Public Lands Deja Vu

Attacks on our public lands are at an all-time high, but all these assaults to dismantle protected landscapes have been kept on the down low. From a lawsuit that attempted to transfer federal lands over to state ownership, to bills and resolutions condemning the 119-year-old Antiquities Act in hopes to undo it, and now a secret review of our national monuments.

Under the previous Trump Administration, our very own Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks was listed in their monument review to roll back its National Monument status and open it up to development. The Trump administration’s review of national monuments resulted in Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase Escalante having their borders altered and acreage reduced to open those lands for extractive purposes.

Our national monument is once again facing threats to be undone for private companies, and unlike Trump’s first administration, Secretarial Order 3418: Unleashing American Energy is happening in secret. The administration is manufacturing a false energy crisis to review already protected lands and then illegally privatize and sell them off to the highest bidder.

As Executive Director of Friends of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks, I was often asked what our plan was when President Trump was re-elected. For those paying attention, the president has been clear from day one that he will work to undo land protections and prioritize the extractive industry. And his Interior Secretary, Doug Burgum, was quick to execute under the cover of darkness. Planning exactly how we oppose these efforts is a challenge.

We in the conservation and environmental communities plan on doing what we have always done. We will continue to build, develop and celebrate our communities' love for our protected places. We will engage citizens in the fight to defend our public lands and engage our community in resisting efforts to roll back hard fought and important gains.

I want to emphasize that our conservation community needs to grow larger. Threatening our national conservation lands goes beyond the outdoor recreation industry. It impacts our educational institutions who count on the cultural, historical, and biological wealth found in our public lands. Threatening our public lands impacts the health of our friends and neighbors who depend on the outdoors for physical and mental well-being. Secretarial Order 3418 is an aggressive, and shady scheme to sell off America’s public lands, national treasures, and outdoor access to the wealthy and well-connected.

When we take a classroom of 4th graders out for a hike at Dripping Springs, we are protecting public lands. When we lead a hike at Picacho Mountain to learn about the geological history, we are protecting public lands. When we take high school students out for their first overnight bikepacking trip, we are protecting public lands. When 150 riders from across the country travel to southern New Mexico to ride the Monumental Loop, we are protecting public lands.

On New Year’s Day, I joined one of our organization’s guided hikes on the Sierra Vista Trail. We had a good group of about 25 people. There were people from the area and people who were not. Families with small children. Folks there for the Gram. And some attendees were just looking to learn more about the history and the values that drove the community campaign to protect these places.

These trips are a perfect example of the deep love and value our community has for our public lands and shows how successful and important the designation of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument has been for Southern New Mexicans. As we work our way through this tumultuous period in our country's history it is important we keep sight of what connects us. For our community, it's our public lands.

Patrick Nolan is the executive director of Friend of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and restoration of our public lands.