Good so far on the Rio Grande del Norte
So far, so good.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s recommendations to the president on national monuments don’t include any changes to the boundaries of the two New Mexico’s monuments under scrutiny — Rio Grande del Norte and Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks down south.
But Zinke this week left open the question of whether management rules for the monuments should be changed. Any final decisions — including on boundaries — will be up to President Donald Trump, who asked for the review of national monuments designations. Trump has described monuments created by past presidents as a “massive federal land grab.”
As reported by the Journal’s Michael Coleman, Zinke told reporters Tuesday that some in New Mexico’s agricultural community have expressed concerns that livestock grazing could be curtailed at the Rio Grande del Norte.
But there’s been no proof that grazing — specifically protected under former President Barack Obama’s 2013 Rio Grande del Norte declaration — has been or could be hurt by the monument designation.
One northern New Mexico ranching group has complained there has been reduced access to grazing lands and that roads have been closed. But Sarah Schlanger, Taos Field Office manager for the Bureau of Land Management, told the Journal in October that no roads have been closed since the Rio Grande del Norte was created and that roads have been maintained as they were previously. Schlanger also said that none of the area’s grazing permittees had failed to renew grazing permits. The BLM manages the Rio Grande del Norte.
Facts matter, or they should. If any grazing operation has been blocked off or otherwise restricted because of the Rio Grande del Norte monument designation, it’s time for the ranchers who’ve got Zinke’s attention to show the proof.
Otherwise, the Trump administration should leave management of this beautiful piece of northern New Mexico — which includes the Rio Grande Gorge, Ute Mountain and about 245,000 acres in all — as it is.