by Leann Holt
Daily Lobo
The UNM Board of Regents approved a deal to swap land with the state Tuesday that could bring a large amount of revenue to the University during the next few decades.
UNM will give the state most of Young Ranch - 9,620 acres near Cochiti Lake - in exchange for 2,400 acres at Mesa del Sol, south of the Albuquerque International Sunport. UNM expects to partner with a developer who will bring residential and commercial properties to the area.
State Land Commissioner Patrick Lyons manages UNM land that is held in trust with the state. He was a driving force in Tuesday's deal.
"Mesa del Sol is about to take off and it will be huge for UNM," Lyons said. "We expect to build 30,000 new homes and an industrial park - it will be like Rio Rancho."
UNM has land that was given to it at the turn of the century by the state of New Mexico.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Young Ranch is a land donation that UNM uses for faculty retreats and field trips.
Several faculty members expressed concern at the board's monthly meeting Tuesday about how the land swap would impact their programs, even though 13 acres of the ranch have been set aside for academic use.
"If the state decides to sell the land, we might lose it," said Gary Smith, chairman of the Arts and Sciences committee on academic uses of University property. "Young Ranch is a unique and important teaching resource. It would be a great loss to academic progress."
Regent Mel Eaves recommended that wording be added to the proposal to allow students and faculty members access to the 13 acres regardless of who owns the land - the motion passed without discussion.
After the meeting, Smith said he was satisfied with the addition to the deal.
"This may be one time in my life I'll have my cake and eat it too," Smith said.
Cochiti Pueblo members also had concerns about the land swap. The pueblo's council asked UNM to return 220 acres of Young Ranch lost during the Pueblo revolt more than 100 years ago.
Tribal elder Regis Peco asked the board to return the land so the tribe "could be reunited with the place all of our ancestors call home."
After the meeting, Peco said "We are relieved that the board acted favorably today. This will be a reunification that will long be remembered in our lives."
Eaves said the state land swap has been in the works for 16 years, but it took Lyons to pull it together.
"Procrastination is not in my vocabulary," Lyons said. "I made it a priority because I care about it."
