THE WESTERNER

Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.

Friday, September 17, 2010

NM outstanding water proposal comes under fire

New Mexico regulators are continuing to hear testimony from environmentalists who are backing a proposal to give special protection to headwater streams, lakes and wetlands in wilderness areas across the state. The New Mexico Supreme Court cleared the way for the hearing to begin in Santa Fe earlier this week, but critics say the court has yet to issue a final ruling on whether the state's petition to designate the streams and lakes as "outstanding national resource waters" meets regulations. Attorney Dan Dolan, who represents a statewide ranchers' group, says the court has given him until Sept. 24 to file a response. He's hopeful that means the court will look closer at the petition. Supporters of the petition say it would be "quite the injustice" if the court halted the proceedings now. AP

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: Why do we need to designate "outstanding waters" in wilderness areas? Wilderness areas are protected by the Wilderness Act. Anything beyond that is an attempt to disrupt what might come out of Wilderness areas. It is just like the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act which once passed attempted to put inflow status on the rivers and streams, bypassing the Office of the State Engineer in the states' water management. Any attempt by any group to manage the states' water must be protested.; 7:43 PM