Dueling Land Commissioners

Pat Lyons

Capitol Report New Mexico - The current commisioner of the State Land Office and the former commissioner are going after each other. Ray Powell says Pat Lyons didn’t properly care for state trust land during Lyon’s recently completed 8-year tenure. Lyons says Powell is an anti-business zealot who ignores the record-setting revenues generated on Lyons’ watch. It’s an old-fashioned feud matching two men who — between them — have run New Mexico’s State Land Office (SLO) for the last 18 years. The job of the commissioner is to manage the millions of acres of land granted to the state by the US Congress — which make up roughly 12,000 square miles.

Ray Powell Jr.

 The revenue generated by the trust is essential to funding the state’s public education system. But each man has a decidedly different management style — and philosophy. Powell, who ran the SLO from 1993-2002 before he was term-limited out, plays up his environmental record and when he re-entered the race for commissioner last fall, he decried what he called Lyons’ insider dealings, in particular a controversial land swap involving White Peak in northeast New Mexico. Read full story here News New Mexico

Dueling Land Commissioners