and-gas revenue for state operations.
² Trails+ is described by the state as a competitive grant program open to multiple eligible entities rather than a formula allocation by county.
³ State program materials say Trails+ has funded 282 projects across 29 counties since 2020.
