Funding for New Mexico in Focus is provided by viewers like you.

>>Nash: This week on New Mexico in Focus, Albuquerque celebrates 50 years of LGBTQ pride.

We learn the history from community leader and author PJ Sedillo.

>>PJ: They risked their lives walking down central with signs and could lose their job, their family.

It was it was an act of courage.

>>Nash: Also, we take you to a wreck area outside Farmington where hikers, bikers and birders aren't just traversing pinons and junipers, but oil and gas wells.

New Mexico in Focus starts now.

Thanks for joining us this week I'm Nash Jones.

The state higher education department has a new scholarship on offer.

It's for native students, and it aims to help them attend colleges and universities in our neighboring states that they otherwise might not be able to afford.

We're going to bring you the details on that program here in a bit.

And some more good news.

Fewer New Mexicans are smoking.

That goes for both adults and young people.

And the numbers are some of the lowest in years.

And in a sign that the kids are actually outsmarting us, fewer of them are vaping too, not so much for the adults.

That is all according to new figures released by the state health department.

Later this hour, I'm going to sit down with the director of the Nicotine Use Prevention and Control Office to explore the data and what might be going on there.

Also tonight, our friends and partners at the nonprofit Newsroom Capitol & Main were kind enough to share a story with us from reporter Jerry Redfern, who you've seen as a correspondent on this show as well.

Jerry is going to take us to the Glade Run Recreation Area outside of Farmington, where he learned that a group of mountain bikers encounter a lot more than the region's flora and fauna while out on those trails.

Stick around for that.

But first, think back to the summer of 1976, though I wasn't around, if you were, maybe you recall the US celebrating the Bicentennial, Jimmy Carter getting the Democratic nomination for president.

Or gymnast Nadia Comaneci dominating at the Olympics?

Well, here in Albuquerque, a movement that would grow beyond what its founders likely could have conceived was getting its start.

That summer, Albuquerque held its first gay and lesbian pride march.

Well, this weekend marks the 50th in a row for Albuquerque Pride, making it one of the longest running LGBTQ pride parades in the country.

Longtime community activist, organizer and historian doctor PJ Sedillo has put together a book called If These T-shirts Could Talk 50 years of GLBTQ Plus Pride in Albuquerque from 1976 to 2026, and it's exactly what it sounds like and more with the series of events scheduled this week and of course, the big parade on Saturday.

Doctor Sedillo stopped by the studio to share half a century of Albuquerque pride with us.

>>Nash: Doctor PJ Sedillo, thank you so much for being here.

>>PJ: It's a pleasure.

>>Nash: So the first Albuquerque Pride was held the summer of 1976 which is just seven years after the Stonewall riots on Christopher Street in New York City.

How did the first Christopher Street celebration, as it was called back then, come about in Albuquerque?

>>PJ: Interesting, the first group that started this well, there are actually two groups.

There was MCCA, Metropolitan Community Church just celebrating their 50th anniversary last year.

And juniper, it was a gay and lesbian organization that was founded at, at UNM by the student unions and there was controversy there.

And so they were having difficulty trying to get space.

So a professor stepped up to actually pay for them to have space.

One of the senators, the student senators, was very much against it and adamant against it.

So in 1975, they tried to put on the first event.

MCCA was having a difficulty getting things together.

They were actually having services in two of the bathhouses that we had and at Foxes Booze n█ Cruise and so finally, they were able to have the first pride event in 19-- or Pride March in 1976.

>>Nash: And what did that look like?

How many people were there?

Where did it take place?

>>PJ: There were 25 individuals.

According to the only known article in written in 1977.

And there was a lot of people think that it started at morning at MCCA church, but they didn█t have their church until 1977.

So we know that the rally was held at Yale Park, and that's currently where the UNM bookstore is located.

People started and met at the Heights Bar, which is now currently the Albuquerque Social Club.

It was the Wellington before that which was burned down by an arsonist, and again they rebuilt it.

But people met there for some coffee and some for donuts, and they proceeded to walk down on that would have been on the right side of central from there to to Yale Park.

There were already some people there, but a few people decided to march.

>>Nash: Just-- just a handful of people marching.

Do you think, based on your research, that they knew that what they were doing that day was going to be so long lasting for the next 50 years and beyond?

>>PJ: I don't think they had-- much of an inkling of what would happen to how it built up to what it is now.

Again, at that time it was very scary to to come out to, you know, they risked their lives walking down central with signs and could lose their job, their family.

It was it was an act of courage.

>>Nash: So no doubt they understood the significance of what they were doing and the act of bravery that it would have taken, but maybe not the scope of of what it would become.

>>PJ: And I can only imagine that they knew what had happened in Stonewall and what was happening around at that time with gay power that wanted to be part of that movement here in Albuquerque, which is pretty remarkable.

In 1976 and Stonewall was 1969.

That here in little old Albuquerque, you know, we're have one of the oldest pride parades or pride marches in the United States and the world.

>>Nash: And now behind you, we have displayed an article from the Rio Grande Weekly.

It's in the book as well.

I wonder if you can talk about what the reaction in that first year, that second year, the Rio Grande Weekly article is about the second pride was not only in the press, but the community at large in Albuquerque.

How were people talking about this reacting to it?

>>PJ: Very much different than the first one.

The first one, of course.

People, no one knows anything about it.

People didn't understand about gay pride.

But in 1977, the 2nd March, which started at Yale Park and went to Morningside Park, and there there was a rally.

There were, according to the article, there were taunts.

There were also some support, but there were eggs.

There were hurled at them.

There was damage that was done by some of the cars that were located at MCCA So it was different.

However, 1976: tweny-five, 1977, one-hundred individuals.

And Harry Hay, he's the founder Madison Society, instrumental.

It was a homophile organization.

That's the term that was used back then and a very powerful, wonderful leader in the United States.

He spoke at that second rally on a on a flatbed truck.

>>Nash: Nice.

Well, you write in the book that if we if we move into the next decade of the 80s, that that brought some stability to the event, in part thanks to the Common Bond Community Center being formed, but also by mid-decade, the Aids epidemic reached New Mexico.

What impact did that have on how pride was celebrated here or the the the effort that had started in the 70s?

>>PJ: Well, prior before common there was a lot of organizations that were trying to be founded by.

And there's a lot of animosity between the gays and lesbians in our community did not get along.

And the game males or gay men wanted to have it incorporated whatever that organization was.

The lesbians did not.

So there was a total disagreement.

Common bond came about because, again, with that word, let's have a common bond together to move forward with that now.

In 1981, we had the first known HIV Aids patient here in New Mexico.

Actually, the person came from California and came here to to be with his family, to die.

And in 1984, there were four Aids cases that had passed away.

So but we were very much prepared for what was going to to happen.

You know, there's legislation that was done, nondiscrimination ordinance that were put on by Tony Anaya, the governor at the time.

We had founded different groups like NMAS, New Mexico, people living with Aids.

So all those were in place.

But what was happening of course, the devastation was the fact that men were were dying and I was going to a funeral once a week.

Pride needed to change its direction as well, and a lot of the churches unified and got involved.

So a lot of the themes changed during that period of time.

And myself being 59, almost 60, and I'm HIV negative.

My age bracket was decimated.

There were very few gay males my age who are around are gay.

And so what was happening again is that that division between the gays and lesbians at that time, the lesbians took leadership role and nurtured our community.

And that's when it was previously GLB.

>>Nash: Your book is actually titled 50 years of GLBTQ Plus Pride in Albuquerque.

And that's that's an iteration of the acronym.

You don't hear much anymore.

Usually you see the L first.

So why did you choose to use that version of the acronym and keep going on what you're saying about kind of the evolution of that.

>>PJ: And again, the lesbians to that leadership role.

And to honor our lesbian sisters, we added the letter L before the G. Now I use G because I'm from the advocate from way back when.

And most of the organizations, like in New York City or in San Francisco, they still use the G before the L and T was not added until about 1993.

>>Nash: You actually brought a t-shirt from the era that we're talking about, if you want to show it.

The second one down there from 1985, I believe you're saying that pride and how it was celebrated had to change.

So because your book is rooted in the t shirts through the years, what is this one say to you?

>>PJ: This was problematic.

This was not a big seller.

>>Nash: And why is that?

>>PJ: Primarily had to do with the poster that they had that year.

Again, we're talking about the devastation of Aids, and their poster was in white and they chose one color and it was sort of like splatters.

And they chose the color red.

>>Nash: Like blood splatter.

>>PJ: Like blood splatters and it offended most of the community, and what did they do?

They chose a shirt in red.

>>Nash: And what does it say?

It says “Alive with”-- >>PJ: It says alive with pride in ‘85.

And there's little pink triangles here.

But I don't think it was the perfect theme to be utilized with the devastation that was happening to everyone.

>>Nash: You talk about the conflict between the lesbian and gay community in Albuquerque at the time.

By the 90s, by the late 90s.

Pride incorporated became first a for profit business and then a nonprofit organization, which it remains today.

And in the book, you write that the group lesbians for change wrote that that incorporation was the ruination of gay pride in Albuquerque.

What was driving that pushback?

>>PJ: Again, it was that division between the lesbians and gays.

The gays or the males wanted to be incorporated.

Females did not want to.

And so at that time, common bond was struggling very much so.

And a lot of the other organizations that were started from common bond, like the New Mexico Human█s Chorus, the Rainbow Car Club, even Ojos, They were leaving.

And I felt at that time, because I was president for many years before, and my passion was putting on the pride parade yearly, and I decided to take it out of and away from common bond.

And the reasoning was that me and my husband went to InterPride the International Association of Pride coordinators, to learn how to better our pride event.

And at that time, we were hearing that most of the religious right and other entities were buying the name of pride so that cities could not use that word.

So we decided to again take it out for it to become its own business, because I felt that in order to grow, we needed to become a business and incorporation.

And then we could move forward to get a 501 C3 status.

>>Nash: And once it was incorporated, you became the co-president in the year 2000 and remained so for several years.

What do you feel like that move to become a nonprofit organization eventually did, for the longevity of this, of this event?

>>PJ: That changed the the event from the 23 entries that that we had when I first started to when I left, you know, the 250 plus entries that we had, the budget also was about $1,500.

I used to put it on my credit card.

Get paid back the money, and when I left pride in 2010, the budget was $250,000.

>>Nash: Yeah.

What?

I mean, just And then compare that to ‘76 when 25 people were walking down central.

>>PJ: There's no-- well, there must have been a budget because someone must have paid for the for the amplifier and the donuts.

So just taking a cost estimate with even people buying their own poster boards, $300, $300.

>>Nathan: By investing in native I think this is definitely a testament to ensuring that the state of New Mexico is committed to supporting tribal students as they explore their educational journeys, as they pursue their dreams or college aspirations.

I think these are all sort of those commitments to to ensuring that we're behind the students as they go forward.

>>Nash: We'll learn about a new scholarship for native students attending colleges in neighboring states in just about ten minutes.

But first, I will continue my conversation about the history of Albuquerque Pride with doctor PJ Sedillo who is out with a new book chronicling the events 50 year history.

When we left off, Doctor Sedillo was discussing the move in the late 90s to incorporate Albuquerque Pride as its own organization.

The monumental growth in its budget that came with it, and the tension in the community over whether that was the right direction to take an event originally meant to honor riots against police raids and the righteous struggle for LGBTQ rights.

>>Nash: That tension that arose in the 90s, It's still very fresh today.

And what we're talking about here with the evolution of pride and and in some ways, the corporatization of big pride festivals like the one in Albuquerque, but elsewhere as well, have large pride fests like Albuquerque's lost sight of its roots in Stonewall.

I mean, the common refrain is the first pride was riot, right?

What do you see as as the tension there?

And has pride lost sight of that root >>PJ: Personally, again, there's a lot of division between that again, looking at it as right or looking at it as a celebration either way.

In the book I've written how both of those two things can coexist.

Again, for me, pride is is both.

And you need to put on this event.

People think that, you know, it's free.

The police officer's cost, you know, the barricades cost, permits, cost.

So again and people say why doesn't city pay for this again?

Other parades, they would have to then pay for all the other parades that happen in in Albuquerque.

So even down to the see-- the water, that's just for the people who are the volunteers.

So there's money in that.

Money has to come from somewhere.

And there's been controversies with Hewitt-Packard.

They wanted to name the parade after, and community very much got upset with that.

Now, again, I think that again, both can coexist because I've always said this, that if you reach that one kid who's hiding and sees their tribe, it gives them the opportunity to live another day.

And so that's what the meaning of pride is in this celebration.

It's finding again your authentic self.

I said that when I did a talk in Santa Fe that when you come out, you don't come out just once.

You come out second by second, hour by hour.

I'm doing this now, talking to you, coming out as a gay male.

And you have to figure out, is this the right time?

Could I lose my friend?

Could I lose my job?

Could I be murdered or killed?

It's that serious, and when you come out each time, that becomes your superpower.

>>Nash: I relate with that.

I mean, I came out on my first show hosting New Mexico in Focus, and that was a decision that I had to make in way of whether that was important to me and important to the community.

And absolutely, I relate.

>>PJ: And it's been difficult being, you know, I'm an educator You know, I started off in Albuquerque public schools and I'm-- I have now students who thank me.

One was-- he sang at the national anthem at the Los Ranchos Pride that I did, and he's now about 48, and he always thanks me for for being out because he knew that things were going to be okay.

>>Nash: It makes a difference.

Well, going back to our conversation about the corporate, the corporate role in pride as the Trump administration has been cracking down on diversity, equity, inclusion, DEI we are seeing fewer corporations, national international corporations being prideful this month.

Then just even a few years ago, how in the history of Albuquerque Pride have you seen politics and not just national politics, but local politics?

Mayoral administrations affect pride in how it's celebrated.

>>PJ: We're very lucky being a royal blue state that a lot of the mayors have not-- there's not been any big, huge problems.

We've actually had a lot of celebrations with it.

If you look at Mayor Martin Chavez, who helped us get the art sculpture that we have dedicated to pride at Morningside Park, to Mayor Keller, currently, who did a flag raising ceremony for us in Civic Plaza, to actually be able to do the streets on mornings by Morningside in Central in rainbow pride colors.

So Mayor Kinney very much supported who wrote actually in the parade and we made him a grand marshal.

>>Nash: Was he the the mayor when pride was founded?

>>PJ: Around that time yes.

>>Nash: And was a Republican?

>>PJ: Yes.

As well as RJ Berry, who a long time Republican mayor.

He took some heat around pride, if I remember right.

>>PJ: Yes, yes he did.

>>Nash: Okay.

Well, in 2022, the pride board voted to ban the Albuquerque Police Department from participating in Pride.

That feels like an of its time kind of political climate decision.

Where did that come about from and where does that policy stand today?

>>PJ: Again, that came after George Floyd's murder and with that division, you know, again, there was a lot of especially against the military as well.

There was an event prior before that with that board, and it happened at the candlelight vigil.

Our candlelight vigil is sort of a celebration you see on Thursday, and we honor and celebrate the individuals that we've lost in the past, that particular event we usually had-- We have a Trans March that starts in different locations, and it ends and we celebrate the trans community along with people who have lost at the candlelight vigil that particular year, The Trans March was taken over by individuals who wanted to get their their opinion out, especially against the police, against what was happening with Albuquerque Pride, against the military.

And they stormed in and they literally tried to rip up the American flag and the pride flag, and the board made a circle around them, and they were pushing us in the back, just trying to rip the flags to shreds.

It was our community was fighting against each other.

And Mattee Jim who's a legend in the community, in the trans community, she went to the middle of the circle.

She said that she spoke in Navajo and she said it was pretty strong.

I don't know what she said, but in her calmness, she told everyone, this is neither the time or the place for this to happen.

And the people dispersed and we were able to continue with the candlelight vigil.

However, we lost a lot of the leadership.

The pride board at that time decided no more.

We can't we can't do this anymore.

And along came a new board with a different vision.

Different-- And I'm not saying either one was right or wrong, but at the time, again, that's what's interesting about pride.

It follows whatever those trends are happening we're having to deal now with, how are we going to put on a pride with the corporate sponsorship?

Do we have a pride or do we not have a pride?

Do we narrow it down?

Do we lessen this?

Do we have less events with that?

>>Nash: And as this new generation takes, takes the reins of organizing pride.

You mentioned the candlelight vigil.

What will that look like this year?

And maybe especially with this being the 50th anniversary, >>PJ: I'm excited about the candlelight vigil this year.

I, I was instrumental in starting that because I felt that we needed something, sort of just a start off, just more solemn, more prideful.

>>Nash: It represents a differen energy than the more festive parade and fest, >>PJ: And this year, Pat Bailey, who was co-chair with me for many years, we actually had gender parity that brought a unified the community together the gays and lesbians.

But she's coming here and we're going to talk together at the candlelight vigil.

And so what we're going to plan on doing is I want to bring up 25 people and have them tell what their first pride event was and find that one, that it's their first event.

And just to celebrate those 25 and actually to show the crowd of 2000 plus, people are going to be there to show them what 25 individuals looks like.

>>Nash: Because that's how many were there in ‘76.

>>PJ: Yes.

>>Nash: Your book, if these T-shirts Could Talk Roots The History of Albuquerque pride in the t-shirts from each of the events.

Why did you decide to use those as your Guideposts through this history?

>>PJ: Well, again, with the panels that I have that started, we have 290 plus panels that are going to be showcased this year in Civic Plaza at the Pride Fest.

It got very difficult to showcase all of the panels and all the t-shirts I had, and I said, I'll just showcase the t-shirts, and it started off that way.

And just to give people a history lesson so they could point out to the different years >>Nash: Will you show a few of them?

>>PJ: Yeah, this is actually the first one.

I have two of these.

A lot of people like this one, this retro look.

>>Nash: I do like that.

>>PJ: And it'd be great to make this one make this one again.

>>Nash: And you have a unique one from the year 2020.

I mean, obviously a unique year for the world, let alone for Albuquerque Pride.

>>PJ: So this is very, very unique in itself that there are only 50 of these that were made.

It says Albuquerque Pride Fest.

Fest is crossed out and it says The world is wearing a gay pride mask, and there's little germs that are floating around.

>>Nash: Little covids.

>>PJ: And so this year can of course-- most events were can-- were canceled.

The parade was canceled, pride Fest was canceled.

However, I got approval from the board to get 25 individuals to march from the social club to Yale Park that year with social distancing.

But we cared-- one of my good friends from Canada carried the Canadian flag.

We had the pride flag and the United States flag, which my husband-- He held that because he is a veteran.

So again, this is very unique in itself.

So we were still able to have an event this year.

>>Nash: And because you had an e in 2020, there has been an Albuquerque Pride every year for 50 years.

As of this year, it's never not happened.

>>PJ: It's never not happened.

We're the oldest continuing long running parade in Albuquerque, even longer than the State Fair parade.

They had to move off a couple of years as well.

>>Nash: Doctor PJ Sedillo, thanks for sharing this history.

I really appreciate it.

>>PJ: Thank you very much for having me.

>>Nash: Thank you to PJ Sedillo for preserving the history of LGBTQ pride in Albuquerque that may have otherwise been lost, and for coming on to share those stories and t shirts with us as the city holds its 50th March.

This weekend, the New Mexico Higher Education Department has launched a new scholarship for Native American students, but not for those attending UNM, NMSU or any other local schools.

Instead, the Native American Tuition Scholarship program offers a full ride to certain colleges and universities in the states surrounding New Mexico.

It's a pilot program, so this first round of awards will only cover this coming school year, but it stands a chance of being extended if lawmakers decide to keep it going.

To understand why the state is supporting indigenous students in leaving New Mexico for a higher education, and who qualifies for the new funds, I sat down with Nathana Bird, director of the Higher Education Department's Indian Education Division.

>> Nash: Nathana Bird.

Thanks so much for being here.

So can we start by just having you tell us a little bit about the scholarship and what it offers?

>> Bird: Yeah so the Native American Tuition Scholarship is a state run program, state funded program that is geared towards helping Native American students to access college in different types of institutions, public universities and colleges and neighboring states that are part of this particular program.

So this one is really about just ensuring that native students have access to college in neighboring states.

>> Nash: And what is the what are the funds cover?

Is it just tuition or what all is involved.

>> Bird: So what is covered primarily is tuition.

So this particular scholarship covers tuition only.

And so it doesn't include other things that are non tuition related.

So that could include housing transportation meal plans those types of things.

>> Nash: It does not cover those things.

>> Bird: No it only to covers tuition.

>> Nash: So you mentioned it applies to out of state schools.

So which schools does that include?

>> Bird: So there's a significant amount of schools that are covered through this particular scholarship.

There's well over a dozen schools.

We actually have a list of the institutions that are participating in this particular program on our website, which is the New Mexico Higher Education Department website.

For example, a couple of schools that could name would be Arizona State University, the University of Colorado, Texas Tech University.

And so these are these are a couple of them, a few of them.

But there's definitely a lot more.

>> Nash: Yeah, I was taking a look at that list.

And so the scholarship applies to public colleges and universities in Colorado, Arizona and Texas.

So our neighbors in that way, the lists are quite a bit longer for Colorado and Arizona, just Texas Tech for that state.

Why is that the case?

>> Bird: So Texas Tech actually has a unique relationship with the program as it exists.

And so we included this to really just expand this particular program that we have with the in-state tuition agreements.

So it's really just about building on these relationships that we already have existing through this particular program.

>> Nash: Okay you mentioned students need to remain eligible to continue to receive these funds.

What is the eligibility requirement?

Who can access these funds?

>> Bird: So to apply to be eligible, students basically have to be residents of New Mexico.

They have to be tribal affiliated with a tribe here in New Mexico with the different tribes, nations and pueblos.

They also have to have been just completing their high school diploma or their high school equivalency exam, their GED program.

And then also maintaining eligibility would require them to be full time as well.

So that's primarily one of the biggest pieces is making sure that students are enrolled the full time at full time credit hours, and then also just ensuring that they're meeting admission requirements for those particular institutions, whether that be particular good standing in terms of GPA and those different types of things.

>> Nash: Alright and to be clear, this so it's just for recent grads like traditional students just coming out of either high school or getting their GED.

>> Bird: So we are giving preference to high school graduates and those folks that have just gotten their high school equivalency or GED program.

>> Nash: So that's a preference.

But it doesn't mean that nontraditional students who are maybe returning to school couldn't apply.

>> Bird: I would definitely encourage them to apply.

>> Nash: Okay.

Well, how will the department make decisions if somebody is considering applying on who gets awarded this brand new scholarship?

>> Bird: Great question.

So we actually have a committee and folks are reviewing these.

And so we have to ensure that the agreements are in place for these tuition agreements.

So there's a lot of different pieces that are going to be going into this.

But for the most part, it'll be a committee of us who are definitely taking a look at all the applications as they come through.

>> Nash: Okay, how did the how did the program come about?

It's brand new.

What need did the higher education department see that this scholarship could fulfill?

>> Bird: So this particular appropriation is definitely brand new.

This is the first time we're launching this particular scholarship.

And so part of this was really to support Native American students as they attend colleges outside of New Mexico, because there's a lot of different types of relationships that we have in New Mexico to other tribal communities, or they may have cultural ties or historical ties.

This was really to allow students the opportunity to to attend these neighboring state universities and colleges to explore those particular areas as well.

So we have some students who may be part of other tribal communities that may not be in New Mexico, but also maybe part of Arizona as well, or in other communities outside of New Mexico.

>> Nash: The Navajo nation for instance, what barriers have existed for native students in New Mexico to go to college elsewhere in these neighboring states?

>> Bird: Sometimes affordability I think that's probably the biggest piece in terms of this investment, is ensuring that students are able to attend these colleges that have the in-state tuition rates.

So this particular scholarship allows them to attend these other universities at a very affordable rate, I would say, because they have in-state tuition costs.

Yeah.

>> Nash: You wrote when announcing the program that it's part of a quote, that it's part of, quote, honoring our promise to tribal communities.

What would you say that promise is, and how does this help fulfill it?

>> Bird: So I think because we're as a, as New Mexico part of our pieces is knowing that we're, we're centered or really in this place of indigenous culture and communities.

My view was that as a state of New Mexico.

This is an investment in those particular communities to give back in different ways, but also to honor sort of the relationships with tribal communities, the tribal sovereignty pieces that exist.

And so by investing in native students, I think this is definitely a testament to ensuring that the state of New Mexico is committed to supporting tribal students as they explore their educational journeys, as they pursue their dreams or college aspirations.

I think these are all sort of those commitments to ensuring that we're behind the students as they go forward.

>> Nash: If the state is encouraging these students to pursue their academic journey elsewhere outside of the state.

Does New Mexico stand to lose talented native students who would otherwise maybe stay locally, either to attend university or work?

>> Bird: That's definitely a concern, right, for some folks.

And I think for us as speaking, I think from a native perspective is knowing that these are your homes, right?

And so when you venture out and you explore different types of communities, one of the biggest things they tell you is to always come home, right?

And so the big piece here is to ensure that we're also caring for our students as they go out, but ensuring that we we encourage them to come home and to also give back in different ways.

And we want to make sure that that we have spaces for them here to be able to utilize their own expertise and leadership in that way as they come back home from like earning a particular degree or studying in a certain field, we want to ensure that they're coming home as well.

And so that's the hope, is that they return home, they contribute in ways to their tribal communities, and they're giving back in that way as well.

>> Nash: Is the state doing anything in particular to encourage folks to return?

>> Bird: I think the biggest piece right now is trying to make sure that we're working with tribal divisions and tribal education departments to really just try to figure out how we how we also support students as they return back.

Right.

And so that would be part of my role is really ensuring how do we work with particular communities as we as we see these students through these particular programs?

And how do we ensure that we're celebrating them, that we're highlighting their journey, that we're sharing their narrative of what it was like, and also just ensuring that we're continuing the support as they as if they're moving forward as recipients of this particular scholarship.

I think that would be the biggest piece for us on our end to just ensure that we're highlighting those stories.

>> Nash: What message, if any, do you have for students who are considering applying for this?

>> Bird: I would definitely encourage them to apply.

This is a brand new particular opportunity that we want to ensure that it's successful, and we want to get the funding out to students who are pursuing these educational journeys.

And so I would definitely encourage students to apply.

The application is live and available on our website.

It does close on July 1st.

And so that's a couple of weeks out.

And so the hope is that we get as many applicants as possible so that we can ensure that this money does get to where it needs to go.

>> Nash: And it would it would apply for this coming school year.

Right.

So if a student has already gotten into one of the eligible schools, could they apply.

And that could that could cover their tuition this coming year?

>> Bird: Yeah, it would be active for academic year of 26, 27.

>> Nash: Okay, Nathana Bird Thank you so much for breaking this all down for us >> Bird: Thank you I appreciate it.

>>Nash: Thanks to Nathana Bird for helping us understand that new scholarship program.

The state health department has reason to celebrate the number of New Mexicans lighting up cigarettes is as low as it's been in years for both youth and adults.

And while over the last several years, teens have been at the center of conversations and concerns around vaping.

New data shows that the kids are doing that less to adults are actually the ones hitting e-cigarettes more now than they were before.

To break down the numbers and what's driving these shifts, I spoke with the director of the health department's Nicotine Use Prevention and Control office, Anthony Garcia.

>> Nash: Director Garcia, welcome to the show.

Thanks for being here.

>> Garcia: Nash,thank you for having us.

>> Nash: So smoking among New Mexico adults is down by more than 3%.

It's at its lowest point in years, according to your office, to less than 12% of the adult population.

What's driving that shift?

Why are people smoking less?

>> Garcia: Yeah, that's a wonderful question.

You know, first, it's great to see such good news, to see the smoking rates starting to come down.

I think it shows us and tells us that decades of prevention and cessation services that have been provided and a lot of education that's been done over decades is working.

I think today more people are aware of the health risks of smoking cigarettes, especially following Covid.

I think that also helped bring kind of a spotlight on some of some of the dangers of smoking cigarettes.

And additionally, I think that it's just people being more health conscious, more aware and more aware of the dangers and yeah.

>> Nash: Did you notice a noticeable dive after Covid?

It's interesting that that may have been a driver.

>> Garcia: Yeah there were it's smoking rates have actually been on the decline in general.

Right.

And so we looked at 2019 data I believe, and the drop between 2019 and 2022 wasn't as significant as the drop between 2022 and 2024.

So that's why we we believe that Covid may have played a role in that as well.

>> Nash: I suppose a respiratory virus would play a role in some of that consciousness raising.

>> Garcia: Exactly.

>> Nash: Meanwhile, though, vaping is slightly up for the adult population at just over 8%.

The health department argues the rise in vaping means adults are trading one public health risk for another.

But if we're looking at this in kind of a harm reduction lens, is vaping as risky to one's health as smoking?

>> Garcia: Yeah, you know, those are wonderful questions to consider.

And I definitely think that when we talk about the smoking rates declining in vape use rising among adults, there is going to be a segment of that population who is switching from cigarettes to vapes more specifically.

Right.

But then I think in addition to that, we're probably also seeing some people who are starting to vape when maybe they never smoked before, maybe they were enticed to vape for a variety of reasons.

And the safest option overall is to quit nicotine use.

And so rather than seeing folks switch from smoking cigarettes to vaping, which vaping also still carries harm.

It's smoking.

Cigarettes and combustible tobacco are still the leading cause of preventable disease and death, excuse me, death.

But with that, I think seeing the rise in vaping is concerning because vaping is not harmless.

And that's what we're trying to to get people to understand.

>> Nash : Well what are the risks of nicotine when isolated from tobacco?

>> Garcia: Yeah, so specifically when vaping and vaping an aerosol, it's still there's still chemicals in that aerosol that are related to cancers.

Nicotine itself being an addictive substance I think even for for young adults there's the brain is still developing up until age 25.

And so if you're using nicotine up until then, you're changing how your brain interacts with addiction and making you more susceptible to addiction.

And then on top of that, the aerosol, to other substances.

Yeah, exactly.

And then in terms of vapes, the harms of those more specifically, there's still a lot of research that's being done.

One of the things I think that's important to recognize is that smoking combustible tobacco has been studied for decades, right.

We also know that smoking related cancers usually take at least a decade or more to be able to develop within as a symptom in a body.

Vapes have been around for maybe 15 to 20 years.

So a lot of those long term health consequences are not fully exposed yet.

And so I think that's still something that's being looked at.

>> Nash: Moving on to high schoolers.

The numbers are actually even more promising.

Not only is smoking down 5% between 2019 and 2023, to just around 3% of high schoolers are smoking now, but vaping was down too, unlike the adult population, by nearly 15% in that same time period.

That sounds huge, is it?

>> Garcia: Yeah, it's very promising, right?

It's very promising.

And I think I'm always hesitant to be excited for data because when we look at it, we still know that 1 in 5 high school youth are vaping.

And for me, that's still too high.

You know, I want to see that number come down and eventually eliminated to be able to keep you safe.

>> Nash: So it is it's about 19%.

So 1 in 5 are still vaping.

But it's it is down significantly.

What's driving that shift.

>> Garcia: Yeah that's a wonderful question as well.

I think that a lot of the similar things that we talked about for adults are also driving it for youth, right.

We've spent decades in terms of first doing prevention and cessation work for combustible tobacco.

And I think early on, public health realized the need that the landscape was just shifting.

It was shifting from smoking to vaping.

And with that, we needed to get ahead of it.

And so we had a little bit more, you know, we were able to get ahead of the curve in that sense.

Exactly.

And so once we started realizing that immediately starting to respond to the public health need of providing education around vaping, and today I think youth are very aware of the harms of vaping and but they continue to be targeted.

And so I think that's also why we're continuing to see youth who are vaping.

>> Nash: Going even to, to a younger population.

Middle schoolers are vaping at an all time low, according to the most recent data, around 10%.

Does vaping affect young people and some of the youngest folks in our community differently?

>> Garcia: Yes it does.

So like I mentioned earlier, with the brain, right, young people, youth and young people under 25, as their brains are still developing, they're more susceptible to the nicotine that are in vapes.

And then when you think about nicotine delivery in combustible tobacco, specifically cigarettes, right, there was a limited amount.

You knew if you smoked one cigarette, you're getting a certain amount of nicotine.

Now with vapes, it's harder to assess how much nicotine is actually being pumped into their bodies.

Unfortunately, we know it's at a higher rate than than cigarettes, and the absorption is much quicker because of the substance in the way that it's entering your body.

And so that is actually making it easier for youth to get hooked quickly.

In some cases, youth don't even have to be using daily to already become addicted to nicotine.

To me, that is a bit alarming.

They don't have to be using daily to become addicted.

>> Nash: You talk about youth being targeted still and that those are keeping those numbers higher.

Attorney General Raul Torres in March sued Circle K and a few other retailers for an allegation of violating the Unfair Practices Act in the state for selling flavored, disposable vapes.

These things are supposed to be illegal, but he found them on the shelves.

How significant do you feel like the role of these flavored disposable products are in targeting youth and hooking these young people?

>> Garcia: Yeah, absolutely.

When we think about that question and the answer to it, I think about it from a couple of different perspectives.

I think one, in terms of of flavors, we have to recognize that is a lot of why youth experiment is to try a new flavor.

These are coming in candy deserts, menthol, mint, polar ice, these these flavors that are really designed specifically to be able to target youth for that.

And even newer products that are starting to emerge beyond flavors are starting to shift into vapes that are gamified, where you can actually take a vape and play a game with it, similar to you would maybe on a phone.

And it turns vaping into a game for youth, which, as we mentioned with you, youth brains being as susceptible as they are, is extremely harmful and impactful.

We also know, right.

So we talk about 1 in 5 high school students who are using vapes.

We also know that a majority of youth who vape, a vast majority of youth who vape are using flavored vapes.

>> Nash: I was curious about that.

Most of them are using flavors, not the tobacco flavored version.

>> Garcia: That's correct.

>> Nash: All right, well, another product that I didn't see highlighted in your research, but I've been seeing around in the community quite a bit.

And seemingly more and more are these synthetic nicotine pouches that people put in their lip kind of like chewing tobacco?

Are you all tracking those?

>> Garcia: We are tracking them.

We continue to track pouches, along with all of the emerging products that are that are coming out in are more nicotine based from the industry right now, pouch use, we have data from adults.

And if off the top of my head, if I'm remembering correctly, it's hovering about 3%.

So about 3% of adults are using pouches.

And so it's still less than vapes, but it is more of a newer product that is emerging, and we're continuing to track it so we can respond appropriately.

>> Nash: Yeah, since it's so new, so it sounds like you don't have the historical data to see.

Is this rise exponential?

Is it is it increasing a lot?

>> Garcia: Correct, yeah.

So we you know, we have very limited data to look long term at it.

And so, so that, you know, it'll likely come in in the coming years.

What we do know, though, from the data, is that it tends to be young males in their 20s who typically are using pouches.

>> Nash: Is it since it's both smokeless and vape less.

Any sense of whether these are have a lower health risk than some of these other products?

>> Garcia: It would make you think so, right?

You're thinking, okay, well, if vaping is a concern and I'm not having the area Sol and we're not smoking combustible tobacco and not burning those chemicals.

Exactly right.

It should be safer.

The danger is one, nicotine is still an addictive substance, and nicotine itself is not meant to be ingested.

And so when people are putting these products into their mouth, you know, it's not just being absorbed in, in their mouth.

They're swallowing that and it's going into the digestive tract.

And so early reports that we're seeing and hearing are it's causing gastrointestinal concerns and problems.

And so but similar to vapes, this is such a new product that long term health consequences haven't fully risen to show what what exactly is going to be.

But you know, if you particularly do quick Google search to around pouches and GI issues or stomach issues, right.

If you're looking at that, you're going to find a lot of people online who are talking anecdotally about the problems they're experiencing with those those pouches and then wanting to add again that a lot of these pouches, they are they are sometimes offered in flavors again.

And so if that attracts youth, nicotine continues to be a problem for the developing brain.

>> Nash: Quickly for folks hearing this conversation who are motivated to quit.

Would you like to lift any resources?

What kind of support can the state provide?

>> Garcia: So the Department of Health, through the Nicotine Prevention and Control Program, provides 1-800 quit now and livevapefree.com.

And so you can you can visit either of those.

You call that resource or visit livevapefree.com and get help and support.

So 1-800 quit now provides you with tailored personal counseling.

So you are going to get a counselor who's going to talk to you and be able to understand what you're going through, understand what you're what it is and how difficult it is to actually quit.

Be able to provide you with tips, support, guidance, resources along with nicotine replacement therapy that will in the form of patches and lozenges or patches and gum for 12 weeks and that will allow them to actually eventually wean off nicotine is the goal.

>> Nash: Great, thanks, Anthony.

>> Garcia: Thank you.

>>Nash: Thank you to Anthony Garcia for coming in to share that new data with us.

The Glade Run Recreation Area on the outskirts of Farmington hosts cattle, ATVs, dirt bikes, hikers, birders, runners and mountain bikers.

Mike Eisenfeld, the energy and climate program manager for San Juan Citizens Alliance, says it's a free for all but kind of fun.

Case in point this year marks the 45th running of the Road Apple Rally, a mountain bike race that Lord Isom fell to Farmington in the first place 30 years ago.

Nearly 89,000 people visited Glade Run last year, according to the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees most of the area.

But surprises await visitors amid the junipers and pinon trees.

in Focus correspondent and Capital & Main reporter Jerry Redfern took the hard assignment to ride through the recreation area with Eisenfeld to bring you this report.

[Upbeat music] >>Mike: I'm Mike Eisenfeld, I'm an energy and climate program manager for San Juan Citizens Alliance in Farmington, New Mexico.

We're in a classic urban interface area called the Glade Run Recreation Area.

It's about a fifty square mile on the north side of Farmington.

The majority of the land in this area is managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

It█s Federal land.

I was drawn to this area because it's the site of one of the longest continuous mountain bike races called the Road Apple.

And when I moved here 30 years ago, there was just something that was pretty, pretty incredible.

And you would go to the Bureau of Land Management and ask them about the Glade Run Recreation Area, and they'd tell you about the trails, but you didn't know that within that 50 square mile recreation area, that there's over 500 oil and gas wells.

There's probably 20 different things going on in this landscape.

So historically, there's grazing.

There's cultural resources everywhere.

There's ATVs side by side, dirt bikes off highway vehicles.

Then there's the birders, the walkers, the runners, the bikers.

It's a free for all.

But kind of fun.

We are kind of used to our trails weaving through the oil and gas infrastructure.

You ride your bike past some of these facilities and it's like danger, you know, on all these signs and you're understanding sort of the complexity of the issues.

Some of these sites have some pretty dangerous elements to them, and that can include things like emissions, exposure to benzene, tooling, ethyl benzene, xylene can definitely smell oil and gas leaking.

We early on, sorta went into the BLM and said hey you know, you're you are providing the public kind of with this map about a recreation area, but you need to be a little bit more forthcoming about what's really transpiring out there.

They had a couple of situations where people ran over wellheads and then a couple situations where there was one little girl got killed on a pump Jack.

She was like riding it.

This is an oil field in decline that this is this is running on fumes.

When the well comes at end of its life, you must remove all the equipment.

You must revegetate it.

You must reclaim it.

That always seemed like something way off in the future.

But it's here now.

It's kind of hard to do out here.

Pinion juniper woodland, and the understory.

A lot of grasses need a fair amount of moisture.

But a lot of these sites are, you know, they're they're totally scraped.

And so I'm hoping that there could be a robust reclamation economy that allows Farmington to, you know, prosper to some extent.

I don't think it's going to be with new oil and gas drill in it But up here in this area, there's a vast need for an economy based on cleaning this place out.

The Glade Run Recreation Area sits in the middle of the San Juan Basin, the state's second largest production area after the Permian Basin at the opposite end of the state.

A year ago, the Bureau of Land Management Farmington field office released its most recent reasonably foreseeable development scenario, estimating future oil and gas production for the San Juan.

That report predicts that gas production will continue its years long decline, while oil will see a slight bump in production before terminally tapering off in about 20 years.

You can read a story about that report by Jerry Redfern at Capitol & Main dot com.

Thanks to Jerry and the folks at Captain Maine for sharing that story with us and everyone else who contributed to the show for New Mexico PBS, I'm Nash Jones.

Until next week.

Stay focused.

Funding for New Mexico in Focus provided by viewers like you.