Gov. Bill Richardson (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
Gov. Bill Richardson announced today his support for on a bill that would protect more than 350,000 acres of land in Doña Ana County, including the Organ Mountains.
The Organ Mountains – Desert Peaks Wilderness Act, which is sponsored by U.S. Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall, D-N.M., will be considered Thursday by a subcommittee of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which Bingaman chairs.
“I applaud the leadership of Senator Bingaman and Senator Udall, who introduced this important legislation to protect many of the most important public lands in Southern New Mexico,” Richardson said today in a news release. “From the jagged spires of the Organ Mountains to the petroglyphs in Broad Canyon, this bill will protect some of the finest ecosystems and vistas that New Mexico’s Chihuahuan Desert has to offer, while making an important contribution to our country’s wilderness and National Landscape Conservation System.”
The senators introduced the legislation last month. The bill would designate 259,000 acres as wilderness and 100,000 acres as national conservation areas. In addition to the Organ Mountains, land on and around the Robledo, Doña Ana and Potrillo mountains would be protected.
The bill would also release 16,350 acres currently designated as a wilderness study area along the county’s border with Mexico. That’s intended to address concerns that law enforcement patrols are hampered by rules against motorized vehicles entering the protected area.