NM must speak up again for its livelihood

Monuments in the state are a target of Trump’s executive order to review their designations

June 8 marked the 111th anniversary of the Antiquities Act, and we are excited to highlight New Mexico’s national monuments and all that they offer our communities. As mayors from Las Cruces, Taos, Red River, Questa and Mesilla, we are acutely aware of what the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks and Río Grande del Norte national monuments bring our constituents and visitors in economic benefits, quality of life and natural assets.

Connected by the Rio Grande, northern and southern New Mexico do have their differences. In the north, we have Chimayo Red Chile while, in the south, we have Hatch Green Chile. But when it comes to defending our national monuments, we become one Land of Enchantment.

For decades, our communities worked to preserve our wild backyards. Sportsmen, small-business owners, tribes, veterans, ranchers, conservationists and more all discussed how best to conserve the places they love. For example, in Taos County, sportsmen and Acequia Parciantes rallied behind safeguarding clean water within the Rio Grande that serves as a key irrigation source, and a home for trout, pike and smallmouth bass. And in Doña Ana County, sportsmen, tribes and small-business owners urged protection for cultural and historic sites that tell a human story stretching back thousands of years and connect pristine wildlife habitat.

Thanks to our national monuments, New Mexico is open for business. Since designating the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument in 2014, the town of Mesilla’s tax revenues have increased and Las Cruces’ lodgers’ tax revenues are also up. From 2015 to 2016, visitation to the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument increased 102 percent. Businesses — ranging from outdoor recreation and tourism to restaurants and hotels — are growing and new ones are popping up across Doña Ana County. And Las Cruces was recently included in Lonely Planet’s “Top 10 Places to Visit.”

In short, more and more people are choosing to live and work in places with protected lands like the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. In fact, a recent Headwaters Economics analysis of communities near the monument found the population in these areas had grown by 21 percent, with personal income increasing by 42 percent. Additionally, service jobs increased 41 percent from 2001-05.

Northern New Mexico has experienced similar economic benefits. In just one year following the designation of Río Grande del Norte, there was a 40 percent growth in the number of visitors to the national monument. Additionally, Taos County’s lodgers’ tax and gross receipts revenues from the accommodations and food service sector increased. As if that wasn’t enough, New Mexico’s tourism industry generated the largest economic impact in our state’s history for the sixth straight year in 2016. The result, nearly $6.3 billion was being added to the state’s economy, which supported a total of 90,400 jobs.

The outcome from protected public lands is clear — people and businesses located around places like the Río Grande del Norte National Monument reap the benefits of protection. The same research firm, Headwaters Economics, found that local economies surrounding the national monument had grown, with per capita income increasing as much as 27 percent.

Shockingly, Río Grande del Norte and Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks are threatened by a recent executive order from President Trump that directs the Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, to review certain national monuments, including both of these in New Mexico. That is why several small-business owners are in our nation’s capital this week defending their livelihoods. On the anniversary of the Antiquities Act, they are letting Congress and the Trump administration know that rescinding or shrinking our national monuments will undermine their bottom line.

Thankfully, we don’t need to travel to Washington, D.C., to make our voices heard. The Department of the Interior is accepting comments until July 10 from the American public on the future of our national monuments. We all know that the road to protecting our national monuments was decades long, but we need to speak up once again for our Land of Enchantment.

You can go to organmountains.org or riograndedelnorte.org, and tell Secretary Zinke and President Trump that you want to preserve Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks and Río Grande del Norte national monuments.

This op-ed was signed by Miyagishima, and the mayors of Red River, Questa, Taos, Mesilla and Sunland Park.