geography
suli1993
nm_econ_transport_geography.pdf
New Mexico Economic and Transportation
Geography
Geography 325V
Dr. Wright
New Mexico Income and Poverty
Ranks 44th in median household income
$43,000 (U.S. average is $52,000)
#1: Maryland - $73,000
#50: Mississippi - $38,000
Colorado, Utah, Nevada - $57,000
Ranks 2nd in people below the poverty line 22% (U.S. average is 12%)
#1: Mississippi – 24%
#50: New Hampshire – 8%
Cost of Living Low States High States
NM cost of living is 93% of national average
Learning Objectives
Learn basic socio-economic statistics about NM
Understand the role of agriculture in the economy
Discover the major employers by region
Evaluate how the movie industry, the Spaceport,
and energy development may improve economic
conditions in NM
Consider how the New Mexico went from being
spatially isolated to linked into national and
international transportation systems
Consider how all this relates to your term paper
New Mexico Basics
2.1 million people
High in-migration
GDP $84 billion
Majority Minority State
44th in Household Income
2nd Highest Poverty Rate
Agriculture
21,000 farms/ranches
$2.2 billion in products
35th in Ag Production
25% of jobs are Gov’t
39th “Smartest State”
50th in 8th Grade test scores
48th in High School graduation rate
48th in Health Index
Alcohol/drug problem
6th Highest Crime Rate/4th Most Dangerous state
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Comparisons
New Mexico: $84 billion
About the size of Angola in Africa
18 million people compared to NM’s 2 million
Mexico: $1.3 trillion
USA: $17 trillion
200 times larger than New Mexico’s economy
160 times the population of New Mexico
New Mexico Economic Production
GDP/Per Capita rankings
#1: Delaware (chemicals, Dow, DuPont)
#2: Alaska (oil, gas, timber)
#3: North Dakota (oil and gas boom in past four years)
#5: Wyoming (oil, gas, mining)
#15: Colorado (high tech, molybdenum)
#26: Nevada (gambling, gold, silver)
#42: New Mexico
What do we produce and sell?
What jobs do we have?
New Mexico Agriculture
Ranks 35th in agricultural production
9th in dairy products
12th in sorghum for feed
13th in nuts (mostly pecans)
13th in sheep and lambs
15th in cotton
21st in cattle and calves
23rd in vegetables
35th in horses
New Mexico Agriculture 2012
Total Value of Agriculture Products
Sold in 2012
$2.4 billion gross before expenses/taxes
$386 million net
Average net per farm/ranch
$19,000
New Mexico Agriculture
20,600 farms and ranches
How define a “working” farm or ranch?
43 million acres
More than half the state in agriculture
Much of this is grazed by cattle
Average age of operator
61
New Mexico Agriculture
15,269 farms/ranches sold less than $10,000 in
agricultural products
74% of New Mexico operations are “hobby” outfits
Only 2,533 farms and ranches grossed more than
$50,000
Less than 1,000 farms/ranches grossed over
$250,000
Many of these are “family farms and ranches”
Ranchers and Farmers “Land Rich” not cash rich
Value of the land is often the main asset an
agricultural family has
Intense pressure to sell the land for development
in areas near cities and the mountains
Non-profit Land Trust groups work with
operators on voluntary, financially compensating
incentives to not sell the land
Land-Use Land-Cover Change (LULCC)
Studies of air photos in different years that
document the loss of ranches and farms to
development – this has an economic impact
Land subdivision and housing development are a
major threat to agriculture in the state
Ranchers and farmers sell the land due to financial
pressures
Albuquerque
Albuquerque
LULCC
Albuquerque
Land-Use
Fragmentation
Farms
Urban areas
Mesilla Valley
Mesilla Valley
LULCC Study
1955-2007 LULCC
Desert decreased from 81% to 61% of study area
Rural Residential increased from .5% to 23% of study area
Urban increased from 0% to 2% of study area
Row Crops decreased from 16% to 7% of study area
Pecan Orchards increased from 1% to 5% of study area
How can we conserve agricultural
land and other important areas?
Regulatory land use planning determines how
land will be developed
Land trusts are private, non-profit organizations
that have used voluntary, financially
compensating tools like conservation easements
to protect more than 50 million acres across the
United States
New Mexico Land Conservancy
State-wide non-profit land trust (NGO) Voluntary, financially-compensating tools
58 conservation easements in first 12 years
145,000 acres of agricultural land, open space, and wildlife habitat protected Projects in 15 New Mexico counties
Staff of five 230-acre ranch headquarters near Santa
Fe which is protected by a conservation easement
Assets of over $3 million
New Mexico Land Conservancy Conservation Easement
Gila Wilderness region
Corrales Purchased Conservation Easement
Corrales farm
easements
33 acres
Heritage Ranch
Montosa Ranch, New Mexico 31,000 acre conservation easement
B.W. Cox Montosa Ranch
Montosa Ranch Honoring the wishes of the landowner
“Billie and I love this
ranch. We want it to
always be a cattle ranch,
not have it carved into 40-
acre ranchettes that are
becoming so common. A
handful of homesites and
the conservation
easement make that
possible.”
B.W. Cox,
landowner
NMLC Conservation Easement
Shortgrass Prairie Ranch, 1,015 acres
NMLC Conservation Easement Sangre de Cristo Rancho, vast
Otra Sangre de Cristo Rancho
2,400 acre Forked Lightening Ranch
Pecos River
9,800 acre Ancho Ranch
How it works
New Mexico Economy
820,000 Non-Agriculture Jobs #1: Government - 25% (204,000 jobs)
#2: Education and Health – 14%
#3: Professional and Business – 13%
#4: Retail trade – 11%
Wal-Mart is largest private sector employer in NM
#5: Tourism – 10%
#6: Construction – 7%
#7: Manufacturing – 4% (33,000 jobs)
#12: Mining and oil and gas – 2% (16,500 jobs)
Largest Employers by Region
Northern New Mexico
Los Alamos National Laboratory
New Mexico State Government
U.S. Bureau of Land Management
Navajo Nation
Mesa Air Group
College of Santa Fe
Los Alamos National Lab
11,437 jobs
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)
Origin: Manhattan Project, 1940s
Developed the first Atomic Bomb
Remote location on Pajarito Plateau
Los Alamos was created out of other counties
Nuclear weapons research and development
Expanding the LANL mission
Los Alamos National Laboratory
11,437 jobs
72% of employees have university degrees
22% have PhDs
$2.1 billion annual payroll
Nearly equal to NM agricultural production
55% of work is on weapons systems
8% on Nuclear Non-proliferation
8% on Environment
3% on Energy
Largest Employer by Region
Central New Mexico
Intel
Sandia National Laboratory
New Mexico State Government
University of New Mexico
PNM Electric and Gas
Presbyterian Hospital and Health Plan
Rio Rancho is now the
3rd largest city in New Mexico
Prosperity lowers crime
Sandia National Laboratory
8,200 jobs
Largest Employer by Region
Eastern New Mexico
Navajo Refining
Wal-Mart
Kmart
Albertsons
U.S. National Park Service
Allsup’s Convenience Stores
U.S. Postal Service
Navajo Refining plant
Artesia, New Mexico
Large
Largest Employer by Region
Southern New Mexico
U.S. Army
U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration
White Sands Missile Range (WSMR)
New Mexico State University
New Mexico Tech
Pepsi Bottling
Las Cruces Hospitals and medical jobs
Fort Bliss
Space Shuttle landing at
White Sands Missile Range 1982
4,000 jobs
World’s first atomic bomb
Trinity Site Marker
Tularosa Basin/WSMR
NMSU
Real Estate, Construction, and
the Great Recession Blues
The “Great Recession” was caused largely
by real estate speculation, bizarre
banking/lending practices, and the belief
that housing construction and sales would
continue to rise.
And that housing values would
always go up
Sonoma Ranch Development
During construction boom
Sonoma Ranch Development
Las Cruces
Median Cost of a House
and Median Household Income
Santa Fe
$335,000 Median cost of single family house
$50,000 Median household income
Albuquerque
$200,000 and $46,000
Las Cruces
$194,000 and $37,000
Roswell
$94,000 and $33,000
Val Kilmer ranch
$18 million asking price
1800 acres on Pecos River near Santa Fe
Mortgage Problems
Bad Mortgages
Pattern of
bad mortgages
New Mexico and Construction
Impacted but not devastated by the
housing crash like California, Nevada,
Arizona, and Florida
New Mexico has not faced the same level of
foreclosures that other states have
7% of New Mexico jobs are in construction
Las Vegas, Nevada – about 16% until the crash
The Las Vegas Housing Crash
Las Vegas A real estate “bubble” bursts
New Mexico Tax Rates Are high taxes creating barriers to creating jobs?
State Income Tax Averages 3.5%
New Mexico rates are moderate
Lowest: several states have no state income tax
States with no State Income Tax
New Mexico Taxes Are high taxes preventing prosperity?
Sales tax: 5.4% (moderate)
Highest is California – 8.25%
Several states have no sales tax
Gallon of gas: 18 cents (moderate)
Highest is New York – 40 cents
Alaska has no gas tax
Gallon of beer: 41 cents (moderate)
Alaska - $1.07
Wyoming – 2 cents
Total Tax Burden (excluding feds) “Tax Foundation” data
#1: New Jersey and New York – 12%
#39: New Mexico – 8.6%
That is low but in a state that ranks low in income
New Mexico taxes do not appear to be a barrier
to prosperity (some business taxes are a problem)
#50: Alaska – 6%
What are some potential economic
development sectors?
We will cover energy shortly but let’s look
at two sectors that are much discussed
Movies
New Mexico Spaceport
New Mexico Film Commission State tax incentives for making movies in NM
Ernst & Young report 2007 (data now?)
30 movies made in New Mexico (115 total since
2002 when incentives began)
2,220 direct jobs (9,210 jobs overall)
$44 million in state revenue
$1.50 for every $1.00 in State Tax Credits given
to film companies
www.nmlocations.com to see how the landscape
is marketed to the film industry
Lots of Billy the Kid movies
Very Large Array
Near Magdalena, NM
Truchas, NM
Filmed on the Ghost Ranch Georgia O’Keefe’s ranch near Abiquiu
Pedernal Peak
New Mexico Geography
and the Movies
New Mexico has an amazing variety of natural and cultural landscapes
We have great weather and open vistas
We have people who need to work
We have tax incentives which some argue are not worth handing out, others support them
Movies are likely to play some role in our economic future
What do you think of the tax credit idea to attract movie making to New Mexico?
New Mexico Spaceport Commercial flights into space as economic development
Will the New Mexico Spaceport
create jobs and economic benefits?
Richard Branson of “Virgin Galactic” has given financial support
The site exists and construction has begun
Sales tax increases have passed in Doña Ana and other counties to support it
X-Prize convention is being held at NMSU
Optimism runs high that this will be the next great economic sector in a state that really needs it
The New Mexico Spaceport
2014 Virgin Galactic Spaceship crashes
One pilot killed, another injured
Who is the customer
after the accident?
New Mexico Spaceport
Who will the customers be? Virgin Galactic claims to have 45,000 people from
120 countries signed up for space flights
$200,000 for an hour in low space and return
At which of more than 20 Spaceports worldwide?
The Beyoncé Factor: what happens when a rocket blows up or crashes and kills a famous person?
Lots of
competition
California’s Mojave Spaceport 11 companies already there
Is the Spaceport a “Cargo Cult” Not to be too negative but…
South Pacific islands during World War II Americans created airports, landed, emerged with radios, mirrors,
chocolate bars, products of all kinds
Local mountain people were living nearly in the Stone Age
War ends, Americans leave, and the planes and their “cargo” stop coming
A religion developed called the Cargo Cult that maintained runways, built stick planes, and prayed that the planes would come “John Frum” (John from America) became a mythical figure
Which is it?
Energy Is this the greatest economic potential we have?
New Mexico has abundant energy sources But we have high electricity prices
And we need jobs
Does New Mexico have the potential to be
America’s “Persian Gulf?” Coal
Oil and Gas
Nuclear
Solar
Wind
Algae Biofuels
NM and Energy • We have been very dependent on natural
gas, oil and coal
• The State of NM gets 25% of its operating
revenue from oil and gas development
• When the price of these drop, NM suffers
– Jobs lost, revenues fall, tuition at NMSU
rises
Coal Deposits in the U.S.
New Mexico Fossil Fuels
NM ranks 12th in coal production
New Mexico Coal Fields
FOUR CORNERS COAL-FIRED
POWER PLANT
Cartogram of Global Oil Reserves
Top 20 Countries in Oil Reserves Fracking may change all this
#1: Saudi Arabia
#2: Canada
#3: Iran
#4: Iraq
#5: Kuwait
#6: UAE
#7: Venezuela
#8: Russia
#9: Libya
#10: Nigeria
#11: USA (1.8%) #12: China
#13: Qatar
#14: Mexico
#15: Algeria
#16: Brazil
#17: Kazakhstan
#18: Norway
#19: European Union
#20: Azerbaijan
2014 Oil Production Rankings World: 85 million barrels/day
• #1: Russia
• #2: Saudi Arabia
• #3: USA
• #4: Iran
• #5: China
• #6; Canada
• #7: Iraq
• #8: UAE
• #9: Venezuela
• #10: Mexico
• #11: Kuwait
• #12: Brazil
• #13: Nigeria
• #14: Norway
• #15: Algeria
• #16: Angola
• #17: Kazakhstan
• #18: Qatar
• #19: UK
• #20: Azerbaijan
The United States and Oil
11th in Oil Reserves 1.8% of global supply
3rd in Oil Production Only Saudi Arabia and Russia produce more
Myth of environmentalists stopping oil production
Oil price has crashed to under $50 a barrel
Russia, the Middle East, and New Mexico are suffering economically because of it
New Mexico Fossil Fuels
New Mexico ranks
• 5th-7th in Oil
production
• 4th in Natural Gas
production
Price of a Barrel of Oil
2/25/16
$ ? /barrel
Oil and Gas Regions
Spindletop, Texas Lucas Gusher - 1901
• Global price of oil
dropped from
$2 per barrel to
3 cents per barrel
New Mexico Fossil Fuels
Permian Basin Produces Oil and Gas
Otero Mesa Grasslands
Environmental conflict
Otero Mesa – petroleum or wildlife?
Artesia, New Mexico
Navajo Plant, Artesia, NM
Oil and Natural Gas Field
Permian Basin
Oil and Gas Development
Carlsbad Caverns
In the Permian Basin region
Lechuguilla
Cave
Lechuguilla Cave
San Juan Basin Mostly produces Natural Gas
Farmington new houses/oil and gas
San Juan River,
Farmington
Chaco Canyon
Recent conflicts with drilling
430 Global Nuclear Power Plants
U.S. Electricity Generation Nuclear Power = 20%
Nuclear Power Plants in U.S.
Nuclear Power
104 U.S. Nuclear Plants (20% of electricity)
1979 Three-Mile Island Nuclear Accident
1986 – Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster
12,000 dead
Graphite core reactor
Soviet incompetence
Americans pulled
away from
nuclear power
Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant,
Arizona
Uranium Cafe, Grants, NM
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
WIPP Site, Carlsbad, NM
Low level nuclear waste
delivered to the WIPP Site
WIPP Site Below Ground Storage
February 2014 Accident
• A radiation spill at the WIPP site below
ground
• 140 employees checked
• No detectable radiation exposure found
New Mexico and Nuclear Energy
3rd largest reserves of Uranium in U.S.
WIPP site might be used for high level waste
Abundant salty water in remote basins might be
used as coolant
Navajo and other uranium miners suffered from
mining and major improvements would be
needed to prevent this
Public reaction to nuclear power development
in New Mexico? What is your view?
GLOBAL SOLAR POTENTIAL
Solar Energy Potential
Average Kilowatts per day
December solar energy potential New Mexico has an advantage
SOLAR POWER PLANT
Germany and Solar Energy
Germany is #1 in the world in solar power
production and use
Produces twice what #2 China does
U.S. is in 5th place (produces half what Germany does)
27% of the world’s photovoltaic electricity
is produced in Germany
A high latitude, “C” climate with many cloudy days
Strong government support for solar power
Neuhardenberg Solar Plant Supplies 50,000 homes at 52 degrees North Latitude
Wind Power
Wind Power
Potential in
NM
• Excellent
• Good
• Fair
But what about the power lines,
loss of scenic beauty, and bird losses?
Ethanol Fuel
Convert corn to fuel for cars and trucks
America grows its own gas
Just a few problems:
We eat corn
Global food shortages and price increases
Creates geopolitical instability
Takes more energy to make ethanol than it produces
Algae Biofuels Produce Ethanol without wasting food
New Mexico America’s Persian Gulf?
• 4th in Natural Gas production
• 5th to 7th in Oil production
• 12th in Coal production, good reserves
• 3rd in Uranium deposits
– WIPP site salt domes for waste storage
• Immense Wind and Solar power potential
• Why aren’t we taking more advantage of these resources?
New Mexico Political Geography
New Mexico is often a swing state in
elections
Northern New Mexico is heavily Democrat
Eastern New Mexico is heavily Republican
Southern New Mexico is a mix
New Mexico often leads the country in ratio of
Federal money received.
(Over $2 for every $1 paid in Federal taxes)
Senator Tom Udall (D)
Senator Martin Heinrich (D)
NM Congressional Districts
2 Democrats, I Republican
New Mexico: Shifting left
Recent Presidential Voting History
1972 – Nixon
1976 – Ford
1980 – Reagan
1984 – Reagan
1988 – Bush I
1992 – Clinton
1996 – Clinton
2000 – Gore
2004 – Bush II
2008 – Obama
2012 - Obama
2012 results by county reveal political
complexity in the West and elsewhere
New Mexico Under and over represented in D.C.
About 2 million people
3 Representatives in the House
Current rule is 1 Rep per 646,950 people
2 Senators
California has 37 million people
53 Representatives in the House
2 Senators
New Mexico and The West The imbalance of power
About 30 million people 10% of U.S. total
Count all states I included in the West and all Great Plains states population (Texas omitted because it is its own country)
46 of 435 Representatives in the House
11% of the total
26 of 100 Senators
26% of the total
The West could have a
major voting block
But there are significant political differences
between the states
Utah: no Democratic presidential candidate has won
here since 1964
Montana votes for Republican Presidents but
Democratic Senators
Colorado: moves back and forth, trending Democrat
Great Plains states vote Republican
Rocky Mountain states and Great Plains states are
very culturally different
New Mexico
Transportation Geography
Trails: El Camino Real, Santa Fe
Railroads
Roads: Route 66
Interstate Highways
Panama Canal?
THEME: Linking a formerly isolated landscape into America and the world
New Mexico’s Geographic Position
New Mexico’s El Camino Real Linked NM to the Spanish Rulers
El Camino Real north of Las Cruces
El Camino Real today
Spanish-style Wagon Caravan
Spanish-style Family Wagon
La Bajada Hill
South of Santa Fe
A major topographic barrier to travel in the past
El Camino Real: La Bajada Hill
south of Santa Fe, 1930s
Now Interstate 25 make La Bajada easy
El Camino Real
Caravans every 3 years
Many Royal Roads
Linked NM to California
SANTA FE TRAIL
Linked New Mexico to the U.S.
SANTA FE TRAIL Weakened Spanish control in NM
SANTA FE TRAIL
Railroads Linked NM to the outside world
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad
Owned by Warren Buffett
Union Pacific Route in NM
2nd Transcontinental Railroad
Deming, New Mexico Where the 2nd Transcontinental Railroad
was completed
The desire for this railroad line
led to the Gadsden Purchase 1854
ROUTE 66 (1927) Linked NM to Chicago and LA by car
ROUTE 66: A Mythical Road
Route 66 – “The Mother Road”
Route 66 – Main Street of America
Chicago to California
If you ever plan to motor west,
Travel my way, take the highway that is best.
Get your kicks on route sixty-six.
It winds from Chicago to L.A,
More than two thousand miles all the way.
Get your kicks on route sixty-six.
Now you go through Saint Looey
Joplin, Missouri,
And Oklahoma City is mighty pretty.
You see Amarillo,
Gallup, New Mexico,
Flagstaff, Arizona.
Don’t forget Winona,
Kingman, Barstow, San Bernadino.
Won’t you get hip to this timely tip:
When you make that California trip
Get your kicks on route sixty-six.
LYRICS TO “Route 66”
Chicago: Route 66 Begins
Dreary urban Life
The Lure of the Open Road
Popular TV Show of 1960s
A Chance to Step Back in Time:
Pecos Pueblo
Roadside Hotels: Harvey Houses
Central Avenue, Albuquerque
Route 66 in 1938
Route 66 Diner, Albuquerque
Gallup, New Mexico 1940
Roadside Attractions
Roadside Trading Posts
Standing on a Corner in
Winslow, Arizona
Meteor Crater, Arizona
Route 66: Car Culture
Route 66 Officially replaced by Interstate 40 in 1985
Abandoned
End of the Road
in California
Route 66 Erased
INTERSTATE 10
Interstates in New Mexico
• Interstate 40
– Replaced Route 66
– Major E-W trucking road
• Interstate 10
– Major E-W low elevation trucking road
• Interstate 25
– New Mexico’s N-S “mainstreet” parallel to Rio
Grande
– Replaced old cattle and wagon roads such as
El Camino Real and Goodnight-Loving Trail
U.S. Interstate System
New Mexico
Rail Runner
Commuter
line
Global Trade Dilemma How move products between Europe and Asia?
How is
New Mexico
part of this
story?
Panama Canal
Panama Canal
saves 10,000 miles
Locks on the Panama Canal
Becoming a tight squeeze
Where is the “New Panama Canal?”
Do You See it?
Value of Exports
Do You See it Now?
New Mexico is Part of
“The Land Bridge”
I-40 and I-10, and the railroads are the
“New Panama Canal”
Freight is moved by trucks and railroads from Los
Angeles to Houston
Cheaper and quicker than using the real Panama Canal
Many new large ships cannot fit through the Panama
Canal anymore
New Mexico is part of “The Land Bridge”
between the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of
Mexico
Long Beach, California port
Semi-trucks in California
Railroad Cars hauling freight
Houston Ship Channel
Containerized Shipping
“The Asia-America Express”
Doh!!
Hong Kong, China
Shanghai, China
China is Open for Business
Chinese factory output:
2nd Largest Economy in the World
“The New Panama Canal”
New Mexico Basics
2 million people
High in-migration
GDP $84 billion
Majority Minority State
44th in Household Income
2nd Highest Poverty Rate
Agriculture
21,000 farms/ranches
$2.2 billion in products
35th in Ag Production
25% of jobs are Gov’t
39th “Smartest State”
50th in 8th Grade test scores
48th in High School graduation rate
48th in Health Index
Alcohol/drug problem
6th Highest Crime Rate/4th Most Dangerous state
And a few more basics
LANL, Sandia Labs
44th in GDP/per capita
Low educational
rankings
Low mortgage failures
Moderate taxes
Movie industry
Spaceport?
3rd in Uranium deposits
4th in Natural Gas
5th-7th in Oil
12th in Coal
Wind and Solar
Politically unpredictable
Strong in the U.S. Senate
Linked to the world
“The Land Bridge”
Great climates
Beautiful physical
geography
Great people/cultures
But how did we get here? Why the high crime rates?
Why the low educational standing?
Why is there so much poverty despite all the energy, transportation advantages, and other opportunities in NM?
Why are there so many socio- economic challenges in a state rich in natural and human resources?
Does New Mexico’s Historical
and Cultural Geography help
explain today’s problems?
Is New Mexico is a
Post-Colonial landscape?
Does that help explain why there
is so much poverty here?
Learning Objectives
Learn basic socio-economic statistics about NM
Understand the role of agriculture in the
economy
Discover the major employers by region
Evaluate how the movie industry, the Spaceport,
and energy development may improve economic
conditions in NM
Consider how the New Mexico went from being
spatially isolated to linked into national and
international transportation systems
