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New Mexico State Parks director urges modest general‑fund boost, highlights free resident day passes and economic return
Summary
State Parks Director Toby Velasquez told the Military & Veterans Affairs interim committee the system now spans 35 parks and serves millions of visitors annually, and asked lawmakers to raise the agency's base general‑fund by about $4.5 million to shore up staffing and infrastructure while pointing to new free day‑use access for residents.
Toby Velasquez, director of the New Mexico State Parks Division, told the Legislative Military & Veterans Affairs interim committee on Nov. 5 that the agency operates 35 parks across 23 counties and manages roughly 191,000 acres of land and water. "We serve over 5,300,000 visitors a year," Velasquez said, noting the system supports local economies in both rural and urban areas.
Velasquez said the division implemented a new fee structure earlier in the year, including free day use for New Mexico residents from Oct. 1 through April 30 and higher fees during peak season. He said the program also created new passes and that the Department of Veterans Services has issued roughly 6,000 lifetime veteran passes under a rule change tied to House Bill 161.
The director gave committee members a snapshot of the parks' economic footprint from a five‑year study done with New Mexico State University's Arrowhead Center. He said the system supported an estimated 5,120 jobs in 2024, contributed to the state's GDP, and generated hundreds of millions in business revenue and tens of millions in state and local taxes. Velasquez said camping expenditures average about $61.74 per person per day and day‑use expenditures average about $60.61 per person per day in the study sample.
Velasquez warned the division is operating with a reduced workforce compared with 2008 — the agency has about 191 full‑time equivalent positions and a vacancy rate that reached 27 percent overall and 38 percent across its law‑enforcement ranks. "We simply can't compete with other law enforcement agencies across the state," he said, and urged more predictable funding to retain rangers and certified officers.
On the budget, Velasquez said the division generates about 75 percent of its operating revenue from fees, grants and partnerships and receives roughly 25 percent from the general fund. He said the FY26 general‑fund allocation is just over $12.9 million and asked the legislature to raise the base by about $4.5 million to address staffing and ongoing infrastructure needs, including restroom, water and sewer upgrades funded through ICIP and ARPA in recent years.
Committee members pressed Velasquez on operational details: whether parks issue Christmas‑tree permits (he said those typically come from federal forest districts), where search‑and‑rescue responsibility lies (state police dive teams and coordinated multi‑agency responses for recoveries), and which parks have electric‑vehicle chargers (Velasquez identified Bluewater Lake and Caballo as current park locations). Velasquez also defended the free day‑use policy as a long‑term investment in connecting the next generation to parks and said fee increases during peak season and camping‑fee adjustments help offset lost day‑use revenue.
The director closed by urging continued legislative investment in the parks system ahead of its centennial and thanked the committee for its attention. The committee did not take a formal vote on park funding during the session; members said they would consider the request as it moves through budget committees.
