Leonard Martinez, president of the San Joaquin Del Río de Chama Land Grant, and Gerald Chacon and Monica Rodriguez of the land grant presented the grant’s history, landholding maps and a project list to the Land Grant Interim Committee.

They said the grant once included hundreds of thousands of acres; federal and state agencies now hold large portions of former commons. The presenters described ongoing projects: a Canyon de Chama irrigation restoration to reestablish historic irrigated fields under a special-use permit; a youth conservation corps to teach land stewardship and workforce skills; renovation of a community sala (Las Mercedes Unidos) to serve as an economic and cultural hub; preservation of cemeteries and plazas; and acquisition of former commons where feasible. They asked the legislature for funding, technical assistance and stronger interagency cooperation to move site plans and memoranda of understanding forward.

Why it matters: Martinez and Chacon argued the irrigation project could restore farmland and winter grazing and create income for heirs. They provided engineering and water-use figures and said restoring the fields would protect water rights from loss through nonuse and create cultural and economic opportunities.

Key project details and requests

- Canyon de Chama irrigation: the presenters said approximately 294.69 irrigable acres were associated with historic fields and that the State Engineer’s office has a diversion volume of about 442 acre‑feet tied to the area. The team is pursuing a special‑use permit and a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Forest Service and said engineering/site plans are needed to move forward.

- Las Mercedes Unidos / sala renovation: the land grant seeks to complete a large community hall renovation. An architect’s estimate from three years ago put the full build-out at roughly $1.21 million; the group is also pursuing a congressional-directed spending request for $605,000 that had cleared committee before a budget bill change prevented final enactment.

- Youth Conservation Corps (YCC): a program funded through the state’s Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department placed seven to eight youth in land‑based stewardship work, including acequia and willow removal, community gardening, and cultural education. Presenters cited workforce and intergenerational benefits.

- Wildfire and post-fire recovery: Monica Rodriguez and other speakers said recent fires have burned tens of thousands of acres in the grant’s area (presenters cited a current fire footprint of about 28,000 acres counting recent incidents) and warned of long-term damage to watershed, acequia infrastructure and grazing. They asked for funding for seeding, seedlings, erosion control, manual thinning, fuelwood programs and technical support for emergency alerts and post-fire restoration.

Requests to the legislature and partners

The land grant requested roughly $200,000 for capacity building and technical assistance to manage the irrigation project, complete site and engineering plans, and coordinate emergency response in remote communities that lack reliable cell coverage. Speakers said federal partners (Forest Service and Department of Justice), state partners (soil and water conservation, Department of Game and Fish) and local counties have been engaged but that progress stalls without targeted technical staff, matched capital funds, and clearer interagency procedures.

Ending: Committee members praised the presentations and discussed possible legislative and capital-outlay avenues. Representative Matthew McQueen and others suggested using existing state programs (including the Land Grant Assistance Fund passed in earlier sessions) and local soil‑and‑water resources to support engineering and bidding. Martinez said the land grant will pursue multiple tracks—federal, state and county—to secure engineering plans, finish renovations and begin field work as soon as permitting and site planning allow.