Setting the record straight: wilderness truths

By Nathan P. Small

Jim Scarantino’s recent column — “Pearce’s conservation bill: What’s not to like?” — is the latest in a series of one-sided portrayals of the historic effort to protect the nationally recognized, treasured public lands in Doña Ana County. Given Mr. Scarantino’s prolific previous writings from Albuquerque mocking the wolf recovery program, undermining the efforts to protect the Otero Mesa and continuing assertions that local wilderness advocates are eco-terrorists by proxy, his latest article attempting to hurt local conservation efforts is not surprising, but it does deserve a swift repudiation and the truth.

Scarantino is quick to give himself a pat on the back for being the genesis of the anti-public lands legislation, H.R. 6300, while in the same breath bragging about his former support of wilderness. In this bizarre swing, he is once again attempting to gloss over the truth and confuse the facts regarding wilderness designation in Doña Ana County. We believe it is our obligation to set the record straight.

Truth No. 1

Scarantino and auto dealer/rancher Tom Cooper claim that their plan, H.R. 6300, has many supporters, yet we have spoken to businesses Cooper’s group lists as supporters that were not told of the intent to eliminate all wilderness protections in Doña Ana County or the mandate to force a large scale sell-off of our local public lands. Scarantino also misstated the truth when he wrote that the ranchers “peeled away governments,” when in fact only one local community, Hatch, decided to support their proposal. The governments of Las Cruces, Mesilla, Sunland Park and Doña Ana County all stand in support of the Citizen’s Wilderness and National Conservation Area (NCA) Proposal.

The claim by Scarantino and Rep. Steve Pearce that many businesses and organizations support H.R. 6300 is shaky at best. By contrast, every supporting business and coalition partner for the Citizen’s Proposal has signed a document that clearly enumerates the proposal.

Truth No. 2

While Mr. Scarantino, People For Preserving Our Western Heritage and Pearce state that H.R. 6300 is reasonable middle ground, few could come to the same conclusion. We have eight incredible natural areas in Doña Ana County that are currently protected as wilderness (called Wilderness Study Areas), including the Organ Mountains. These protections, now and if enacted permanently in law, place these lands at the top of the pyramid in our great country’s land-anagement system, bringing more funding for federal staff to manage them and a significant increase in prestige, tourism and economic development.

Is it reasonable to remove these protections and subsequent benefits to our community from all these lands, including in the Organ Mountains? The answer is clearly no.

Truth No. 3

Mr. Scarantino, an Albuquerque resident, states that the land-disposal provision in H.R. 6300 is not that “bad,” and he and others including Pearce have attempted to gloss over this divisive issue. In research conducted in 2005 regarding the Citizen’s Proposal, more than 70 percent of Doña Ana County residents who were polled strongly objected to a large-scale sell-off of public land in our county. Citizens didn’t want massive, unmanaged growth and sprawl and were concerned about our water.

Of course, for folks who actually live here, we also love the open space and quality of life. H.R. 6300 mandates this whole-scale land sell-off by stating that the Bureau of Land Management “shall conduct a sale” of all “disposal” lands in our county.

When H.R. 6300 was introduced on June 18, 65,000 acres of lands were considered for disposal by the BLM in our county, many by the Organ Mountains. This is an area twice the size of Las Cruces. This disposal provision was the ultimate undoing of initial attempts to protect some of our wilderness in 2005, and it is certainly one of the most unpopular provisions of Rep. Pearce’s bill.

Did Albuquerque resident Scarantino ever attempt to force a massive land sell-off on any other community with whom he worked regarding public lands? The answer is no. In fact, there has been no wilderness protection in the State of New Mexico that ever included such an unwarranted and insulting trade-off.

Truth No. 4

Mr. Scarantino also neglects to tell the readers that there is no such thing as what Rep. Pearce and some ranchers are proposing to replace our wilderness with, a “Rangeland Management Area,” in federal law, and it has no chance of ever becoming a reality. In fact, soon to be senior N.M. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has said he does not support H.R. 6300, as it would roll back the protections that currently exist in these places.

In other words, H.R. 6300 is feel-good theater for the few but offers the citizens of our county no real resolution to the protection of these places. Would Scarantino mind if none of these places ever received the protections they deserved with their status remaining in limbo forever? Obviously not. But he’s just a blogger with an apparent sour grapes, anti-environment agenda from Albuquerque. This is the job of local citizens with lives, kids and futures at stake here.

We agree with first statement in his column that, thanks to the Doña Ana County Wilderness Coalition, our community is having a serious discussion and reaching significant consensus on the need to protect our lands. Unlike Mr. Scarantino, many responsible local citizens and organizations ranging from the League of Woman Voters to the Las Cruces Homebuilders Association support more than empty promises — they support a plan that can actually bring the dream of permanent protection to reality, a plan that will bring prestige to our county and community and the positive economic development that will surely come with it, a plan that will safeguard the rich habitat and wildlife diversity that lives in places like the Organ Mountains and Broad Canyon, and a plan that is tried and true — in 24 areas in New Mexico and in 44 states. They support wilderness.

If our community wants to finally see permanent protections for the Organ Mountains and other nearby incredible public lands, we must look at the realities of the options available to us. Get educated and get involved, because we must not fail our responsibility to the future. There are out-of-town bloggers, congressmen and others who will be more than glad to assist us. The choice is ours.

Small is an employee of the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance. Other members of the Doña Ana County Wilderness Coalition contributed to this column.