February 16, 2017

Senators Tom Udall (D-NM) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) introduced bills to designate portions of national monuments in New Mexico as national wilderness areas. The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks Conservation Act (S.441) and the Cerros del Norte Conservation Act (S.432) would create new wilderness areas. The National Wilderness designation is the highest level of federal protection that can be attributed to regions. The designation prohibits motorized vehicles, road building, and energy development. Official wilderness areas may only be designated by Congress under the Wilderness Act of 1964.

The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks Conservation Act would designate eight different wild land regions spanning more than 240,000 acres as national wilderness. These areas include the Organ, Potrillo, Las Uvas, and Robledo mountains, and the Aden Lava Flow. The Cerros del Norte Conservation Act would designate 21,240 acres within the 242,500-acre Rio Grande del Norte National Monument as national wilderness. This acreage includes a large symmetrical volcanic dome.

Sources: Senate.gov, Congress.gov, Bureau of Land Management