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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Reports: New Mexico Public Lands ‘Worth More Wild’

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Friday, September 28, 2007   

Washington, D.C. – Two unrelated reports released Thursday have calculated the economic value of public lands in New Mexico and find that leaving wilderness intact provides long-term economic benefits, when compared to extracting resources through logging, mining or drilling. The findings counter the claims by some in the energy exploration industry, who expect an economic windfall from a growing energy boom in New Mexico and the rest of the Rockies.

Economist Jennifer Thacher from the University of New Mexico says research has found that New Mexico's unspoiled environment draws businesses and employees who value natural amenities and quality of life.

"Our research is showing that individuals in New Mexico have strong desires for the state's forest and wilderness areas."

Randall Coleman with Environment New Mexico says a bill before Congress would strengthen the 2001 Roadless Rule and help protect New Mexico’s wilderness from industrial development.

"It would safguard our national forests from new roads, and new oil and gas drilling."

One of the reports, from The Wilderness Society, finds the role of public lands and wilderness in Western economies is growing, while the importance of oil and gas and other industries is waning. A separate report from Environment New Mexico found that industrial use of New Mexico’s national forests jeopardizes the state’s source of clean drinking water and over $800 million-worth of tourism each year.

The reports are online at http://www.wilderness.org/Library/Documents/NaturalDividends.cfm and https://www.environmentnewmexico.org/reports.




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