The Organ Mountains (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
New Mexico’s U.S. senators are continuing to push for new conservation and wilderness areas in Northern New Mexico, but they have not decided whether to try again this year for permanent protection of land in Doña Ana County including the Organ Mountains.
From The Associated Press:
“U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman on Tuesday reintroduced legislation that would preserve about 236,000 acres of public land (in Taos and Rio Arriba counties) managed by the Bureau of Land Management by designating a combination of conservation and wilderness areas.
“Much of the land – 214,600 acres – would be managed as a conservation area.
“Two other parcels would be managed as wilderness.
“Fellow New Mexico Democratic Sen. Tom Udall is cosponsoring the Rio Grande del Norte National Conservation Area Establishment Act.”
Asked if there are plans to try again this year for permanent wilderness designations for land in Doña Ana County, Bingaman spokeswoman Jude McCartin said that’s currently “unclear.”
The senators proposed a bill last year that would have designated hundreds of thousands of acres in Doña Ana County as wilderness – the federal government’s most restrictive conservation designation.
The bill died in the Senate, and now the area is represented in the House by Republican Steve Pearce, who has a long history of criticizing Doña Ana County wilderness proposals.
Pearce has said he wants to work with Bingaman and Udall to “preserve the beautiful lands and open spaces” in Doña Ana County.