By KRWG News
New Mexico – Gov. Bill Richardson is using $2.8 million in federal economic stimulus money to buy more than 12,000 acres near Santa Fe to expand a state park and provide for a wild horse santuary.
The land will expand Cerrillos Hills State Park and provide additional opportunities for outdoor recreation. The state hasn't decided how much of the land will serve as a sanctuary for wild horses.
The state is buying 640 acres for about $1 million from the heirs of Edmund Ball, whose family business produced home canning glass jars.
When Ball died, more than 11,000 acres of the Ortiz Mountain Ranch was donated to the Nature Conservancy and the state is acquiring that for about $1.8 million.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.