Monday, May 11, 2015

Senators propose two north NM wilderness areas

Sens. Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall – both New Mexico Democrats – last week proposed two wilderness areas within the Río Grande del Norte National Monument northwest of Taos. The two proposed wilderness areas – dubbed the Cerro del Yuta Wilderness and Rio San Antonio Wilderness – would comprise 21,420 acres within the 242,500-acre national monument, which President Obama designated two years ago. According to the Bureau of Land Management, a federally designated wilderness area must “offer outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation,” and must be at least 5,000 acres or large enough to preserve and use as wilderness. It must also contain “ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, scenic, or historical value.” “For many years now, a broad coalition of northern New Mexicans has worked to conserve these two very special areas within the Río Grande del Norte National Monument,” said Heinrich, who last month received the National Park Heritage Award from the National Parks Conservation Association for his work on protecting public lands. “Designating these two wilderness areas completes a national example of community-driven, landscape-scale conservation that will preserve the culture, natural resources and economy of this stunning corner of New Mexico.”...more

Their press release is here and a map is here.

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