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A sign pictured in 2013 along N.M. 165 in Placitas warns drivers about free-roaming horses. The Sandoval County Commission this week passing two measures setting new rules for who can feed such horses. (Dean Hanson/Journal)

After more than a decade of heated debates, the Sandoval County Commission seemingly put an end to the issue of wild horses in Placitas by voting in favor of two measures setting new rules for who can feed the horses. An ordinance making it illegal for residents to feed the horses and a resolution that established a permitting process for third parties to feed the horses safely, with only nonprofit organizations eligible for the permit, each passed by a vote of 4-1 Wednesday night. The commissioners voted 3-2 against the ordinance at the March 22 meeting. Commissioner Jay Block was the lone vote against the ordinance and the resolution at the Wednesday meeting. Commission Chairman Dave Heil and Commissioner Michael Meek each flipped their vote from the March 22 meeting. The feeding of horses has been a longstanding issue for people in the community. Many things have been tried to control the horse population in Placitas, including the use of porcine zona pellucida. PZP is a fertility-control vaccine given to female horses through an injection via remote darting. Another issue that has been raised has been the danger concerns for motorists and horses on N.M. 165 near mile marker 4, where horses have been hit by vehicles and fed by people in that area. At the April 12 meeting, Deputy County Manager John Garcia and Sandoval County Sheriff's Office Deputy Chief Allen Mills presented a "motion to approve the publication of an ordinance to ban the general public from feeding certain wildlife within the Sandoval County Area." The revised ordinance would establish a permitting process for third parties to feed the horses safely. "The bottom line: Why are we doing this? It is for public safety," Garcia said. "We as a government know that there's a risk and have a responsibility to address the risk. There's a concern for general safety in the community. The situation does require a solution both short and long term. Our only thing we're doing in the short term today is an ordinance to stop the bleeding. But we do need to think of a long-term situation." The short-term solution is the ordinance and the resolution. The permits would be issued for one year at a time and could be renewed at least 90 days before its expiration. No permit shall be issued for an area adjacent to any public road. Only nonprofit organizations that qualify for 501(c)(3) status and have demonstrated experience and knowledge in the care of horse management and protection would be eligible. The penalty for unlawful feeding of free-roaming horses would be up to 90 days imprisonment, a fine of up to $300, or both.

The Sandoval Signpost, the local paper of record for Placitas and southern Sandoval County, has been sold to the CTRL+P Publishing Group, a publishing company owned by Pat Davis.

The publishing group also owns The Corrales Comment and The Paper.

The Sandoval Signpost was published by Barb and Ty Belknap of Belknap Publishing, Inc. since 1988, with a short break under outside owners.

The Sandoval Signpost serves more than 5,000 Southern Sandoval County households monthly and an additional 1,000 other readers through pickups.

Davis says the deal ensures all the group’s publications can continue to publish and expand offerings despite increasing pressures from rising print and distribution costs.

“More than 2,000 small communities around the country have lost their local newspaper in recent years,” Davis said. “Democracy does not get healthier if a community’s only source of news is whatever a neighbor decides to post on Nextdoor or the local Facebook group.”

The Sandoval Signpost joins the Corrales Comment, which was purchased by Davis earlier this year, and The Paper, Albuquerque’s weekly independent paper, which Davis co-founded with partner Abby Lewis in 2020. The publishing collaboration allows each publication to provide additional products and coverage to readers across the group’s coverage area and demographics.

All three publications will continue to maintain their own subscribers, reporters, contributors and advertising teams to ensure that each remains focused on their unique community.

One of the first experiments under the group is the new “pay what you can” subscription pricing at The Corrales Comment. It allows subscribers to pick their own subscription price, down to $0, to ensure every household in the Village of Corrales has access to local news, no matter how much they can afford to pay. Future innovations include new websites, bonus digital issues and online-only content to provide new platforms for local news to reach readers in different ways.

In Placitas, wild horses roam free. For the last few years, a group called Placitas Wild has been caring for about 70 of them.

The preserve spans hundreds of acres on the San Felipe Pueblo.

“We’ve just kept them up there, taken good care of them for almost four years now,” said Sandy Johnson.

Sandy Johnson is one of the co-founders, along with Karen Tyler. Their goal has been to help protect the horses.

“Sometimes they get on the street, and we lost a couple this year because they got on the road,” said Johnson.

Now, their preserve is facing a big challenge.

“The San Felipe Pueblo wants to reclaim that land,” she said.

In just a week, they have to find places for all the horses to go.

“What we hope to find is that maybe someone will say that we can do something for a while till we can put them at a place where we can train them and adopt them,” said Karen Tyler.

People have offered to foster some of the horses until the group can find a permanent home, but they still need more help. In the meantime, they’re working with Sandoval County on a long-term solution.

“It’s just not gonna happen in time for us to allow San Felipe to get their reclamation project done, so that’s why we’re looking around,” said Johnson.

Their hope is to create a new horse sanctuary where they won’t have to relocate again.

“You learn to love them and it hurts when you know they’re in danger in this whole situation right now,” said Tyler.

Placitas Wild has until Feb. 19 to figure out what to do with all the horses. Johnson and Tyler are planning to ask the pueblo for an extension.

If you or someone you know would like to help Placitas Wild, you can visit their Facebook or website for more information.

505 Spirits’ “real spirits,” Robert Houston and Anna Jones. Courtesy photo.

The spirit of the award-winning distillery 505 Spirits LLC rests in lovebirds Anna Jones and Robert Houston, husband-and-wife owners of the company. 505 Spirits has been a love story in the making. Houston and Jones met in 1994 and worked together in an art studio in Chicago. "We had an instant connection and felt really drawn together, but then I moved away," Jones said. In their time apart, they had each carried on with their lives but knew their connection was something that doesn't happen often, Houston said. He had settled in New Mexico, but they stayed in touch. They decided it was time to meet again: Houston headed up to Chicago and the rest was history. They later had a daughter and moved back to New Mexico, Jones said. "I loved New Mexico and just wanted to come back, and I convinced her to do it," Houston said. The couple has been working on flavors in their distillery, and their experiences have influenced those flavors, they said. They are eager to open the doors to 505 Spirits and can't wait for the community to come together and enjoy each other's company after these trying times, they said. The two have been working since January of 2019 to bring a distillery and tasting room to Placitas, Houston said. "The tasting room is going to be at the site of the original Thunderbird Bar, which is in the historic Placitas building right next to the post office, and it's been sitting empty for the last 20 years," he said. The couple said they anticipate being able to open in July at 664 NM 165, but it depends on how quickly the quarantine passes and they are able to finalize their licenses with the state. The location has a history as a blues and jazz club, a cafe and, since about 2000, a special-event venue. Jones and Houston said the property is beautiful and the perfect place to open a tasting room to combine their love of good food, yummy drinks and socializing. Jones is a formally trained chef and pastry chef, and has worked in New York, San Francisco and Chicago, according to a flyer by 505 Spirits. They plan to have lots of local flavors, produce and meats from around the area, Jones said. The two planned on serving not only their own liqueurs made at the distillery, but also other New Mexico beer, wine and spirits. Their tasting room will have a family-friendly and inclusive atmosphere, live music, poetry reading and more, they said. They will feature four of their award-winning spirits from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, including a Cacao Liqueur, Jones said. Houston said they feel as though their products are not competing with other local products, but complementing them. In the distillery, they plan on coming out with a line of products, with four being liqueurs and three of those based on New Mexico ingredients, Houston said. In New Mexico, the old question of "red or green" will once again be asked at 505 Spirits, as he and Jones have created a red and green sauce liqueur. 505 Spirits has a business plan to "keep it local," they said. Their local sourcing includes chiles, prickly pear fruit, wine grapes and meats, and construction work, according to a flyer. Jones plans to add an educational component to the company with a cooking internship program for culinary students, pastry production and meal prep during non-business hours, according to the flyer. The opening of the tasting room and distillery will create about 14 new jobs, with plans to add four more the following year. With Jones's background as a chef, not only will she create tasty food, but she also has a specialty of combining flavors, she said. "It's not just sticking red or green chile in something and having those flavors; I have also added herbs and spices to enhance the experience," Jones said. Adding the extra ingredients contributed to the taste of the chile and supported its structure, she said. They use sun-dried Hatch red chiles and local Wagner Farms roasted green chile. Both chiles are mild to having a slight kick, Jones and Houston said. For more information, email [email protected], or call Jones at (312) 823-9640 or Houston at (505) 203-1857.

By Susan Montoya Bryan | The Associated Press

Albuquerque, N.M. • Quiet streams flush with native trout.

World-class quail hunting among the cactus and mesquite.

Ribbons of flowy singletrack hidden among the purple silhouettes of New Mexico’s mountain ranges and high desert ridges and canyons.

It’s not hard for state recreation official Axie Navas to sell the outdoor virtues of New Mexico. She reminded state lawmakers during a meeting Thursday that the Land of Enchantment is home to a handful of national forests, more than a dozen sites managed by the National Park Service, numerous wilderness areas and dozens of state parks.

“We are a vast, wild state and we offer the types of experiences that people have come to crave and that are becoming increasingly rare. Visitors know this,” she said.

Since taking the helm of New Mexico’s new outdoor recreation office six weeks ago, Navas has traveled 3,000 miles (4,827.8 kilometers) to visit with business owners, government officials and nonprofit groups in 18 counties. The discussions have centered on the opportunities and challenges of growing the state’s outdoor recreation economy.

Navas told lawmakers the industry already contributes billions of dollars to New Mexico’s coffers and employs some 33,000 people around the state. But there’s room to grow.

She and others who attended Thursday’s meeting pointed to Western states that have been able to coordinate efforts to grow outdoor recreation through dedicated agencies or commissions. That includes Colorado, Utah and Arizona.

(Susan Montoya Bryan | AP file photo) A trail is cut through national forest land toward the Sandia Mountains in Placitas, New Mexico. Officials say the outdoor recreation industry already brings billions of dollars to the state's coffers but there's room to grow.

Now that New Mexico has its own office, Navas is focused on sharing with key industry players the well-kept secret of the state’s outdoor offerings and correcting any misconceptions.

“We can change this,” said Navas, who worked previously with Outside Magazine. “These conversations are changing especially as companies realize the lifestyle they have built their brands on is dissolving in places like the Front Range of Colorado or the Bay Area due to exorbitant real estate prices and traffic.”

New Mexico already has been successful in growing the tourism industry overall with its long-running “New Mexico True” campaign. Last year marked another record-setting year, with an estimated 37.5 million visitors spending more than $7 billion in the state. Spending has increased 29% since 2011.

Much of that has been driven by lodging and recreation, officials have said.

State Tourism Secretary Jen Paul Schroer told lawmakers growth has been steady over the last decade and that her agency is in the midst of creating a destination road map that will catalog New Mexico’s assets while identifying places where more investment can be made.

Francisco Valenzuela, director of recreation, heritage and wilderness resources for the U.S. Forest Service’s Southwest Region, said the federal agency also has to rethink the way national forests can meet visitors’ recreational needs.

He said forest managers still have a long way to go to modernize trails, camping spaces and boat ramps, but that the new outdoor recreation office can help with motivation and coordination.

“It’s like the sleeping giant is awaking in the outdoor recreation world and the question is how can we take advantage to help the citizens of the state, particularly rural citizens,” Valenzuela said.

By Susan Montoya Bryan | The Associated Press

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