Members of Congress launch assaults on our public lands

Our nation faces so many challenges in job creation, funding for Social Security, education, climate change, just to name a few. So I never imagined that the new Congress would begin its work with a war on America’s great outdoors.

In just its first two weeks of work after taking their oaths of office, the members of the 114th Congress have already introduced over a dozen proposals to roll back protections on the public lands and waters all Americans value.

That’s more than one attack per day, in the form of standalone bills and amendments to other legislation. This unprecedented attack would roll back decades of progress in protecting our prized open spaces and wild lands, home of much of our nation’s rich cultural history.

It would be comical, if it wasn’t so heartbreaking. In fact, as a member of Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, located near our nation’s southern border with Mexico, it feels as if I am at the crossroads of these attacks.

First, legislation has been introduced into both houses of Congress (H.R. 399 and S. 208) to waive many bedrock public land protection laws within 100 miles of our nation’s borders with Mexico and Canada.

Proponents of this legislation say we must allow U.S. Customs and Border Protection to build roads, barriers and other infrastruc- ture within wilderness areas and wildlife refuges.

This is merely a stealth attack to nullify conservation laws in the name of border protection — as if protecting our air and water is somehow at odds with our national security.

I don’t buy this false argument. We heard these same claims during the efforts to establish the Organ Mountains Desert Parks National Monument, with critics saying the monument would establish an “illegal immigration superhighway.”

Of course, these claims have not panned out and the sky has not fallen.

In fact, U.S. Department of Homeland Security leaders have said all along that collaborating with land managers leads to better outcomes.

Many other of the outlandish proposals from this new Congress would undermine the Antiquities Act, which both Republican and Democratic presidents have used over 140 times since 1906 to establish national monuments that protect public lands deemed important to our national character and heritage, including New Mexico icons such as Bandelier, White Sands and Carlsbad Caverns.

And finally, in what might be the brashest of these attacks was an effort by Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska to withdraw protections from tens of millions of acres of Western lands that are currently Wilderness Study Areas, including nearly one million acres in New Mexico.

From the Grand Canyon to the Statue of Liberty to Rio Grande del Norte and Chaco, these iconic places were set aside because they are an irreplaceable part of our identity. These are places where we hunt with our friends, camp with our families and enjoy the solitude and natural beauty our nation has to offer. These are places where Americans gather to connect with our shared heritage.

It is shameful that many in the new Congress do not value this heritage and seem more interested in leasing America’s public lands to private interests that would keep you and me out.

Along with many tribal, municipal and business leaders, veterans’ advocates, Hispanic organizations, sportsmen and other public land stakeholders, I support Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich for fighting these proposals and standing up for our heritage and America’s great outdoors.

Once these lands are developed or sold off, they’ll be gone forever. What will that say about us to future generations? It is our responsibility to protect and care for these sacred lands for our children and their children to come.