OPINION: The sound of water, not engines: Protecting our high-desert oases

I like to hike, particularly in the mountains of northern New Mexico. From Albuquerque, I can reach trailheads in the Jemez Mountains in less than two hours and spend all day in terrain that varies from cool, green meadow streams to redrock cliffs and canyons. I also like to fly-fish, so frequently I carry my favorite pack rod, a box of flies and a small tool kit so that I can fish or hike, as conditions and my mood suit me. I am attracted to mountain streams and the riparian areas they support not only for fishing, but also for their quiet solitude and for the rare cold-water habitat they provide in our otherwise high desert region. However, 1.6 million protected acres of New Mexico’s backcountry forestland are now at risk because the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which runs the Forest Service, has proposed to rescind the Roadless Area Conservation Rule: a rule that prevents logging, roadbuilding and other harmful activities in our wild forests.

Early on, I recognized the fragility of some of my favorite places. Stream crossings for off-road vehicles transform pristine waterways into mudholes. Off-road car campers drive through wet meadows to set up massive camps. Trash and abandoned fire rings left behind by car campers on stream banks kill vegetation and erode into the water.

The common denominator is easy access by mechanized vehicles. Once roads are built, people drive deep into our forested landscape and many of them are not educated in the conservation ethic that is expressed in respect for the land.

This has been a problem as long as motorized vehicles have been around. In 2001, the government finally did something about it, implementing the Roadless Rule. This important regulation prohibits the construction of new roads and industrial-scale logging in specific areas of U.S. national forests. It has served us well for 25 years, but now the Trump administration has initiated a rescission of the rule. If finalized, the undoing of the rule will have massive, severe consequences for us and for future New Mexicans.

All of us have an obligation to protect, preserve and restore the landscapes that we inhabit in our brief time on Earth. Some years ago, my fly-fishing and conservation interests led me to discover New Mexico Trout — a collection of people who not only like to fly-fish, but who recognize their responsibility to protect the streams the fish inhabit. For more than 40 years, our volunteers have worked on projects all over the state: from habitat improvement for native Rio Grande cutthroat trout in the Carson National Forest to implementing vehicle barriers on streams in the Jemez Ranger District. We do what we can to leave places better than when we found them.

We know the value of roadless areas. Because they have not been degraded, they require no remediation to safeguard clean water and wildlife. We like to fish areas beyond roadheads, where we can hike along streams to their upper parts where we find wild, stream-bred trout. There, the only sounds we hear are birds in the trees and water pouring over rocks. We’ve had to work hard to get there, but the place is worth it. It’s like a green oasis in the middle of our high desert, but for the moment it’s all ours.

We want that experience for others, too. This means fighting for it. New Mexico’s congressional delegation has spoken in support of the rule. We need Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to do the same. One of the best ways to keep New Mexico the Land of Enchantment is to keep the Roadless Rule.

Ron Loehman is the conservation chairman of New Mexico Trout, an all-volunteer nonprofit based in New Mexico dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of trout fishing in New Mexico.