"Great Outdoors America Week" Celebrates NM's Natural Treasures
Monday, June 23, 2014
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - From Carlsbad Caverns National Park to Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, New Mexico's outdoor treasures will be celebrated starting Monday for 'Great Outdoors America Week.'
Joel Gay, communications director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, said the event is also meant to raise awareness about the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
"The fund has been used to purchase and maintain softball fields, municipal parks and national monuments," said Gay, "and make a wide range of improvements in our national forests."
The fund was created by Congress nearly 50 years ago, but it expires next year.
According to Gay, fees paid by oil and gas companies drilling offshore help to safeguard wildlife habitat and clean water onshore. But, he noted the LWCF has been fully funded to its $900 million cap only twice in the past half-century.
The group Sportsmen for Access has launched a national campaign urging Congress to renew the fund.
Randy Newberg is the campaign's spokesman, and host of the Sportsman Channel's show 'Fresh Tracks.'
"The Paloma Mountain area, the Gila and Carson National Forests," said Newberg, "all of these places that are such amazing landscapes for wildlife and outdoor recreation. None of those would have happened without the Land and Water Conservation Fund."
Sportsmen for Access is also hosting an online voting contest between popular outdoor recreation areas in New Mexico and four other states. The organization will share the results with leaders in Washington. New Mexico locations in the survey include Carson National Forest, the Gila Wilderness and Rio Grande del Norte National Monument.
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