Energy Minerals & Natural Resources Department

Energy Minerals & Natural Resources Department (EMNRD), a division of the State of New Mexico, receives federal grant funding as a recipient across multiple cabinet-level agencies, operating primarily as a pass-through entity and direct implementer of state-led natural resource management, wildfire mitigation, abandoned mine reclamation, orphaned well remediation, recreational land stewardship, and energy policy programs. The department does not hold federal contracts and operates as a recipient entity rather than a vendor competing for procurement work.

EMNRD's federal grant footprint centers on wildfire risk reduction, forest health, and energy-transition initiatives funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USDA-FS), U.S. Department of the Interior (Interior), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and other federal agencies. The department administers grants under the Cooperative Forestry Assistance program (CFDA 10.664), the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Community Wildfire Defense Grants program (CFDA 10.720), the Good Neighbor Authority program (CFDA 10.691), and the State & Private Forestry Cooperative Fire Assistance program (CFDA 10.698). Recent representative awards include a $23.6 million Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Community Wildfire Defense Grant from USDA-FS Region 3 (awarded April 20, 2026) to administer three competitively selected subawards for hazardous fuel mitigation and forest thinning on non-federal lands; a $35 million Orphaned Well State Formula Grant from Interior's Energy Community Revitalization Program (CFDA 15.018, awarded January 1, 2026) to plug and reclaim abandoned oil and gas wells on state and private lands through December 31, 2030; a $13.66 million Cooperative Forestry Assistance grant (awarded July 22, 2025) for hazard tree removal on approximately 4,000 acres following the 2024 South Fork and Blue 2 wildfires; a $7.02 million consolidated Cooperative Forestry Assistance grant (awarded August 27, 2025) supporting forest stewardship, forest health protection, urban and community forestry, and state and volunteer fire assistance programs; and a $50 million Forest Legacy Program grant under the Inflation Reduction Act (awarded December 20, 2024) for the Vermejo River Watershed Conservation project.

EMNRD also serves as the pass-through administrative entity for Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) grants distributed to municipalities for outdoor recreation infrastructure—the department received $2.7 million from the National Park Service (awarded July 1, 2025) for subaward to the City of Albuquerque for Mesa Verde Park improvements and has distributed comparable LWCF funding to the City of Las Cruces, City of Farmington, Town of Bernalillo, and others. The department administers abandoned mine reclamation programs under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA Title IV) through the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (CFDA 15.252), including both baseline formula grants and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law supplemental funding totaling several million dollars annually through 2028–2029. EMNRD also holds grant authority for state energy programs (CFDA 81.041) from DOE, including formula awards supporting the State Energy Program, energy efficiency and conservation block grants, renewable energy initiatives, and solar deployment programs for low-income communities under the Inflation Reduction Act.

The department's activity reflects sustained federal investment in natural resource stewardship. Over the past five fiscal years (2022–2026), EMNRD has received 23 grants in 2022, 30 in 2023, 41 in 2024, 24 in 2025, and 2 in the partial 2026 year captured in the source data. The combined potential value of all 339 awards (prime and sub) in the source data totals $306 thousand in listed potential value, though obligated dollars across all awards reach $1.26 billion, reflecting the formula-grant nature of most awards, which carry multi-year funding distributions. The top funding agencies by award count are the USDA-FS R3-Southwestern Region (78 awards, $106 thousand combined potential value), the Department of Interior Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (37 awards), the Department of Energy (37 awards), the National Park Service National Office (32 awards), and the USDA-FS parent agency (29 awards). Twenty-eight awards reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months and face potential recompete or continuation negotiation. The department operates 99% of awards as prime recipient and holds only 1% as sub-recipient, positioning it as the primary state administrative conduit for federal natural resource and energy transition funding in New Mexico rather than as a competitive bidder in federal procurement markets.