WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall today unveiled their new proposal to protect the scenic landscape of the Organ Mountains in Doña Ana County.
Last year the Senators introduced legislation, called the Organ Mountains -Desert Peaks Wilderness Act (S.1689), which creates wilderness and conservation areas in Doña Ana County that provide for continued public use while protecting the granite peaks of the Organ Mountains and the volcanic cinder cones of the Potrillo Mountains, among other public lands in the county.
Much of the area has been managed as a "Wilderness Study Area" since the 1980s when the Reagan administration first set it aside for protected status. It was later recommended by the George H.W. Bush administration and then-Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan to be elevated to full wilderness status.
S. 1689 would bring President Bush's recommendations to fruition by creating 259,000 acres of wilderness and 100,000 acres of National Conservation Area (NCA). These areas would be managed in ways that protect the landscape from development while preserving current uses - such as hunting and grazing.
When evaluating the existing wilderness study areas in the county, the Senators determined that one such area, the West Potrillos Wilderness Study Area, could be modified to enhance Border Patrol's ability to fully patrol the area. Because of the way the boundary was originally drawn by the Reagan Administration, the Border Patrol has a buffer of only 1/3 of a mile from the international border and is currently limited in its ability to conduct routine vehicle patrols north of Highway 9.
Acknowledging this border security challenge, S. 1689 proposed to release nearly 16,000 acres along the southern border that had previously been designated as wilderness study area. It also expanded the buffer from 1/3 of a mile to approximately three miles and carved out specific areas that Border Patrol requested to place its Mobile Surveillance System vehicles. These moves, among others, were developed in direct consultation with Border Patrol and aimed at providing law enforcement with increased flexibility in the area.
But at a February Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing in Las Cruces, residents asked the lawmakers to further strengthen the security provisions. Again working with Border Patrol, the lawmakers developed the new proposal unveiled today. It includes the nearly 3 miles of non-wilderness buffer area contained in the original bill, but adds an additional 2-mile "Restricted Use Area." This area would prohibit motorized access by the general public, but it will permit the Border Patrol to conduct routine patrols and construct communication and surveillance infrastructure as it would on regular multiple-use land. The revised bill now proposes to un-designate over 30,000 acres of land currently designated as wilderness study area. Here is a link to maps that show the current Wilderness Study Area as compared to the new proposal.
"Working with the Border Patrol, I believe we have come up with a very good resolution that both enhances our border security and protects one of New Mexico's iconic landscapes," Bingaman, who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
"Once again we have successfully collaborated to produce a modified plan that strengthens our border security with respect to the preservation of the nearby Potrillo Mountains. This enhanced legislation builds upon the principles of the original Doña Ana Wilderness Bill and ensures the protection of both the border and this incredible landscape for generations to come," Udall said.
In addition to the nearly five mile buffer, the new proposal also provides an east-west route for Border Patrol to travel between the Potrillo Mountains Wilderness. And it underscores current law by expressly stating that the wilderness designation does not affect Border Patrol's ability to conduct overflights above the wilderness areas or other border security activities in the wilderness areas, including the use of motorized vehicles while in pursuit of a suspect.
The commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, who oversees Border Patrol, wrote a letter in strong support of the strengthened proposal. In the letter Commissioner Alan Bersin states that the bill, as modified, "would significantly enhance the flexibility of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to operate in this border area."
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will consider the bill in the coming weeks; if it passes that panel it will be ready for full Senate consideration.
