Senators propose monument in Organs

Source: Albuquerque Journal, N.迷你倉尖沙咀M.Dec. 13--WASHINGTON -- Sens. Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall teamed up Thursday to introduce legislation that would designate almost a half-million acres in and around the Organ Mountains in southern New Mexico as a protected national monument.The legislation, part of a long-standing grass-roots and legislative effort to protect the rugged mountain landscape near Las Cruces, would establish eight wilderness areas and conserve land in an area stretching across the Organ, Dona Ana, Potrillo, Robledo and Uvas mountains. The bill would establish 498,815 acres as part of a national monument. It would create eight wilderness areas, which carry more restrictive rules for use, totaling 241,067 acres."Conservation can help strengthen cultural identity and grow the local economy," Heinrich, a New Mexico Democrat, said in a conference call with reporters. "By designating this national treasure, a national monument a critical piece of our outdoor heritage will be protected for us now and for future generations of New Mexicans and Americans to enjoy."Critics of such far-reaching conservation efforts in the Organ Mountain region have questioned whether it would preserve access to hunting and grazing areas, or interfere with law enforcement efforts along the Mexican border.The Udall-Heinrich bill would "cherry-stem" certain land tracts out of proposed wilderness areas to existing roads in a way that would allow continued access to hunters and grazing, the senators said.The senators said the bill would preserve existing grazing rights and vehicular access to 100 percent of roads leading to currently used water wells, troughs and corrals. It would also vacate wilderness study areas within five miles of the international border, creating a buffer area for Border Patrol activities, and add a road for border security purposes.A similar effort to designate a national monument in the area by then-Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. -- although involving fewer acres -- fell short in the last Congress.Bingaman's wilderness bill would have designated 241,000 acres in and around the Organs as federally protected wilderness and an additional 100,000 acres in the Broad Canyon area asmini storagea National Conservation Area.Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., has introduced a scaled-down bill in the House that would provide monument protection to about 58,500 acres of the Organ Mountains from development."Protecting the beautiful Organ Mountains is important -- I've been working closely with diverse groups of New Mexicans on this issue for years, and introduced a bill in March that came directly from their input, ideas, and concerns," Pearce told the Journal . "My proposal achieves our shared conservation objectives and ensures economic health by making sure that this national treasure is protected without threatening local jobs. I am carefully reading (the senators' bill) with interest, but I do have concerns."The area proposed for protection is home to game animals, such as pronghorn sheep and deer, as well as rare plants and animals, some found nowhere else in the world, such as the Organ Mountains pincushion cactus.The proposed monument designation includes Broad Canyon, Sleeping Lady Hills, Rough and Ready Hills, Picacho Peak, Mount Riley, Pena Blanca and Bishop's Cap. It also contains over 5,000 archaeologically and culturally significant sites, including Geronimo's Cave, Billy the Kid's Outlaw Rock, Spanish settlement sites, and numerous petroglyphs and pictographs, according to the senators.A coalition of local groups, including the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, the New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce, and the Dona Ana County Associated Sportsmen, applauded the bill."We need to make sure areas like these remain open to hunting and hiking so we can always have places to pass on our outdoor traditions to the next generation," said John Cornell, of the sportsmen group.Udall, who co-sponsored Bingaman's bill in the last Congress, told reporters that he and Heinrich decided to expand the size of the monument proposal after talking with local wildlife and conservation experts and sportsmen."We started hearing that this thing should be expanded and that's what we ended up doing," Udall said.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.) Visit the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.) at .abqjournal.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉