{"id":651980,"date":"2018-12-05T07:00:56","date_gmt":"2018-12-05T14:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=651980"},"modified":"2018-12-05T07:51:18","modified_gmt":"2018-12-05T14:51:18","slug":"congress-inaction-could-endanger-nms-parks-and-monuments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2018\/12\/congress-inaction-could-endanger-nms-parks-and-monuments\/","title":{"rendered":"Congress’ inaction could endanger NM’s parks and monuments"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Organ

Heath Haussamen \/ NMPolitics.net<\/p>

The Organ Mountains in southern New Mexico<\/p><\/div>\n

COMMENTARY:\u00a0<\/strong>One of the best things about living in New Mexico is the abundance of great natural beauty and opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors. Whether it\u2019s the view from just about any rural highway or one of the many state and national parks and forests, New Mexico boasts some of the most beautiful land in the nation.<\/p>\n

It is a heritage that all proud New Mexicans want to protect for future generations, a pride woven into our culture. The preservation of our public lands is a sacred trust, but it\u2019s being made more difficult by the inaction of Congress.<\/p>\n

Much of New Mexico\u2019s beautiful landscape has been protected and enhanced by one of the best federal programs you\u2019ve probably never heard of: the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). Created with bipartisan support more than 50 years ago, the LWCF has pumped millions of dollars into our state\u2019s national parks and monuments, wildlife refuges, community parks, hiking trails and even ball fields. The LWCF has done more to protect precious landscapes, wildlife habitat, open space and healthy waterways, and develop recreation opportunities, than any federal program in American history.<\/p>\n

\"Nathan

Courtesy photo<\/p>

Nathan Cote<\/p><\/div>\n

Just a couple of years ago, the LWCF gave hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts another reason to visit our state by providing money for expanding public access into the rugged and stunning interior of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument and in support of the recently designated Organ Mountains-Desert Peak National Monument.<\/p>\n

The LWCF has also supported the Valles de Oro National Wildlife Refuge in Albuquerque\u2019s South Valley, which provides urban families and kids easy access to outdoor recreation.<\/p>\n

More recent initiatives such as the Rio Grande Trail, running from the southern Colorado border to the Mexican border, will also benefit from continued funding.<\/p>\n

Beyond enhancing access to and conservation of our national public lands, LWCF has also benefited state parks in New Mexico, including Elephant Butte Lake, Mesilla Valley Bosque, Eagle Nest Lake and City of Rocks. Locally, nearly every municipality in our state has used the LWCF to create or improve city parks. It\u2019s very likely the LWCF has benefitted the park where your family goes to picnic or your kids play on the swings or your dog stretches its legs.<\/p>\n

One of the reasons this program has long had bipartisan support is that no taxpayer dollars are used for the LWCF, so it does not add to our nation\u2019s debt or burden our communities. The program receives its funding via royalties paid by oil and gas companies that are drilling offshore.<\/p>\n

Sadly, Congress allowed the LWCF to expire at the end of September. Since then the LWCF has lost more than $150 million because the oil and gas royalties are no longer being deposited into the fund. And unless Congress acts in December, before adjourning until 2019, the fund will likely continue to lose funds for months to come.<\/p>\n

New Mexico is fortunate that many members of our congressional delegation understand the LWCF\u2019s win-win benefits and have worked hard to protect the program. Both Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich have been leaders in the fight for the permanent reauthorization and full funding of the LWCF to ensure that our outdoor heritage and public lands will be protected for future generations to enjoy.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the Trump administration has shown no interest in continuing the LWCF\u2019s legacy and, before the LWCF was allowed to expire, had proposed reducing its funding by more than 90 percent.<\/p>\n

Still, Congress needs to revive the bipartisan spirit that has characterized the LWCF since its inception and come together to reauthorize and fully fund this great provider of public lands access and enjoyment. And they must do so before they take their winter recess.<\/p>\n

Nathan Cote served three terms in the New Mexico House of Representatives beginning in 2006, representing District 53 in southern New Mexico. He is on the Board of Directors for New Mexico Voices for Children<\/a> and on the transition team for Commissioner of Public Lands-elect Stephanie Garcia Richard.\u00a0Agree with his opinion? Disagree? NMPolitics.net welcomes your views. Learn about submitting your own commentary\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Congress needs to revive the bipartisan spirit that has characterized the Land and Water Conservation Fund since its inception and come together to reauthorize and fully fund this great provider of public lands access and enjoyment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":650258,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,16],"tags":[147,3278,116],"class_list":["post-651980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-guest-columns","tag-environment","tag-public-lands","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=651980"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":651988,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651980\/revisions\/651988"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=651980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=651980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=651980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}