SB 160 RIO GRANDE STATE PARK RESTORATION

Sen Antonio "Moe" Maestas

Actions: [2] SCC/SCONC/SFC-SCC-germane-SCONC [4] DP-SFC

Scheduled: Not Scheduled

 Senate Bill 160 (SB 160) appropriates twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) for the restoration of the Rio Grande Valley State Park. 

 Senate Bill 160 (SB 160) appropriates twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) from the General Fund (GF) to the Local Government Division (LGD) of the Department of Finance and
Administration (DFA) for expenditure in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 and subsequent FYs for the city of Albuquerque to restore Rio Grande Valley State Park.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of a FY will not revert to the GF. 
 

 According to the city of Albuquerque’s website, the state legislature established the Rio Grande Valley State Park [known colloquially as the Bosque (forest)] in 1983 which is managed cooperatively by the Open Space Division and the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District. The 4,300-acre park extends from Sandia Pueblo in the north through Albuquerque and south to Isleta Pueblo, and is located on both the east and west sides of the Rio Grande. 
The City’s Open Space Division and Albuquerque Fire and Rescue secured a nearly $1,000,000 FEMA grant in 2019 to support a wildfire mitigation project to reduce the severity of catastrophic wildfires and support overall forest health in the park. FEMA approved the mitigation plan in September 2023. The project area is 470 acres on both the west and east sides of the Rio Grande, south of Bridge Boulevard to north of Central Avenue. In recent years, this stretch of forest has seen numerous wildfires varying in size and severity. Crews are primarily focused on removing non-native species of plants as well as thinning understory vegetation that serves as ladder fuels under large cottonwood trees and removing downed wood.

https://www.cabq.gov/parksandrecreation/open-space/lands/rio-grande-valley-state-park.