SANTA FE, N.M. - Los votantes de Nuevo México no en todo están de acuerdo, pero sí cuando se trata de la protección del medio ambiente y la manera de vivir del Oeste.

Sin importar a qué partido político pertenezcan, manifiestan abiertamente su apoyo a la protección de tierras públicas y monumentos nacionales. Una encuesta recientemente publicada por el Colorado College, arrojó que el 67 por ciento de los votantes de Nuevo México se declararon a favor de la conservación. La encuesta fue conducida por dos organizaciones, una demócrata y la otra republicana. El encuestador demócrata Dave Metz, socio de la firma Fairbank, Maslin, Maulin, Metz y Asociados, dice que la idea de que al reducir las regulaciones ambientales se generarían más empleos, fue rechazada en la encuesta por la mayoría de los votantes.

“En el caso de empleos, un margen del 47 al 30 por ciento de los votantes opinaron que creen que esas leyes impactan de manera positiva a los empleos en lugar de una manera negativa.”

La encuesta “Conservación en el Oeste” abarcó seis estados del poniente; los encuestados de todos los estados manifestaron que prefieren leyes más estrictas en lugar de leyes más relajadas -y se inclinaron por una mejora en la manera de hacer cumplir las leyes actuales.

Mary Lee Ortega, presidenta de la organización comunitaria OLÉ, "Organizers in the Land of Enchantment" (Organizadores en la Tierra de Encanto), que trabaja por la reforma económica del estado, está convencida de que la economía del estado está directamente vinculada con la tierra y que las maravillas naturales de Nuevo México proveen de ingresos directos e indirectos a los residentes. Dice que a través de los años la suavización de las leyes ambientales ha afectado negativamente a la Tierra del Encanto.

"Tuviste durante ocho años un presidente que relajó las normas y aquí seguimos recuperándonos de lo que llaman la gran recesión. No creó empleos, la gente perdió su empleo."

En Nuevo México, 70 por ciento de los encuestados opinó que aumentar las fuentes de energía renovable, como la solar o la eólica, creará nuevos empleos. Quienes condujeron la investigación dicen que esa visión fue consistente sin importar la edad o la filiación política de la persona. Sólo el 12 por ciento respondió que cree que se perderían empleos.

La encuestadora republicana Lori Weigel, de "Public Opinion Strategies" (Estrategias de Opinión Pública), comenta que también existe un fuerte acuerdo que supera las distancias políticas, respecto a que el medio ambiente y la economía pueden coexistir.

"Tres cuartas partes de los votantes republicanos e independientes piensan que debiéramos ser capaces de tener una economía fuerte y protecciones a la tierra y al agua al mismo tiempo. El porcentaje de demócratas fue de 84 por ciento, pero incluso tres cuartas partes de los partidarios del Tea Party respondieron lo mismo."

Weigel agrega que la gente encuestada en los seis estados calificó las tierras públicas de "esenciales" para la economía de sus estados, y apoya decididamente la conservación y el mantenimiento de los parques estatales, al margen de los problemas presupuestales.


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Conservation groups are rejoicing over the decision Friday by the Biden administration to reject a proposed mining road in Alaska.

The 211-mile Ambler Road would have sliced through the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, severing the migration route for a Western Arctic Caribou herd.

Alex Johnson, interior Alaska director for the National Parks Conservation Association, said it was important for the feds to take a stand in Alaska so mining interests do not start eyeing other national parks.

"This is a very expensive, destructive and just highly speculative project that does not in any way support our clean energy goals as a country," Johnson contended. "And ultimately would permanently threaten the health and well-being of local communities and the tribes."

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski slammed the decision, warning it could limit jobs and tax revenues for Alaska by preventing exploration for minerals she said are important to national security, like copper, cobalt, gallium and germanium.

Jayme Dittmar, a photographer and filmmaker from Fairbanks, said the road would have been very disruptive to the 66 Native American villages along the proposed route.

"That'd be 168 trucks passing through close vicinity to the villages," Dittmar pointed out. "There would be hundreds of bridges built. It would dismantle a subsistence livelihood that's been in place for thousands and thousands of years."

The road was seen as a negative for tourism to the Brooks Range area. According to the Alaska Travel Industry Association, Californians make up 9% of visitors to Alaska.

Arizona conservation groups and sportsmen alike say they're pleased the Bureau of Land Management will now recognize conservation as an integral part of public lands management.

The agency's new rule puts protecting the environment on par with other land-use priorities.

Scott Garlid, executive director of the Arizona Wildlife Federation, said historically the BLM has done what he termed a "pretty good job," not only managing about 12 million acres of public lands in Arizona, but also protecting natural resources.

"They've got a tough job," Garlid acknowledged. "I think this rule helps make their job a little bit easier because it gives them some tools to balance those different demands on the 12 million acres that they manage."

Garlid predicted the rule will raise what he terms "harder-to-quantify conservation values" to the same level of importance as more extractive land uses like oil and gas exploration and mining. He thinks most Arizonans will recognize the new rule as a positive. A solid majority of Arizona voters across party lines say they are conservationists and use public lands for recreation.

To Garlid, the rule makes it clear the BLM is recognizing certain parts of federal lands, in Arizona and around the West, have been degraded. He contended restoration leases will be a good tool, allowing the BLM to lease acres to groups specifically to improve the conditions on a given landscape. He noted opponents of the new rule might see the leases as a way to "lock up" land but he argued it is not true.

"One example could be a nonprofit, like the Arizona Wildlife Federation," Garlid pointed out. "We could get a conservation lease from the Bureau of Land Management to do riparian restoration work, or work to remove invasive species along a creek bank."

According to the BLM, while a restoration or mitigation lease is in place, casual uses of the leased lands like recreation, hunting, fishing and research activities would generally continue.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

State and federal agencies are collaborating to increase the use of prescribed fires in the Northwest.

Prescribed fire is the controlled use of burns to minimize the larger risks of wildfires and smoke. It is seen as an increasingly important strategy as wildfire seasons pose greater threats to the Northwest.

Casey Sixkiller, Northwest regional administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said authorities want to work together to maintain forest habitats.

"Prescribed burn is one of the best tools we have for making our forests more resilient against catastrophic wildfires and they help to manage and target hazardous fuels and make for healthier forests," Sixkiller explained.

Sixkiller pointed out the EPA is involved because wildfire smoke poses risks to people's health. The collaboration is between federal agencies, departments in Oregon and Washington, and tribal governments.

Sixkiller noted the collaboration needed a formal agreement to move forward.

"That is what we've been able to do here with this agreement," Sixkiller emphasized. "To get federal land managers and states and us all in the same room, making sure that we're all on the same page about what success looks like."

Sixkiller added the collaboration has another advantage: It helps drive engagement with communities potentially in the path of prescribed burns.

"They have the confidence that the effort that's gone into planning that activity has been thought out from soup to nuts," Sixkiller acknowledged. "And that they have a seat at the table and are being engaged and their concerns are being addressed as we go forward with that activity."


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