A holiday season celebration of New Mexico’s public lands

The 60-foot blue spruce currently decorating the West Lawn of the United States Capitol traveled a long way to be there. From Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico, the Capitol Christmas Tree trekked almost 2,000 miles over a two-week span to reach our nation’s capital. It’s exciting that a little piece of New Mexico, adorned with lights and ornaments, is providing some much-needed holiday cheer to Washington, D.C. But the tree is also a powerful reminder of the beauty and bounty of our public lands — both here in New Mexico and nationwide — and the need to protect them.

Why is the Carson National Forest such a good reminder? Because like dozens of other public parks and recreational sites in our state, it has received funding from the popular Land and Water Conservation Fund. This federal program, which provides the funds for national, state and local entities to acquire or enhance open space, has helped develop Carson by adding historically and ecologically important land to the forest. Beyond that, LWCF funds have been used to help create and enhance national parks, forests, hiking trails, city ballfields and other outdoor places across our state.

Not only does this funding benefit projects from the Petroglyph National Monument to local neighborhood ball fields and skateparks, but also it does so without costing taxpayers a dime. All the money for it comes from offshore drilling royalties.

Despite all this upside, the LWCF has been forced to travel a rocky road in Washington, DC.

For decades, federal legislators routinely voted to keep the program going. However, Congress dragged its feet last year when it came to reauthorizing the program, leading to a campaign to bring attention to the fund. Thankfully, Congress paid attention when it permanently reauthorized the fund earlier this year with overwhelming bipartisan support.

While this was a massive step forward, the fight to get Congress to prioritize our parks and public lands is not over. The reason: The LWCF has historically operated at only partial strength. The program is supposed to receive $900 million a year, but it has only been fully funded twice in its 54-year history. In all, Congress has diverted $22 billion from the LWCF to non-conservationrelated projects.

This means that the LWCF has a future, but to what degree is uncertain. Until Congress assures that funds are wholly channeled toward the program, we can’t be certain that beloved places like the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge and the Gila National Forest — both of which have received money from the LWCF — are properly protected. As a result, we must all speak out for permanent funding.

Congress is now considering legislation — HR 3195 and S 1081 — that would guarantee the LWCF receives its full funding every year. We must show our federal representatives that our parks and public lands are New Mexico priorities.

So, as we push to protect outdoor spaces and recreational places, we hope that the Capitol Christmas Tree, hailing from our fine state, serves as a reminder that during this holiday season of giving, we must do our part to steward and protect nature.