Resources
Resources
Whether you're a rancher trying to figure out which agency handles your water rights or an NRCS staffer looking for a local mapping partner, this page is meant to help you find the right door. BazTek doesn't replace these organizations — we work alongside them, and we learning how to speak their language.
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) — Socorro County Field Office The NRCS is the primary federal agency for voluntary conservation on private agricultural land, administering cost-share programs that help ranchers and farmers improve soil, water, and habitat on their own terms. BazTek can help with: EQIP and CSP field boundary maps, conservation practice documentation
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) — Socorro Field Office The BLM manages millions of acres of public land in Socorro County and works with grazing permit holders on allotment management plans and habitat improvement projects. BazTek can help with: allotment boundary mapping, habitat condition documentation
USDA Forest Service — Magdalena Ranger District The Magdalena Ranger District oversees National Forest land in western Socorro County, including grazing plan coordination and restoration work in high-elevation range and riparian areas. BazTek can help with: grazing allotment mapping, restoration site documentation
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service — Mexican Wolf Recovery Program The USFWS Mexican Wolf Recovery Program manages wolf recovery efforts in the Southwest and works with affected livestock producers on depredation documentation and compensation pathways. BazTek can help with: depredation incident mapping, spatial documentation for claims
New Mexico Office of the State Engineer (OSE) The OSE administers New Mexico's water rights system — if you're documenting a point of diversion, transferring a water right, or filing any water-related application, this is the agency that holds the record. BazTek can help with: point of diversion (POD) mapping for OSE applications
New Mexico State Land Office (NMSLO) The State Land Office manages state trust lands throughout New Mexico, and ranchers with state land leases must submit improvement applications on a June–August renewal cycle that requires spatial documentation. BazTek can help with: improvement application maps for NMSLO submissions
County Livestock Loss Association (CLLA) The CLLA provides compensation to New Mexico producers who lose livestock to wolves, bears, mountain lions, and other protected predators — but claims require documentation. BazTek can help with: incident location mapping to support depredation claims
New Mexico Land Conservancy The New Mexico Land Conservancy works with willing landowners to protect agricultural and natural lands through voluntary conservation easements, with strong focus on the Middle Rio Grande region. BazTek can help with: baseline documentation mapping for easement applications
The Nature Conservancy — New Mexico The Nature Conservancy partners with landowners, agencies, and tribes on landscape-scale conservation, including easement programs and restoration work across New Mexico. BazTek can help with: conservation easement baseline documentation
Save Our Bosque Task Force Save Our Bosque is a local nonprofit focused on riparian habitat monitoring and restoration along the Rio Grande — they're the people doing the hands-on work in the bosque corridor through Socorro County.
USDA Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) EQIP is the most widely used federal cost-share program for conservation practices on working agricultural land — it pays producers to implement specific practices like brush management, fencing, and water development. BazTek can help with: field boundary and practice location maps required for EQIP applications
USDA Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) CSP is a whole-farm stewardship payment program that rewards producers who are already doing conservation well and want to go further — it's less about individual practices and more about the overall operation. BazTek can help with: field mapping to support CSP documentation
FEMA / New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) Following flood events or other declared disasters, FEMA and DHSEM funding can support infrastructure repairs for acequias and other agricultural water systems — but documentation requirements are real. BazTek can help with: pre- and post-event mapping to support disaster recovery documentation
These publicly available datasets are the foundation of professional land management and restoration work in Socorro County. BazTek uses many of these resources in the field — we're sharing them here so landowners can explore their own land and agency partners can see the tools behind our work.
Soils USDA Web Soil Survey — NRCS's official soil mapping tool. Look up soil types, drainage classifications, and suitability ratings for any parcel in Socorro County. The starting point for any EQIP application or restoration plan.
New Mexico GIS NM RGIS — State GIS Clearinghouse — New Mexico's official geospatial data repository, designated by the state legislature. Parcel boundaries, roads, elevation data, 80 years of historic aerial photography, and natural resource layers for Socorro County and statewide.
Plants & Vegetation USDA PLANTS Database — Standardized species information for all native and invasive plants found in New Mexico, with county-level distribution data and downloadable fact sheets. The reference standard for native plant identification and restoration planning.
Federal Land & Grazing BLM GIS Data Hub — Bureau of Land Management's centralized geospatial data library. Surface management boundaries, grazing allotment polygons, and land use data for BLM-managed lands in Socorro County.
Water Rights NM Water Rights Reporting System (NMWRRS) — Office of the State Engineer's public database of New Mexico water rights. Search by owner, file number, or Point of Diversion (POD) location — the authoritative source for water rights documentation and verification.
Hydrology USGS StreamStats — Watershed delineation and stream flow analysis for any point on a stream in New Mexico. Used for drainage planning, water resource assessments, and NRCS conservation practice design.
Fire History MTBS — Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity — Historical fire perimeter and burn severity data for all large wildfires in New Mexico from 1984 to present, at 30-meter resolution. Essential for post-fire restoration assessments and understanding landscape disturbance history in Socorro County.