A Bold Step for New Mexico’s Frontier Communities
In an unprecedented acknowledgment of the challenges faced by New Mexico’s most remote residents, the state legislature has passed a Joint Memorial requesting the Governor to appoint a task force to assess and address the needs of frontier areas. This landmark initiative signals a long-overdue reckoning with the systemic neglect of unincorporated communities—places that lack municipal status, access to essential services, and the legal mechanisms to govern themselves effectively.
At the National Center for Frontier Communities, we have long advocated for policies that recognize the unique struggles of frontier residents. The passage of this Joint Memorial is a testament to the growing recognition that these areas are not simply rural—they are super-rural, isolated from the resources that more developed communities take for granted. The stakes are high, and the data is clear: the lack of infrastructure, governance, and investment in frontier communities creates a structural determinant of health, impacting everything from access to clean water to emergency medical response times.
Why This Memorial Matters
For too long, New Mexico’s frontier residents—those in the most sparsely populated, unincorporated parts of the state—have been left to fend for themselves. Without municipal status, these communities operate in a legal gray area, relying almost entirely on volunteer labor to maintain basic infrastructure. Water systems, wastewater disposal, internet access, and emergency services are all managed by small, overstretched groups of individuals who receive little to no state support. With an aging population and fewer young people staying in these communities due to economic constraints, this model is simply not sustainable.
This Joint Memorial seeks to break the cycle of isolation by assembling a task force of state agencies, infrastructure experts, and community representatives to take a comprehensive look at frontier areas. It calls for:
- A full assessment of current services and infrastructure in frontier communities.
- A study of alternative governance models, including the Community-Operated Infrastructure Network Model, which could centralize and professionalize service delivery while maintaining local control.
- Legislative and regulatory reforms to remove structural barriers that prevent frontier communities from accessing state and federal funding.
- Financial investments and incentives to support these communities in building sustainable service networks.
The Power of a Community-Operated Infrastructure Network
One of the most promising aspects of this effort is the exploration of the Community-Operated Infrastructure Network Model (COINS), which would enable frontier communities to pool resources and share services instead of struggling individually. In practical terms, this could mean:
- Centralized management of water and wastewater systems, reducing costs and ensuring compliance with state regulations.
- Shared administrative services for financial management, permitting, and capital improvement planning.
- Paid, trained personnel replacing an aging volunteer workforce, ensuring professional and reliable service delivery.
Far from a typical top-down service intervention, this model is a locally driven approach that respects community autonomy while providing the technical and financial support needed to thrive. It has been successfully implemented in other states with large frontier populations, and New Mexico has the opportunity to lead the nation in pioneering this model at scale.
What’s Next?
The task force must now be appointed and begin its work, with a deadline to provide findings and recommendations by November 1, 2025. This is where frontier residents and advocates must stay engaged. The success of this effort will depend on:
1) Ensuring that the task force includes representatives from actual frontier communities—not just policymakers in Santa Fe.
2) Advocating for sustained funding beyond a one-time study, ensuring that real investments follow.
3) Holding state agencies accountable for implementing solutions that emerge from the task force’s work.
For decades, frontier communities have been an afterthought in state policy—too small, too remote, too complicated to factor into major infrastructure planning. With this Joint Memorial, the state of New Mexico has an opportunity to correct this course, not by treating frontier areas as extensions of rural towns, but by recognizing them for what they truly are: distinct, resilient, and deserving of an infrastructure strategy that works for them.
This is a defining moment for New Mexico’s frontier residents. Now, we must ensure that this initiative translates from paper to action—from a memorial into a meaningful shift in policy and investment.
For more information on how you can get involved in shaping the future of New Mexico’s frontier communities, stay connected with the National Center for Frontier Communities. The work is just beginning.
