FOREST RESTORATION & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

SJM 1 is a Senate Joint Memorial requesting New Mexico's Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department and Economic Development Department to jointly study how to accelerate forest restoration through economic development. The study will identify missing business opportunities, cost-reduction strategies for moving wood byproducts, successful models from other states, and ways to leverage existing programs to create markets for wood products. This would help reduce wildfire risks by making forest thinning more economically viable, directly affecting state departments and potentially wood processing businesses, communities, and forest management efforts. The departments must report findings by September 2025, but the memorial itself does not enact new laws or funding.