{"id":10760,"date":"2010-01-03T23:11:49","date_gmt":"2010-01-04T06:11:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=10760"},"modified":"2010-01-04T15:05:59","modified_gmt":"2010-01-04T22:05:59","slug":"ag-wants-lyons-to-put-land-swaps-on-hold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2010\/01\/ag-wants-lyons-to-put-land-swaps-on-hold\/","title":{"rendered":"AG wants Lyons to put land swaps on hold"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Patrick

Patrick Lyons<\/p><\/div>\n

Citing ‘significant defects’ in appraisals, AG’s office asks land commissioner to delay White Peaks land swaps<\/h4>\n

The Attorney General\u2019s Office has asked the land commissioner to put a controversial series of land deals on hold because it has found \u201csignificant defects\u201d in the appraisals used to determine the terms of the deals.<\/p>\n

A Dec. 23 letter<\/a> from Chief Deputy Attorney General Albert Lama<\/a> to Land Commissioner Pat Lyons<\/a> requested that none of the White Peaks area land deals proceed until \u201cwe can verify that adequate appraisals have been done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the issues, according to Lama\u2019s letter, is that the appraisals that were done by by\u00a0John T. Widdoss<\/a> for the land office \u2013 which were paid for by the ranchers who are submitting bids for the state land \u2013 make \u201ckey\u201d assumptions that lack \u201cany substantiation,\u201d and so on \u201cthis basis alone, the appraisal lacks sufficient data to support its conclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lama wrote that the appraisals \u201cappear to run afoul of the\u00a0Uniform Standard of Appraisal Practice<\/a>.\u201d That conclusion came after an independent appraiser hired by the AG reviewed the proposed land swaps.<\/p>\n

Under the proposed\u00a0Express UU Bar Ranches<\/a> swap, which the independent appraiser cited as an example, the ranch would receive state trust land appraised at nearly $5.5 million, which is more than twice the $2.4 million appraised value of the land the ranch would turn over to the state.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Lama wrote \u201cthe revenue-generating potential of the property the state would receive may be significantly less than the revenue-generating potential of the land the state is offering.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lyons disagrees. In fact,\u00a0he wrote a letter to sportsmen<\/a> in November stating the private acreage involved in the exchange \u201cmay be fewer in number, but they have a higher appraised value and a higher earning potential than the current trust land.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the interest of earning the highest possible revenue for the trust this exchange is highly advantageous,\u201d Lyons wrote. \u201cIt will consolidate trust land holdings to one large parcel of land rather than a checkerboard of holdings dispersed with private land. This will be more manageable than dispersed land and more profitable as a larger piece has more applicable uses.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis exchange will improve land management capabilities for a healthy and productive ecosystem that not only improves hunting opportunities, but the overall health and vigor of the forest,\u201d Lyons wrote.<\/p>\n

\u2018More of a sale than\u2026 a swap\u2019<\/h3>\n

In his letter, Lama wrote that the land swap transaction is more like \u201ca hybrid of a sale and exchange, though the majority of this transaction would be a sale.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this is the case, we have serious concerns about the propriety of the disposition of state trust lands in this manner,\u201d Lama wrote.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s the \u201cadditional cash bonus\u201d being offered by UU Bar\u2019s owners that has raised the ire of State Rep. Brian Egolf<\/a>, D-Santa Fe, who told NMPolitics.net that it \u201craises serious concerns about the propriety of the disposition of state trust Lands in this manner.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMore than half of the value is being paid by UU Bar in cash, which means this is more of a sale than it is a swap, and the procedures that are required for a land sale were not followed,\u201d Egolf said.<\/p>\n

While the land office did not respond to NMPolitics.net\u2019s inquiries about Lama\u2019s letter or Widdoss\u2019 appraisals, its chief counsel, Robert Stranahan, told The\u00a0Associated Press <\/a>he\u2019s \u201chappy to stand behind his work,\u201d and said \u201csome concerns were misunderstandings of the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stranahan said a meeting is scheduled for next Thursday to discuss the appraisals.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, the appraised value we are getting is more than we are giving up,\u201d he told the AP.<\/p>\n

Governor remains concerned<\/h3>\n

Meanwhile, Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a> said the \u201cunanswered questions\u201d about the White Peaks land swaps mean that the land office \u201cshould not close the deals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI remain very concerned about the potential loss of prime public hunting and other outdoor opportunities, as well as the secretive process used to determine the terms and comparable valuation of the exchange,\u201d Richardson said in a prepared statement.<\/p>\n

Egolf, who requested both the attorney general and state auditor investigate the land swaps,<\/a> said Lama\u2019s letter is a good first step.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully the next step the land commissioner takes is to suspend these transactions until the attorney general and the Legislature are satisfied that the transactions are in the best interest of the beneficiaries,\u201d Egolf said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s make sure all the parties, including the attorney general and the Legislature, have a chance to really understand what this deal is all about, to make sure that it\u2019s being done properly, and to make sure it\u2019s the best interests of the beneficiaries of the state trust,\u201d Egolf said.<\/p>\n

The state auditor is expected to provide the results of his office\u2019s investigation before the start of the legislative session on Jan. 19.<\/p>\n

St. Cyr is a contributing writer for this site and a reporter at 770KKOB.com. He can be reached at <\/em>peter.stcyr@gmail.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Attorney General\u2019s Office has asked the land commissioner to put a controversial series of land deals on hold because it has found \u201csignificant defects\u201d in the appraisals used to determine the terms of the deals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[147,107],"class_list":["post-10760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-environment","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10760\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}