Bingaman: Bill to Designate National Conservation Area in Northern New Mexico Clears Hurdle

U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today announced the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has cleared legislation he wrote to protect and enhance cultural, ecological, recreational, and scenic resources on public lands in Northern New Mexico. The bill is cosponsored by Senator Tom Udall. The "Río Grande Del Norte National Conservation Area Establishment Act" would protect approximately 236,000 acres of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management in Taos and Río Arriba counties by designating a combination of "conservation" and "wilderness" areas. Click here for a map and a picture. The vast majority of the land – 214,600 acres – would be managed as a conservation area. Two other areas – the 13,400-acre Cerro del Yuta on the east-side and the 8,000-acre Río San Antonio in the west – will be managed as wilderness...read more