OPINION: Federal bill threatens NM outdoors

A new bill introduced by Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, would carelessly undermine thriving local recreation economies and threaten generations of outdoor heritage.

I have trekked through New Mexico’s rugged backcountry all my life, from the Carson National Forest in northern New Mexico to the Gila Wilderness and Aldo Leopold Wilderness in the south hunting deer and elk with my family. For me and many New Mexicans, hunting, fishing, recreation and conservation on these breathtaking public lands is a core part of our identity — one that is now under attack by recently proposed policies.

Daines’ bill would pave the way for drilling in some of our state’s most prized wildlife habitats just so big corporations can make a quick buck. If this bill becomes law, oil and gas companies would be able to drill on 200 million acres of public lands across the nation, regardless of what ecosystems these lands support or how important they are to our communities.

This proposal cuts the public from decision-making around our collectively-owned public lands. We know how to take care of our public lands — having hunted and recreated on them for generations.

These unparalleled landscapes are home to fragile ecosystems, wildlife habitats, and recreation hot spots that draw visitors from across the state and country.

Recent polling shows that a strong majority of New Mexicans want our leaders to place more emphasis on protecting water, air, wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities rather than maximizing the number of acres of public lands that are available for oil and gas drilling. These numbers also show that 87% of people in New Mexico would rather have professionals like rangers, scientists and firefighters making decisions about public lands, water and wildlife instead of newly appointed officials from other industries.

The oil and gas industry is important to New Mexico’s economy, but that doesn’t mean industry should be able to drill every last acre of our public lands. We know that factors like wildlife habitat and migration corridors for big game must be considered when deciding where oil and gas development should occur.

We also know the oil and gas industry has a history of attempting to lease in areas that put our rural communities and areas with cultural and ecological value at unnecessary risk. Bipartisan pushback from the public has been instrumental through the years in empowering communities to say “no” to leasing when oil and gas companies have crossed a line. Yet, Daines’ legislation would remove the Bureau of Land Management’s authority to take lands off the table when the public expresses concern over a lease sale, getting in the way of the BLM’s ability to make sure our public lands continue to be enjoyed and open to the communities they are meant to serve.

After a year of record-breaking oil and gas production under the current system, why would we make changes that unnecessarily put our public lands at risk?

We can’t throw our entire way of life aside and let the federal agency tasked with ensuring Americans have the freedom to enjoy and recreate on our public lands become nothing more than a rubber stamp for the oil and gas industry. Congress must uphold the bipartisan call from Western communities, including those in New Mexico, and stand firmly against these attacks on the wildlife, local recreation economies, and clean air and water that we all depend on.