Their view: Candidate says he understands importance of state’s lands

Roosevelt County farmer and rancher Matt Rush is the Republican nominee for state land commissioner.

What does the land commissioner do? Rush answers the question on his website

(http://mattrushlandcommissioner.com/):

“The simple answer is, the state of New Mexico owns 9 million acres of land and 13 million of minerals working with oil and gas industry that lease the minerals rights that is held in a trust fund benefiting New Mexico’s education system.

“The land commissioner is in charge of these lands, working with the farmers and ranchers that lease the surface rights, the oil and gas industries that lease the subsurface rights and all the monies generated from these lands is then deposited into a permanent fund benefiting the education of the children of New Mexico.

“As a farmer and a rancher I know the agriculture industry first hand. I know the impact the oil and gas industry has on the financial stability of our state and our education system. And, I come from a family of teachers so I know the education system and the importance of having our schools adequately funded.”