Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

Already this year, several major environmental provisions have been signed into law.  I included several accomplishments in the Public Lands Omnibus Bill that will have a significant, positive impact in New Mexico.  Among them are the following:

• Prehistoric Trackways National Monument Establishment Act: This created a new national monument out of over 5,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management land in the Robledo Mountains in Doña Ana County.  The Monument will protect and preserve wilderness that includes 290 million-year old fossilized animal tracks for further scientific investigation.
• Fort Stanton-Snowy River Cave National Conservation Area Act: Southern New Mexico's Snowy River contains a more than 4-mile long continuous calcite-crystal bed, believed to be the longest of its kind in the world.  This provision permanently protects the Snowy River and surrounding areas for future research and educational purposes.
• Sabinoso Wilderness Act: This legislation established 2 million acres of wilderness in nine states, including the Sabinoso Wilderness in San Miguel County.  This wilderness will preserve the unique landscape of this remote area for future generations to enjoy.

I also recently introduced a bill that would designate more conservation areas in northern New Mexico; the El Río Grande Del Norte National Conservation Area Establishment Act would preserve over 235,000 acres of public land in the upper reaches of the Rio Grande Gorge, protecting migratory corridors, elk wintering grounds, and other natural habitats.  Two other wilderness areas would be established in this bill—the Cerro del Yuta Wilderness, which  would protect Ute Mountain, and the Río San Antonio Wilderness, whose protections would include the majestic canyons created by the Río San Antonio.

Establishing wilderness areas are important to preserve wildlife and natural areas, but we must also help restore wilderness that has been damaged already.  I recently introduced a mining law that would modernize land and financial management practices in hardrock mining while also providing environmental provisions that would improve fish and wildlife habitat that have been adversely affected by hardrock mining, such as water and minerals reclamation.

I have been a committed advocate for our environment and New Mexico's natural wilderness for years, and I was honored to be recognized by The Wilderness Society with the prestigious Ansel Adams Award.

I continue to work for the important cause of protecting our nation's special places.