Monday, January 23, 2017

After meeting with Zinke, Udall says " I don't believe that Congressman Zinke will push to change the status of New Mexico's monuments"

After meeting with Ryan Zinke, Senator Udall issued a statement which included the following:

Congressman Zinke and I also discussed the importance of public lands to our American heritage and economy. And as a fellow Westerner, he made clear that he appreciates that public lands mean more than recreation opportunities — they are an important way to stimulate jobs and economic development in rural communities. The recently designated Rio Grande del Norte and Organ Mountains Desert Peaks national monuments have already helped create jobs, and New Mexicans overwhelmingly support them. So I'm very concerned about the effort by some Republicans in Congress to roll back recent national monument designations and sell off federal lands. I asked Congressman Zinke to honor monument designations in New Mexico and others, such as the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. While I would have liked to hear stronger support for protecting public lands throughout the country and a pledge not to roll back protections and designations that are already in place, I don't believe that Congressman Zinke will push to change the status of New Mexico's monuments.

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