In 2009, Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and
Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) have introduced federal Wilderness legislation for
Dona Ana County, New Mexico. Community concern caused the Senators to
hold a field hearing in Las Cruces on February 15, 2010. In June,
2010, a revised version of the legislation was put forward by Senator
Bingaman, claiming to address concerns raised by the community about border
security. This legislation imposes federal Wilderness designation, the
most restrictive of all federal land management designations, on 241,400
acres of lands in Dona Ana County, along with 99,150 acres of National
Conservation Area (NCA) designation.
This area is over 532 square miles of land,
nearly 14% of Dona Ana County, and a little over half the size of the
state of Rhode Island.
|
"The
presence of any wilderness on the Mexican border is a danger to the security
of the United States"
Jim Switzer,
National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers |
|
PFPOWH OPPOSES
THIS LEGISLATION.
THIS
LEGISLATION IS NOT IN THE BEST INTEREST OF OUR COMMUNITY, OUR
STATE OR OUR COUNTY. |
When land is designated as
Federal Wilderness
under the 1964 Wilderness Act, there are numerous prohibitions, such as:
- no permanent road within any Wilderness
area
- no temporary road
- no use of motorized vehicles
- no motorized equipment or motorboats
- no landing of aircraft
- no form of mechanical transport
- no structure or installation
These prohibitions do not allow for Border
Patrol or other law enforcement agencies to perform routine patrols in
Wilderness. They can not utilize sensors, radio transmitters or
microwave towers for surveillance in designated Wilderness. The only
way for them to travel in the Wilderness is on foot or on horseback, unless
it is deemed an emergency. There is a
Memo of Understanding (MOU)
between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of
Interior and U.S. Department of Agriculture that will allow non-emergency
entry, but it has not been tested in New Mexico because there is not any
designated Wilderness along the border.
See
Wilderness On The Border to learn more about why PFPOWH and others in
our community strongly oppose this detrimental legislation.
SILENCE
IS IMPLIED AGREEMENT! SPEAK UP AND
TAKE ACTION!
