Earth Day a reminder to save our national treasures
Leave protections for Organ Mountains and Río Grande del Norte intact
Last Earth Day in 2017, the people we know celebrated doing regular Earth Day things, like neighborhood cleanups and public lands volunteer projects. They connected with neighbors, played with their children, and gave back to their communities — unaware that their worlds were soon to be turned upside down.
Four days later, on April 26, 2017, President Donald Trump would sign the executive order directing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to “review” certain national monuments, including Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks and Río Grande del Norte.
As business owners, the executive order hit us hard. We worked with our communities for years to protect these places, and joined sportsmen, veterans, tribal governments, conservationists, horsemen, ranchers and more to preserve these special public lands.
People come from near and far to explore and learn from our national monuments, and our communities benefit from those visits. For example, the average annual visitation to Río Grande del Norte National Monument since its designation has been over 180,000 people, an increase of 45 percent. In southern New Mexico, visitation to Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks increased by 152 percent from 2015 to 2016. Furthermore, New Mexico broke record tourism numbers again in 2016, with the state’s public lands being one of the largest draws. To say that these monuments have had a positive economic impact on our communities would be an understatement.
When our friends and neighbors found out about the review, folks decided once again to defend and celebrate our national monuments.
Three days after the executive order was signed, over 300 community members attended a rally led by the mayors of Las Cruces, Mesilla and Anthony to defend Organ MountainsDesert Peaks. And when Ryan Zinke flew to Las Cruces to “review” the national monument in-person, nearly 700 people attended a town hall — which Secretary Zinke declined to attend — to show their support for the monument. Tribal leadership joined local elected officials, veterans, business owners and citizens to speak in one voice. The long list of community events celebrating Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks over the past year includes Yoga on the Monument, many hikes, the Wild & Scenic Film Festival, and volunteer events on National Public Lands Day.
In northern New Mexico, there was a local rally in Taos last May in response to the executive order. Additionally, that same month there was a Matanza on the Monument where over 200 veterans who fought to protect America’s public lands and monuments came together with sportsmen to celebrate the Río Grande del Norte National Monument. The local community spent time in the national monument with Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and recently there was a Business Roundtable event and Fishing on the Monument. Throughout it all, Sens. Udall and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., have stood by our sides defending our livelihoods and the places we call home. In fact, they recently introduced the Antiquities Act of 2018, codifying our country’s national monuments.
The support did not stop at community events and gatherings. During the review, nearly 3 million comments were submitted in favor of preserving national monuments, including more than 100,000 from New Mexicans, with 94 percent of comments from the Land of Enchantment in support of continued protection of our national monuments. Additionally, more than 1,000 veterans from across the country, including New Mexico, signed a letter urging President Trump to leave our national monuments intact.
Thankfully, Zinke did not recommend boundary changes for our national monuments. However, he did recommend changes that could forever alter the characters of these unique places by allowing development, energy exploration and other activities that could harm our businesses that depend on protected public lands.
So, one year later, our national monuments are still at risk, and our livelihoods are in question. We ask President Donald Trump to listen to the veterans, sportsmen, small-business owners and his own supporters and leave protections for our national monuments intact.