By Michael Coleman / Journal Washington Bureau
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez is voicing her support for Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s decision to review and possibly reduce the size of two national monuments in New Mexico. “I support a thorough review of the two national monuments to focus on the respective proclamations and the objects to be protected to analyze whether the designations make the best sense for New Mexico,” Martinez wrote to Zinke in a letter this week. Democrats in New Mexico’s congressional delegation strongly oppose altering the New Mexico monuments in any way. But Rep. Steve Pearce, a Republican who is running for governor in 2018, has said the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument is too large and hampers economic development. Martinez, a Republican who hails from Las Cruces, focused her five-page letter primarily on the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks Monument. She said the “sheer size and scope of the monument increases management complexity and requirements for all parties (federal, state, local, and private entities).” “The nearly 574,000 acres that encompass the (monument) may be greater than needed to address concerns of ‘theft from and destruction of archaeological sites,’ which was the original impetus for the (Antiquities) Act,” she wrote. “It is unclear how a larger designation better protects specific objects, especially since multiple federal laws, policies, and programs already exist to protect antiquities and archaeological sites.”...more
ReplyDeleteI am shocked at Governor Susana Martinez's anti-Monument stand. In 1947 President Harry Truman warned us about people like Governor Martinez and anti-wilderness Congressman Steve Pearce: “The battle for conservation cannot be limited to the winning of new conquests. Like liberty itself, conservation must be fought for unceasingly to protect earlier victories. There are always plenty of hogs who are trying to get natural resources for their own personal benefit …. We have to remain constantly vigilant to prevent raids by those who would selfishly exploit our common heritage for their private gain. Such raids on our natural resources are not examples of enterprise and initiative. They are attempts to take from all the people just for the benefit of a few.”
It appears that Governor Martinez, Congressman Pearce and his pirate band want to dole out federal land to their supporters under the disguise of private property rights and border security. Personally I am disgusted with and outraged by Mr. Pearce and his "behind the scenes" maneuvers to decimate our National Monument in Dona Ana County for strictly private selfish reasons. Our community overwhelmingly supports our National Monument. Governor Martinez is bowing to the GOP political dictates of Congressman Pearce. Maybe she hoping for a job in any Pearce administration.