BorderWest

More Than a Yes or No to Wilderness

By Rebecca Powell, 6-26-08

	Evening Sky

Part of an ongoing series about the Doña Ana County Wilderness Debate. For more on the debate and the proposals, see A Biased Observer of the Doña Ana County Wilderness Debate and For Some, Wilderness is Simple and Pearce Submits People’s Proposal to the House.

The Doña Ana County Wilderness debate rages.

Views on HR 6300 run the gamut from a “common-sense balance” to “an attack on our public lands.” Whether you consider HR 6300 a travesty, the best thing since apple pie, or something in between the two, there is a story here, a story worth hearing.

Talks between the ranchers and the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance broke down. Lines were drawn. Suspicions were not overcome. This is usually the end of the story. A faction of the community stands for wilderness—another faction against. They trade letters in local newspapers.

This story does not end with two options: yes or no to wilderness. That Doña Ana County is debating two options for conservation means People for the Preservation of Our Western Heritage thought beyond their initial no to wilderness. They considered what they could support.  They went beyond traditional thinking and created a new way to conserve public lands. Think what you may about HR 6300, but applaud thinking, applaud staying engaged, applaud third options.

I love a lot of things about living in Las Cruces: hiking in short sleeves in December, the colors a fading sun spews in the evening, breakfast burritos of all stripes, and pecan trees in fall. But perhaps my favorite thing is the civic involvement of the people of Las Cruces. I am sure pockets of apathy exist, but I have yet to encounter them. People turn out for municipal elections. They show up at meetings. They cheer at press conferences. They call the Las Cruces Sun News Sound-Off. It thrills my sappy, democracy-smitten heart to see people care about the issues that impact their community.

For me, this is the story—a community disagreed on what to do with its federal lands. They cared so much, that they came up with not one, but two different ways to conserve the lands. Isn’t that grand?

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