Welcome to CVNM’s 2025 Conservation Scorecard

 The Conservation Scorecard is our primary tool to hold legislators accountable for their votes. It can be used to celebrate the steadfast leadership of our many conservation champions and to draw attention to those who have failed to act on the defining crises of our time. Please use this Scorecard to push your legislators to reflect your values in their votes.

The 2025 legislative session was historic, but no accurate summary of its significance would be complete without mentioning the shadow it was conducted under. Currently, the Trump Administration is executing an extraordinary assault on our institutions, our most at-risk communities, and the painstaking progress we have made toward protecting our environment and ensuring a just and equitable renewable energy transition. In this atmosphere of uncertainty and injustice, our advocates, our legislators, and our allies stepped up to pass a record number of lands, water, wildlife, and community protection bills. The efforts of this work send a clear message to Washington: New Mexico will not stand idly by while decisions are made that harm our climate, environment, people, and democracy.

While overall, the session was historic in the progress that was made to protect everyday New Mexicans, it wasn’t all success. The big climate bill we’d hoped for, SB 4 – Clear Horizons Act, failed to pass. But big impactful legislation doesn’t take shape overnight. As Lujan Grisham’s second term comes to a close, we are now eyeing the next phase of climate policy for 2027. 2025 did see some substantial climate wins, however.  SB 48 – Community Benefit Fund creates a state-funded grant program to support climate and community resilience across the State. SB 48 and its $210 million funding in HB 2, the budget bill, represents the largest investment in community-based climate projects in the State’s history — a huge win for building resilience into New Mexico’s communities. 

Water won big this session as well. SB 21 – Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Act protects the State’s waters by authorizing key components of a state permitting program for waters no longer protected by the federal Clean Water Act, which includes streams that do not flow year-round, like many of our streams in New Mexico and most wetlands. This bill also transfers water pollution prevention permitting to New Mexico that is currently done by the EPA for waters still federally protected. Currently, about 95% of rivers and streams and 88% of wetlands in New Mexico are unprotected since the changes made to the Clean Water Act by the US Supreme Court. That means that all those waterways are vulnerable to pollution, threatening our lands, wildlife and communities. SB 21 addresses these issues by putting the power in the State’s hands. 

In addition, after more than a decade of effort, we were finally able to pass game and fish reform. SB 5 – Game Commission Reform passage is a huge win for wildlife across the State, instilling hope as it updates the Department of Game & Fish mission and ability to conserve species before they need to be listed as threatened or endangered. Such a change, represented by renaming the agency the New Mexico Department of Wildlife, is essential for enhancing the Department’s objectives from being wholly focused on game animals to all of New Mexico’s wildlife. Secondly, SB 5 ensures that all State Game Commissioners are well qualified and are a reflection of the constituencies that they are meant to represent. For too long, many game commissioners have not had the requisite science and wildlife backgrounds to do their jobs appropriately. Lastly, SB 5 increases funding for the Department, further bolstering our conservation efforts. 

All of this legislation passed at a critical moment. The Trump Administration is actively urging federal agencies to eliminate wildlife protection laws and accelerate fossil fuel extraction and logging on federal public lands at all costs, which will destroy ecosystems and watersheds critical to our wildlife and communities. Now is the time for action. Through our vigilance, our voices and our efforts, New Mexico has proven that we can be a bulwark against the worst of what Trump has in store for our nation and our environment. 

As you explore the 2025 Conservation Scorecard, you are equipping yourself with the knowledge to make a difference. Your understanding of this legislation gives you the opportunity to inform legislators that you “know the score” – and won’t be forgetting it anytime soon. Your voice matters, and together we can build a future where our air, lands, water and wildlife are protected and all New Mexicans can thrive. 

Thank you for being a Conservation Voter!

What’s new?

Welcome to CVNM’s Scorecard website! We hope our modern, easy-to-navigate and mobile-friendly design will help better facilitate your understanding of how your legislators are representing your conservation values. If you have questions about our website, please contact us at info@CVNM.org.

The 2025 Scorecard offers a snapshot of the conservation performance of the 2025 session of the 57th New Mexico legislature.