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opinion guest_columns
Saturday, April 18, 2009
New Laws Will Help N.M. Deal With Climate Change
By Terry Sullivan
Director, The Nature Conservancy-N.M.
Every year, springtime brings stiff winds and welcomed warm temperatures to New Mexico.
However, if it seems that the time between crisp autumn days and hot summer nights is shrinking, that is because for most of our state, it is.
According to a report on climate change released by The Nature Conservancy, New Mexico is not only warmer than it was 30 years ago, spring runoff is now happening on average 10 days earlier.
In fact, more than 95 percent of the state has experienced average temperature increases with the greatest rise in winter and spring.
The 1.7 degree average increase is hardly noticeable to humans, but to our natural systems — the lands and waters upon which we all depend — the change is causing significant stress.
Recently, a huge step was taken toward understanding and addressing the effects of climate change. In a vote that was supported by the state's entire congressional delegation, the Omnibus Public Lands Bill passed the House and Senate and was signed into law by President Obama.
This historic and bipartisan act supports many crucial efforts at the local, state and national levels to conserve natural places and wildlife. Specifically, two of the bill's components hold promise for New Mexico as we confront the changes brought on by climate change — the Forest Landscape Restoration Program and the SECURE Water Act.
In New Mexico, millions of acres of forests are in poor health; putting people and nature at risk. In fact, we have already seen a significant piñon forest dieback affecting tourism, wood cutting and real estate values.
The Forest Landscape Restoration Act could help devastated forests, like those in the Jemez Mountains, by establishing a competitive process to select and fund large-landscape projects that restore forests with high wildfire risks and declining health.
Many benefits would accrue if the Jemez Mountains are selected as one of the 10 landscapes nationally:
• The Forest Service and Valles Caldera National Preserve would be able to pay for 50 percent of forest treatment costs out of the Forest Landscape Restoration Fund.
• Forest workers would have more projects to keep them employed.
• Local businesses would have 10 years worth of wood and biomass to turn into energy, wood pellets, vigas and other value-added products.
Plants and animals that depend on healthy forests and streams will have a much greater likelihood of long-term survival as a result of this better management.
The Nature Conservancy's climate change study shows that New Mexico has already experienced changes in the distribution of rain and snowfall that affect water supplies.
The SECURE Water Act will help address this by developing strategies to better forecast impacts of water availability for our homes, agriculture, hydroelectric power, industry and wildlife habitat.
Another provision of the act creates a permanent program to restore rivers and the plants, fish and other animals that depend on them.
This authorization is great news for the San Juan, Pecos and Gila rivers, which support not only diverse wildlife, but also irrigate farms and provide drinking water for local communities.
The climate impacts already felt in our state are real, yet are not cause for despair.
Thanks to Sen. Jeff Bingaman and the rest of the New Mexico delegation, we have new programs — the Forest Landscape Restoration Act and the SECURE Water Act — that will be critical to the long-term health of the New Mexico's important lands and waters.
The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. www.nature.org
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