Letters to the Editor: Mimbres Peaks proposal, LCPS book reviews

These letters appeared in the Feb. 18, 2024 edition of the Sun-News.

Mimbres Peaks national monument proposal a good thing

Probably owing to the contentious nature of these times, inaccurate claims are circulating about the recently proposed Mimbres Peaks National Monument in Luna County. No matter your political background, we all can agree that any conversation about a new proposal needs to be based on facts for our democracy to work. That’s why a recent opinion piece in this newspaper by Lori Colemen about the Mimbres Peaks proposal deserves a response.

With all the uncertainty in the world, I appreciate Ms. Coleman’s concerns about what change might mean for her business. Everyone wants predictability and stability to plan for the future, and that might be true most of all for business owners.

This stability – knowing that the public lands we depend upon for subsistence, enjoyment, and quality of life will be available in the future as they are today – is one of many reasons I supported the designation of Rio Grande del Norte National Monument in Taos and Rio Arriba counties in 2013. The Antiquities Act proclamation establishing the monument prohibited damaging new development or privatizing our public lands while also grandfathering in existing rights, mining claims, and many other uses such as cattle grazing, collecting firewood and piñon nuts, and the state’s management of fish and wildlife.

Thus, I continue to enjoy world class hunting and fishing within Rio Grande del Norte just as I did before the designation, and this would be the case in a new Mimbres Peaks National Monument, despite Ms. Coleman’s claims to the contrary. What’s more, national monuments generally honor existing designated travel routes. So you would be able to enjoy using a side-by-side or other vehicle on roads in the proposed Mimbres Peaks National Monument just as you can now.

Further, the new visitors attracted to Rio Grande del Norte’s status as a national monument have created a boon for local businesses. People come from all over to recreate and enjoy the scenery. Five years after Rio Grande del Norte’s designation, visitation had increased by 45 percent, meaning that 60,000 new visitors annually are spending millions and supporting business growth and new jobs in local communities. The same success story could unfold in Luna County from a Mimbres Peaks National Monument.

Ms. Coleman’s claims about the Antiquities Act ignore how most national monuments came to be. For Rio Grande del Norte and also Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument in Dona Ana County, local members of Congress first introduced legislation. These bills were written to address local needs and concerns and ensure that traditional land uses would continue. But after these bills languished through years of gridlock in Congress, the President used the Antiquities Act to make those national monuments a reality, following the blueprints laid out in the locally developed bills.

Ms. Coleman also erroneously claims that the Antiquities Act was only meant for protecting “contained, very sensitive areas.” Actually, the Antiquities Act was used as soon as two years after Congress passed it to protect large landscapes of significance including the Grand Canyon, Mount Olympus, Petrified Forest and other iconic American places.

I hope that southern New Mexicans can work together to ensure decisions about our public lands are made with the best interests of our communities in mind, go beyond the misinformation, and sustain our public lands for future generations.

Ryan Stodgell

Taos, N.M.

National monument proposal not Ok for Luna County

In March of 2023, there was an article published by the New Mexico Wild that claimed New Mexicans applaud the new “Public Lands Rule” (New Mexico Wild, March 30, 2023, Bergthold). This statement does not apply to the residents of Luna County who were surprised by their own commissioner, Ray Trejo, who with the help of several outside sources tried to create a monument out of 245,000 acres of the county’s public lands.

In fact, after fact checking and several meetings not only did the City of Deming pass a resolution against this monument designation, but the county followed with another resolution against the monument.  Citizens are angry and are voicing their opinions yet it seems no one outside the area is listening. These lands are already public lands and the citizens would like to keep this acreage the way in stands.

It seems that the Federal government is not satisfied with the 13.5 million acres it has control over.  They want to expand their control over these lands by using the Antiquities Act.  The President is required by the Antiquities Act to reserve “the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.( 3 54 U.S.C. §320301(b).)  This does not appear to be the case in Luna County where the movement is demanding 245,000 acres scattered in four different areas of the county.  These areas affect some ranches that were established before New Mexico was even a state.

Biden claims that he wants to push his 30 X 30 plan.  Obviously he doesn’t care who it hurts in the process.  New Mexico already meets this standard because the Federal government already owns 34.7% of the states total land (https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/federal-land-by-state). Taking another 245,000 acres away from a county that does not want a monument does nothing to the Federal government but it does hurt Luna County. Mineral development, timber harvesting, and hunting are the principal uses that would be legally compatible with BLM management but not with management by the NPS. Grazing also typically is allowed on BLM lands, but often precluded on NPS lands.

Rockhounding, motor vehicles and bikes, horse trail riding, off trail hiking, geo caching and pets are greatly restricted or prohibited on Monuments controlled by the NPS. Please consider the people that live in the county, and those that come from miles and miles away to enjoy these areas before assuming that a Monument will be welcome here.  Our residents have voted a big fat NO to the Mimbres Peak Proposal.

Jody Johnson

Luna County, N.M.

LCPS mishandled book complaint

Thanks for coverage of the Las Cruces School Board voting on Jan. 30 to disband the book review committee and throw out the committee’s recommendation to retain full access to the sexually explicit age-inappropriate book Jack of Hearts and Other Parts in the Mayfield High School (MHS) library. However, the coverage was missing important context of why we filed a formal complaint against the school district’s handling of the book review committee.

Read the coverage: Las Cruces Public Schools will amend book review policies after mishandling complaint

When we filed a complaint against the sexually-explicit book in August 2023, per the district policy the School Board was to appoint a committee of four teachers and three parents to assess the book. We expected the school board to handle this with integrity in accordance with their oaths of office to perform their duties “faithfully and impartially.” Instead, evidence (from a public records request) revealed that committee members were generally chosen to represent one perspective instead of the diverse viewpoints of our community. The MHS librarian was even asked to recommend committee members, even though she would be the one defending the book at the hearing.

Our most recent complaint filed with LCPS in January 2024 was based on the school board’s mishandling of the selection of the book review committee. They ensured that the committee was biased against concerned parents before even reviewing the content of the book. It should be noted that at the formal complaint hearing on Jan. 30, Board members Patrick Nolan and Robert Wofford recused themselves from voting because of the evidence presented against them. At the hearing, Board President Tenorio mentioned confusion over which policy to follow back when the original complaint was filed in August, yet LCPS moved forward anyway.

LCPS will now create a new regulation for handling book complaints and we are allowed to resubmit our book complaint.

Sarah Smith

Las Cruces, N.M.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Letters to the Editor: Mimbres Peaks proposal, LCPS book reviews