The state won't buy a private ranch to expand the Cerrillos Hills State Park and establish a wild-horse sanctuary south of Santa Fe, Gov. Bill Richardson's office said Wednesday, calling the move "unfeasible."

Richardson had been heavily criticized for the idea, which would draw millions of dollars from a pot of federal economic-stimulus funds that are being spent at the governor's discretion.

Instead, Richardson will use $3.1 million to help stave off additional state-employee furloughs and layoffs amid a projected state budget shortfall of $400 million.

"While the purchase of the ranch was a great opportunity for the state, and would have been a big boost to tourism and the local economy of the Galisteo Basin, moving forward at this time is unfeasible," Richardson said in a statement. The governor is in North Korea on an unofficial diplomatic mission.

The spending represents the last of almost $58 million in discretionary money provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In the end, more than half, about $31 million, went to shoring up the state budget, preventing further cuts, furloughs and layoffs as state tax revenue declined. Other money went to equipment for firefighters, to cover a shortfall in the state's pre-kindergarten program, and to pay for animal-protection training for law-enforcement officials.

A good chunk of the cash, $20 million, was allocated to the state Department of Corrections. A report said that spending was "to prevent or soften statewide budget reductions" for the 2011 fiscal year and that the money was spent on inmate management and control. The report also said the money meant 420 full-time-equivalent jobs for each of three consecutive quarters in the 2010 fiscal year.

The second highest single award from Richardson's pot was $8.3 million to the Graduate New Mexico! Initiative, which recruits and works with high-school dropouts. Another $4 million went to buy land at the campus of the former College of Santa Fe, which the city of Santa Fe bought last year and partially leased to the new, for-profit Santa Fe University of Art & Design.

Smaller awards included $643,500 to keep the Rail Runner Express passenger trains running on Sundays, $250,000 to promote tourism in the state "through increased branding, advertising and promotion," $350,000 on treatment services for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, $200,000 for the International Relations Institute at New Mexico State University and $200,000 for the Santa Fe International Folk Market. Some $50,000 went to promote the Tour of the Gila bike race, while the same amount went to help with a budget shortfall at the Lensic Performing Arts Center — and for free admissions for children.

Overall, some $2.5 billion will flow through the state's Office of Recovery and Reinvestment, and another $1.3 billion went right to cities, towns, tribes and federal agencies as part of the stimulus package. Including bonding authority, tax benefits and loans and bond awards, the state is expected to see more than $5 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

There won't be any more discretionary funds when Gov.-elect Susana Martinez takes office Jan. 1. Some $700 million of the federal money allocated for New Mexico will still be in the pipeline but already earmarked for specific projects.

Martinez hasn't said who she wants to lead the state's recovery office, but former Gov. Toney Anaya said last week that he plans to leave at the end of this month.

As for the horse-ranch project, it was facing a vote at the state Board of Finance that almost certainly would have been negative. Lt. Gov. Diane Denish and state Sen. John Arthur Smith, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, among others, had come out against the idea.

Richardson had planned to use $2.8 million to buy the 12,000-acre Ortiz Mountain Ranch, also known as the Ball Ranch, most of which is in the hands of the Nature Conservancy, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving natural resources. That amount, plus the remaining balance in the discretionary fund, make up the $3.1 million now going to the state's general fund instead of to the ranch.

In his statement, Richardson, who once called the project an "excellent idea," said "final details of the project appeared unlikely to be completed prior to the end of the year."

Contact Kate Nash at 986-3036 or knash@sfnewmexican.com. Read her blog at www.greenchilechatter.com.

GOVERNOR'S STIMULUS SPENDING

The governor's discretionary fund from federal economic-stimulus dollars started with almost $58 million, all of which has been allocated by Gov. Bill Richardson. The top recipients:

$20 million to the New Mexico Corrections Department

$8.3 million for the Graduate New Mexico! Initiative

$4 million to buy land on the Santa Fe University of Art & Design campus

$3.1 million to the state budget to ward off furloughs and offset budget cuts

$2.5 million to help teachers with health-insurance premiums and pay for professional development

$2 million to fund child care assistance and services

$2 million to avoid reductions in cash benefits for low-income residents, available through the General Assistance Program

$1.8 million for construction and renovation at the Los Luceros ranch northeast of Alcalde for use as a training center for Native American and Hispanic filmmakers

$1 million for a new fire station in Rio Rancho

$1 million to address food insecurity, including matching funds for farmers market purchases by food-assistance recipients

$1 million to buy interactive whiteboards for New Mexico classrooms

Source: New Mexico Office of Recovery and Reinvestment

For a complete list of all of Richardson's discretionary stimulus spending, visit www.greenchilechatter.com