Wilderness designation will stop overdevelopment

By Oscar Vásquez Butler

I want to make my feelings known about the proposal to place several thousand acres in Doña Ana County under the protection of wilderness designation.

As an elected official, I encounter people each day who have long-term ties to this area and who are watching it disappear in an ever-marching parade of developments that encroach on farmland, threaten the Rio Grande and disrupt the delicate ecosystem of the desert. I see firsthand the downstream effects of irresponsible arroyo development and diversions. With my neighbors and constituents, I watch irreplaceable viewsheds disappear hill by hill, dune by dune, ravine by ravine. I cannot see – but I certainly wonder – whether we have the water resources to continue this breakneck pace of growth that is fueled by spaceports and magazine rankings.

I believe passionately that we have to slam the brakes on a process that has overtaken our ability to manage it. I believe wilderness designation represents one substantial tool as we work together to preserve this unique part of the planet.

When this plan for wilderness was first proposed, it enjoyed widespread, bipartisan support from nearly every sector and governmental entity. Now, as momentum builds to preserve the special character of the Mesilla Valley, a few lone voices have arisen to impede the progress. I find it ironic that a few ranchers are among those who have come forward to protest this movement. They, of all people, should value the agricultural heritage of the land and the serenity of open space and clear skies.

A wilderness designation sends a clear and permanent message to the world that we will not allow the Robledos to be destroyed. The Organs will retain their majesty. The Doña Anas will not be tamed. The Potrillos shall not be torn asunder. The rock for rock walls will not come from the crags that our forefathers climbed as kids. The oil, grease and antifreeze spurting from the engine blocks of off-road vehicles will not poison the flora and fauna of the desert.

A wilderness designation says in no uncertain terms that we love this land and honor it with the protections it deserves. It says we are unafraid to close the gates, although we may have left them open too long. It says it’s time that we started thinking past our wallets and looking inside our souls. It means we are taking one significant step as a community of communities to say in a united voice, “Enough is enough.”

For every argument you hear against wilderness designations, the reality check of overdevelopment is the argument in favor. For every plea you hear to keep roads open in perpetuity, the response is: What exactly will we have perpetuated upon the next generations?

I don’t buy the arguments. I don’t believe private hands should own the land under consideration. And I reject the contention that traditional ranching and wilderness designations are mutually exclusive. The federal language allowing them to coexist is clear.

Let us be clear that wilderness designations are a favor we extend to our descendants, ranch families included. Let’s be brave. Let’s be unselfish. Let’s be visionary. Let’s save what’s left of what makes this part of the world magical. That’s my argument.

Butler represents District 1 on the Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners and is the immediate past president of the New Mexico Association of Counties.