HOUSE ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES

 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE MEMORIAL 43

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2016

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOREST SERVICE AND THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS TO CONSIDER ALTERNATIVE DESIGNATIONS THAT DO NOT AFFECT MEANINGFUL ACCESS FOR TRADITIONAL USES FOR LANDS PROPOSED TO BE PART OF AN EXPANDED PECOS WILDERNESS AREA AND FOR ANY OTHER WILDERNESS PROPOSALS IN NEW MEXICO AND TO INCLUDE TRADITIONAL FOREST-DEPENDENT, "GATEWAY" AND LAND GRANT COMMUNITIES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANY DESIGNATION AND MANAGEMENT PLANS FOR THESE LANDS.

     WHEREAS, for generations, small, rural and historically isolated communities in New Mexico have depended on the health of the surrounding forests, grasslands and rivers as their primary sources of food, medicine, fuel, building materials and water; and

     WHEREAS, the health and vitality of these communities have traditionally been more dependent on the health of their environment than on commerce with urban centers; and

     WHEREAS, as a consequence of this dependence on natural systems, New Mexico developed a multitude of cultures that are rooted in a connection to land and water; and

     WHEREAS, in recent decades, traditional forest-dependent, "gateway" and land grant communities have experienced increasing restrictions on and denial of their traditional access to and use of adjacent lands and waters; and

     WHEREAS, as these restrictions and denials have grown, the traditional economy of these communities has been undercut, and many formerly self-reliant families have become at least partially dependent on government assistance; and

     WHEREAS, a national forest should not only be a place that families visit, it should also be a partner that they work with on a daily basis to ensure that the next generation does not lose understanding of natural systems, including the importance of periodic grass fires, the value of beaver dams and the care that humans need to take when using wild lands; and

     WHEREAS, the health and safety of traditional forest-dependent, gateway and land grant communities remain dependent on the health of their surrounding lands, particularly with regard to the quantity and quality of water flowing from them and their susceptibility to catastrophic wildfire; and

     WHEREAS, the Pecos and other wilderness areas sit within national forest lands that border several traditional forest-dependent, gateway and land grant communities throughout New Mexico, and the United States department of agriculture forest service will be evaluating proposals to expand the Pecos and other wilderness areas; and

     WHEREAS, a wilderness designation is one of the most restrictive land management alternatives available for national forest land; and

     WHEREAS, in some cases, these wilderness designations have affected the ability for traditional forest-dependent, gateway and land grant communities to meaningfully access certain traditional uses; and

     WHEREAS, all five national forests in New Mexico, including the Carson, Cibola, Gila, Lincoln and Santa Fe national forests, are currently undergoing a forest plan revision process to update their forest management plans; and

     WHEREAS, each national forest is federally required, as part of the forest plan revision, to inventory and assess all forest system lands to determine which, if any, lands have wilderness character and, upon identification of such lands, evaluate them for determining how those lands should be managed; and

     WHEREAS, in the past, these evaluations did not include considerations for socioeconomic or cultural impacts on traditional forest-dependent, gateway and land grant communities; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico recently experienced the creation of alternative land management protections, for the Rio Grande del Norte national monument, that specifically retain certain traditional uses, such as harvesting pinon nuts and wood gathering, and in which adjacent gateway communities were provided a meaningful role in the development of the land management plan;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that special care be exercised with regard to changing and developing the land management methods for the national forest lands to maintain local cultural values, to ensure watershed health, to protect meaningful access for traditional uses and to allow government agencies to respond to wildfires; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States department of agriculture forest service be requested to provide traditional forest-dependent, gateway and land grant communities, Indian pueblos and acequias with a meaningful role in the development of appropriate and beneficial designations and management plans for lands under its jurisdiction; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States department of agriculture forest service be requested to engage in an immediate dialogue with all the traditional forest-dependent, gateway and land grant communities of all the national forests in New Mexico with regard to potential alternative designations for all lands proposed to be evaluated for possible inclusion in the Pecos wilderness and for other proposed wilderness designations now and in the future; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the regional forester for region 3 of the United States department of agriculture forest service; the forest supervisors for each of the national forests within New Mexico; the principal executive office holder for each of the Indian tribes, pueblos and nations within New Mexico; the chairs of the land grant council and the acequia commission; the members of the New Mexico congressional delegation; and the governor.

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