Senate Bill 262 (SB 262) appropriates one hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars ($137,500) each to the State Parks Division of the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, the Department of Environment and the Department of Game and Fish
for program coordinators to oversee citizen science projects. It appropriates two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) to the board of regents of the University of New Mexico to oversee the program coordinators and create and maintain web portals and information systems to
track and evaluate the citizen science projects. 

2/19/25
CS/SB 262 SCONC appropriates nine hundred fifty thousand dollars ($950,000) for program coordinators to oversee citizen science projects and to create and maintain web portals and information systems to track and evaluate citizen science projects.

 

 Senate Bill 262 (SB 262) appropriates one hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars ($137,500) each from the General Fund (GF) to the State Parks Division (SPD) of the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD); the Department of Environment  (NMED); and the Department of Game and Fish (DGF) for expenditure in Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 and subsequent FYs for program coordinators to oversee citizen science projects. These projects include public volunteers who assist in conducting scientific research and collecting data on wildlife.
It appropriates two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) from the General Fund (GF) to the University of New Mexico (UNM) for expenditure in Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 and subsequent FYs to oversee the program coordinators and create and maintain web portals and information systems to track and evaluate the citizen science projects. 
Any unexpended or unencumbered balance for any of these appropriations remaining at the end of a FY will not revert to the GF.
 

 2/19/25
The Senate Conservation Committee introduced a committee substitute for SB 262 (CS/SB 262 SCONC) that appropriates two hundred seventy-five thousand dollars ($275,000) each from the General Fund to the State Parks Division (SPD) of the Energy, Minerals and Naturals Resources Department (EMNRD) and to the Department of Environment (NMED) for expenditures in Fiscal Years 2026 and 2027 to employ program coordinators to oversee citizen science projects in which members of the public volunteer to assist in conducting scientific research and collecting data on wildlife and to collaborate with the other state agencies enumerated in this subsection. 
CS/SB 262 SCONC appropriates four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000) from the General Fund to the University of New Mexico (UNM) for expenditures in Fiscal Years 2026 and 2027 for the Natural Heritage New Mexico program within the Museum of Southwestern Biology and the Department of Biology of UNM to provide for program expenses and employ staff to support citizen science project coordinators, create and maintain web portals, and create information systems to track and evaluate citizen science projects.
Any unexpended or unencumbered balance from any of these appropriations remaining at the end of FY 2027 reverts to the GF.