For Immediate Release
Hopes information will be used to make significant changes to Wilderness Bill
HOBBS, NM – Steve Pearce issued the following statement in response to the field hearing on the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks Wilderness Act (S.1689) held today in Las Cruces.
“Hundreds of New Mexicans turned out today at the hearing because they are concerned, for their rights as land owners. It is my hope that Senators Bingaman and Udall will take the information they gathered yesterday in Las Cruces with them back to Washington and significantly change the Wilderness Bill to protect landowners and preserve jobs.
“I have felt for months that a field hearing was critical after meeting with local ranchers, Dudley and Rose Williams. The Williams’ informed me that improvements that had been installed by land owners such as roads, dirt tanks, pipelines, solar panels, and water storage tanks were not listed on the maps in the final version of the Wilderness Bill that was introduced in the Senate.
“This is not just about property rights, it is also about jobs. The Wilderness Bill in its’ current form, will kill jobs. If existing ranches are labeled as wilderness, the ranches will not be able to operate, they will go broke and jobs will be lost.
“I will be watching the progress of this bill, as I know so many other Southern New Mexicans will be.“
Pearce wrote an opinion editorial calling for a field hearing in Las Cruces in January. It was published in the Artesia Daily Press.
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