Efforts to establish four state veteran cemeteries in rural areas of New Mexico may take up to three years to finish.
The Carlsbad Current-Argus reports that Gov. Susana Martinez and New Mexico Department of Veterans' Services Secretary Timothy Hale told Carlsbad officials this week that's how long it will take to navigate through the Veterans Administration.
Hale said it is hard for the VA in Washington to fathom the distances of rural communities in New Mexico from major cities.
Martinez urged advocates for a cemetery to "comply with the process" since the federal government will pay 90 percent of the cost and the state 10 percent for veteran cemeteries.
She said about 78,000 New Mexico veterans live within 75 miles of the state's three national cemeteries.
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