Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

WASHINGTON – The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee today heard testimony in favor of legislation U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman wrote that would protect and enhance cultural, natural, recreational, and scenic resources on public lands in Northern New Mexico.  The bill is cosponsored by Senator Tom Udall.

Bingaman’s “El Río Grande Del Norte National Conservation Area Establishment Act” would protect approximately 235,980 acres of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management in Taos and Río Arriba counties by designating a combination of “conservation” and “wilderness” areas.

The vast majority of the land – 214,560 acres – would be managed as a conservation area.  Two other areas – the 13,420-acre Cerro del Yuta on the east-side and the 8,000-acre Río San Antonio in the west – will be managed as wilderness. 

“This bill will help protect and preserve an area that includes, among many things, extinct volcano cinder cones, piñon juniper woodlands, and high mesa sagebrush grasslands.  The area includes important cultural resources that reflect the settlement of the area by Pueblo Indians and later by early Hispanic settlers,” said Bingaman, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

“This bill is important in preserving wilderness and conservation areas around the Ute and San Antonio Mountains in Northern New Mexico.  I am happy to work with Sen. Bingaman to ensure passage of the El Rio Grande Del Norte National Conservation Area Establishment Act so we can continue to preserve the unique cultural and natural resources found in these areas of our state,” said Udall.

Among those testifying before the Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests in favor of Bingaman’s bill was Ned Farquhar, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management at the Department of the Interior (DOI).  Farquhar served as senior advisor on energy and the environment to Gov. Bill Richardson prior to joining DOI.

“Senator Bingaman’s bill is the product of many years of discussions and collaboration with the local community, stakeholders, and other interested parties.  It protects both the valuable resources of the area and the way of life in this unique area of northern New Mexico,” Farquhar said before the committee.

The bill would designate as a conservation area the upper reaches of the Rio Grande Gorge previously designated as a Wild and Scenic River, protecting elk wintering grounds and habitat along the plateau between Ute Mountain and San Antonio Mountain for other game species and raptors, including peregrine falcons and bald eagles. 

The Cerro del Yuta Wilderness will protect Ute Mountain, a forested extinct volcano which rises to more than 10,000 feet from an elevation of about 7,600 feet at its base.  The Río San Antonio Wilderness Area lies northwest of San Antonio Mountain and is currently managed as a Wilderness Study Area by the Bureau of Land Management.  Its unique character is shaped by the 200-foot-deep canyon formed by the waters of the Río San Antonio that bisects the wilderness area. 

The bill is the culmination of more than two years of work with members of the local community, and because of that input, earlier drafts were revised to specifically mention that the collection of piñon nuts and firewood is permissible within the conservation area.  In addition, existing grazing within the conservation area will be preserved consistent with current management practices.

Bingaman’s bill has the support of Governor Richardson, the New Mexico State House of Representatives, the Taos County Commission, the Pueblo of Taos, the Taos County Chamber of Commerce and numerous other businesses and organizations.