BorderWest

New Mexico Wilderness Alliance Catches Blame

By Rebecca Powell, 7-01-08

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, For Some, Wilderness is Simple, Pearce Submits People’s Proposal to the House, and More Than a Yes or No to Wilderness.

Heath Haussamen at NM Politics reports Senator Pete Domenici’s chief of staff, Steve Bell, blames the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance (NMWA) for causing gridlock surrounding wilderness designations in Doña Ana County. Bell states

“You don’t have to be a genius to figure out that we have absolutely entered gridlock and nothing can happen because there’s too much at stake politically,” Bell said. “… The upshot is, once again, in my judgment, a group has proved a truth of an old saying that I used everyday for the last 36 years in this job: ‘Never let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Because the Domenici plan was not perfect in their [NMWA] view, they rejected it,” Bell said of the wilderness group. “Then they came up with a proposal they think is perfect, and now they are faced with the prospect of getting nothing.”

I asked Frank Dubois, a proponent of the Pearce bill and the principle author of the People’s Proposal, if the People’s Proposal was a monkey wrench. He replied, “It is a viable alternative to the Citizen’s Proposal that may be accepted in whole or in part by Congress.”

Both sides of this debate have worked tirelessly.  If Bell’s words prove true, neither will see the fruits of their labor.

Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.