Today, sportsmen and community members in southern New Mexico spoke out against Representative Pearce’s new legislation to remove wilderness protections from some lands within Luna and Hidalgo County.
H.R. 3478, the Luna and Hidalgo Counties Wilderness Study Area Release Act of 2015, would remove existing wilderness protections (Wilderness Study Areas are managed as wilderness) from many of southern New Mexico’s most iconic and ecologically diverse public backcountry hunting grounds which include the Florida, Peloncillo, Hachita, Cowboy Rim in the Animas Mountains and Alamo Hueco Mountains. The new legislation drew the immediate strong opposition from sportsmen.
“Sportsmen stand in strong opposition to this bill. It is an attack on our public lands and way of life. Special treasures like the Florida Mountains and Cooke’s Peak would lose their valued protections under this bill. Pearce’s bill would open our prized natural areas to development and fragmentation that would lead to the loss of hunting opportunities and impact unique native game species such as Mearns quail, Coues deer and desert bighorn sheep. The Florida Mountains are the only place in the United States that hold a huntable population of Persian ibex. This is a terrible bill for the Land of Enchantment,” said John Cornell, sportsman and representative of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation.
Ray Trejo, a multigenerational New Mexican and Deming native did not mince words on the issue. “The county commissioners in Hidalgo and Luna counties kowtow to minority special interests who simply want to exploit these lands for their resources. They seem to care little for the long term stewardship of these special places which belong equally to all Americans. They also seem to forget that the NM recreation economy – which includes hunting and fishing – is a 6.1 billion dollar industry that supports 47,000 direct jobs throughout the state. This is a sustainable and explosive industry that only requires us to maintain the integrity of these singular public landscapes. The places Congressman Pearce and the county commissioners want to degrade are my favorite backcountry hunting grounds and we’ll be damned if we’ll let them be pillaged under our watch!”
“Once again Congressman Pearce is trying to reduce protections of our public lands that we cherish for horseback riding, hiking, hunting, and wildlife. Congressman Pearce has not asked for our input, and seems to be only working on behalf of special interests,” said Pat Buls, President of the Lower Rio Grande Chapter of the Back Country Horsemen of America.
Henry Parra, a resident of Deming in Luna County added, “Wilderness Study Areas (WSA) give our public lands the highest level of protection. Removing the WSA designation would reduce the protection and could lead to the selloff and destruction of our natural resources. These beautiful lands and great habitat deserve our continued full protection, now and into the future.”