SANTA FE—Commissioner of Public Lands, Patrick H. Lyons and Economic Development Department cabinet secretary Rick Homans have signed off on an agreement granting the Spaceport Authority access to nearly 15,000 acres of state trust lands near Upham to begin developing the proposed site for the Southwest Regional Spaceport.

“The spaceport is important to New Mexico on many levels and this is another step forward in our efforts to reach for the stars,” Lyons said.

For more than a decade, New Mexico has been working to develop commercial space industry. Ten years ago Lyons, a former state Senator, voted to appropriate $350,000 to establish the New Mexico Office of Space Commercialization. At the same time, the Legislature set aside $8.6 million in state operating reserves to build a spaceport in New Mexico.

“As land commissioner, my support and involvement continues,” Lyons said. “The economic advantages to our state are significant.”

Lawmakers, beginning next week, will consider a $100 million appropriation to pay for infrastructure at the site.

Commissioner Lyons and Secretary Homans negotiated the right of entry permit with two ranchers who have held agricultural leases on state trust lands near the proposed site for more than 50 years.

“This project is by all means a team effort and we have been working with the administration, our lessees and the surrounding communities to develop a strategic plan,” Lyons said.

“For the past 15 years New Mexico has been pursuing the spaceport project,” stated Homans. “We truly are on the ground floor of a new industry that will continue our legacy of leadership in space exploration and the state stands to gain thousand of jobs, and hundreds of millions of dollars of payroll and capital investment. We believe that investing in the Spaceport is an investment in New Mexico’s future and will move our economy forward.”

The right of entry permit is valid until January 2007.

Commissioner Lyons and the State Land Office manage 13 million acres of lands held in trust, primarily to support public education. Revenue earned from oil and gas production, agricultural leasing and development activity on trust lands support the trust’s 21 beneficiaries.