Gov. Martinez Signs Law to Create 500-Mile Statewide Trail

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez has signed into law a measure to create a 500-mile, statewide recreation trail stretching from Colorado to Texas.

Martinez signed the bill Thursday at the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park.

The law creates a commission to define the best routes and reach necessary agreements to designate a path that would weave through majestic vistas, monuments and cultural areas.

Las Cruces Democrat Rep. Jeff Steinborn's bill garnered bipartisan support and squeaked through the Senate a day before the legislative session ended.

Called the Rio Grande Trail, the pathway is envisioned as being similar to the Appalachian Trail or the Continental Divide Trail.

Steinborn says the idea for the trail in not new, but the magnitude of the project has previously deterred construction.

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