Upon the request of the State of New Mexico (hereinafter referred to as the “State”) and pursuant to the provisions of this section, the Secretary shall exchange public lands or interests in lands elsewhere in the State of New Mexico, of approximately equal value and selected by the State, acting through its Commissioner of Public Lands, for any lands or interests therein owned by the State (hereinafter referred to as “State lands”) located within the boundaries of the monument or the conservation area which the State wishes to exchange with the United States.

Within six months after December 31, 1987, the Secretary shall notify the New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands what State lands are within the monument or the conservation area. The notice shall contain a listing of all public lands or interest therein within the boundaries of the State of New Mexico which have not been withdrawn from entry and which the Secretary, pursuant to the provisions of sections 1712 and 1716 of title 43, has identified as appropriate for transfer to the State in exchange for State lands. Such listing shall be updated at least annually. If the New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands gives notice to the Secretary of the State’s desire to obtain public lands so listed, the Secretary shall notify the Commissioner in writing as to whether the Department of the Interior considers the State lands within the monument or conservation area to be of approximately equal value to the listed lands or interests in lands the Commissioner has indicated the State desires to obtain. It is the sense of the Congress that the exchange of lands and interests therein with the State pursuant to this section should be completed within two years after December 31, 1987.

(Pub. L. 100–225, title V, § 503, Dec. 31, 1987, 101 Stat. 1544.)