Commentary: VOTE TUESDAY, MAY 2 in the Doña Ana Soil & Water Conservation District election.
SWCDs were founded in 1935 as a response to the dust bowl. On April 2, 1935, scientist Hugh Bennett was asking the Senate Public Lands Committee for more money, and getting some opposition – until a huge dust storm swept over the Capitol.
State and federal laws give SWCDs the power to do real good. Noting that “the land, waters, and other natural resources are the basic physical assets of New Mexico, and their preservation and development are necessary to protect and promote the health and general welfare of the people of this state,” our Legislature charged SWCDs with fighting soil erosion and flood damage, furthering water conservation, promoting use of water for fish and wildlife (as well as human) needs, and conserving and developing the state's natural resources.
Unfortunately, the DASWCD board opposes true conservation measures. They haphazardly try to protect ranchers from any inconvenience, but do little toward the other goals. They opposed the new monument. And wolf reintroduction. One year they spent a portion of their small annual budget to hire someone to oppose a BLM planning document – although they hadn't identified any specific objection to it: as longtime DASWCD Chair Joe Delk said,“There's no telling what's hidden in the nooks and crannies of the words therein.” They even passed a resolution on Agenda 21, a well-meaning and idealistic wish-list put out by a U.N. Agency, favoring sustainability and better economic opportunity for all. It's nothing mandatory, but gets used to create fears that local governments will swear fealty to UNESCO or something.
The DASWCD also uses an unconstitutionally unequal voting scheme to keep the board from fairly representing us.
By contrast, in Belen we wanted to watch birds. Before dawn, we snuck into a great wildlife refuge on the outskirts of town. Later we realized Valencia County's SWCD was responsible for not only the refuge but a visitor center and education programs! There too, the chairman is an old rancher; but he understads the importance of conservation, to everyone. Our SWCD could have that kind of meaningful impact too.
The May 2 election involves two board seats.
Zone 4 (City of Las Cruces) contains most of the district's population. Environmentalist Craig Fenske opposes land-developer Kent Thurston, whom the current board would like to see elected. As a county extension agent in Washington, Fenske worked closely with SWCDs on education. He says he first learned of SWCDs “as a child from my grandfather, an Iowa farmer and an early adopter of conservation practices.” Thurston has a record of pushing the County's Extra-Territorial Zoning Authority to allow higher-density residences on his land, not one of pushing conservation.
Zone 3 includes Talavera, Las Alturas, and points South (East of Highway 478). Kevin Bixby is challenging Chairman Delk. Bixby, founder and CEO of Southwest Environmental Center, has a long and thoughtful history of caring about our environment and acting to protect it. Delk has written that that “environmental cartels” seek “to elevate a secular spiritualism while suppressing and diminishing the presence and importance of Christian men and women.” He envisions SWCDs as “a bastion of conservative leaders” to oppose those “environmental cartels.”
Delk says he's “a child of an all-powerful God,” but ignores the Biblical idea that in giving us this marvelous world God directed us to be faithful stewards of it.
Bixby advocates “simple, cost-effective things like rainwater harvesting and tree-planting” to help people and the environment.
Please take time to vote for a more balanced and conservationist board that truly represents us.
[The above column appeared in the Las Cruces Sun-News this morning, Sunday, 23 April 2017, as well as on the newspaper's website [www.lcsun-news.com/columnists/2017/04/23/vote-fenske-bixby-swcd-election] and on KRWG's website; and recorded (and modified) versions of these columns air on KRWG Radio on Wednesdays at 7:45 a.m. and 4:45 p.m.]
PLEASE NOTE POLLING LOCATIONS FOR THE MAY 2 ELECTION:
Anthony Municipal Complex, 820 Highway 478
Chaparral: Betty McKnight Community Center, 190 S. County Line
Las Cruces: Dona Ana County Government Center, 845 N. Motel Blvd.
Las Cruces: Good Samaritan Village Social Center, 3011 Buena Vida Circle
Las Cruces: Sage Cafe Community Center, 6121 Reynolds Drive
Mesquite: Vado/Del Cerro Community Center, 180 La Fe Ave.
OPEN 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Note: Only Zones 3 and Zone 4 board-members are up for election this year:
ZONE 3 is the area south of Highway 70- between Highway 478 (west) and the county line (east)
ZONE 4 is the City of Las Cruces.
There's no question about the responsibilities the DASWCD is intended to take on:
New Mexico Statute 73-20-26, "Legislative determination; purpose of act.", provides:
A. Considered and resolved by legislative determination, it is declared that:
(1) the land, waters and other natural resources are the basic physical assets of New Mexico, and their preservation and development are necessary to protect and promote the health and general welfare of the people of the state;
(2) the improper use of land and related natural resources, soil erosion and water loss result in economic waste in New Mexico through the deterioration of the state's natural resources; and
(3) appropriate corrective and conservation practices and programs must be encouraged and executed in New Mexico to conserve and develop beneficially the soil, water and other natural resources of the state.
B. It is declared to be the policy of the legislature and the purpose of the Soil and Water Conservation District Act [73-20-25 through 73-20-48 NMSA 1978] to:
(1) control and prevent soil erosion;
(2) prevent floodwater and sediment damage;
(3) further the conservation, development, beneficial application and proper disposal of water;
(4) promote the use of impounded water for recreation, propagation of fish and wildlife, irrigation and for urban and industrial needs; and
(5) by the application of these measures, conserve and develop the natural resources of the state, provide for flood control, preserve wildlife, protect the tax base and promote the health, safety and general welfare of the people of New Mexico.
Nowhere does the foregoing limit the group's charge to "supporting rancher's, whether or not the ranchers' activities promote conservation." Nowhere did the Legislature invite the group to oppose most or all legitimate conservation proposals.