Senate adoption of lands package is a big win for New Mexico’s water and wildlife

The package includes ten new wilderness areas, totaling roughly 241,000 acres, within the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks, and two new wilderness areas, totaling 21,500 acres, within the Río Grande del Norte. Wilderness designation provides the highest level of protection for our public lands.

The following statement is from Michael Casaus, New Mexico state director for The Wilderness Society:

“There aren’t many bills pending in Congress as important to New Mexico as this lands package. In addition to ensuring we continue benefitting from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, this bill could ensure that our state’s wildest lands are protected for future generations.

Climate change and energy development are wreaking havoc on public lands when instead these same lands could serve as a tool in the fight against global warming. Wilderness protections mean that Congress understands the importance of taking care of unspoiled and untrammeled lands as a way of ensuring we have clean water, clean air, and a safe place for wildlife to call home for a long, long time.

Thanks to the leadership of senators Udall and Heinrich, this bill now moves on to the House, where we hope they will take swift action and send it on to the president to sign into law.”