Statement: Bernalillo County Passes Resolution Supporting Bureau of Land Management Natural Gas Waste Rule

On October 25, the Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners resolved to support the Bureau of Land Management’s rule to charge royalties on wasted methane—the primary component of natural gas—on federal and tribal lands. The resolution addresses the serious problem of methane waste, which is impacting state revenues, harming the environment and threatening the health of New Mexicans.

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Blog: Energy Diversification in New Mexico, Do it for the Kids

There’s no doubt that the oil and gas sector is an essential source of jobs and revenue to the state of New Mexico. It is a critical part of our economy. At the same time, New Mexico can’t afford to tie its fiscal health, and the welfare of our schools, colleges, and universities to the boom-and-bust cycles of fossil fuel markets. 

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Blog: HECHO Celebrates the First Anniversary of the Greater Sage-Grouse Announcement

The following is a statement from Camilla Simon, Director of Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors (HECHO), on the 1st anniversary of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s announcement that the greater sage-grouse no longer needed to be considered as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

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Blog: HECHO Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month By Encouraging Latino Voices to be Part of Public Lands Management

The Latino community needs to be represented in conversations, forums, and formal consultations that are helping shape the next 100 years of our public lands. Our communities’ heritage, inter-generational wisdom, values and practices should be incorporated into the vision and implementation of public lands management plans.

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Blog: Why A Decision to Drill 4,000 Oil Wells Affects Us All

Decision-making about where to drill typically excludes diverse stakeholders, including Latino communities that hunt, fish, camp, and use public lands. As a result, our access to public lands for recreation, subsistence, education, and traditional cultural uses are impeded. And, worse yet, sometimes the landscape, wildlife, or water is irreparably damaged.

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Op-ed: HECHO Advisory Board Member Op-Ed Featured in La Opinión!

An example of good planning and incorporating diverse voices in the management of public lands can be seen in the Heritage Area in Yuma, Arizona on the border with the state of California. In this area, adjacent to the Colorado River, wetlands have been restored and space has been created for family life and contact with nature. Development and management of the project has had major participation from Latino communities who have lived in the area for generations and know, inhabit, and have close links with the region. Today, we are proud of this space where natural beauty, conservation, cultural traditions and recreational spaces are merged.

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Blog: HECHO Celebrates the Centennial of the National Park Service and Calls for More Inclusion of Diverse Voices in the Management of Public Lands

The Centennial of the National Park Service is a time for all Americans to celebrate, enjoy, and engage in the conservation of our nation’s public lands. It is also a time to call upon federal government agencies to engage multicultural communities, including the Latino community, in the decision-making process and management of public lands to reflect the diversity and changing cultural landscape of America.

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Blog: RACs – One More Opportunity to Make Latino Voices Heard

One way to get involved in the management of our public lands is through Resource Advisory Councils (RACs), and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has established 31 of them in the western states. What makes RACs unique is that they are required to be made up of community members who represent various backgrounds and experiences.

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Blog: Hunting Is A Way of Life, Goes Hand-in-Hand With Conservation of Wildlife Habitat

For hunters and anglers, conservation makes perfect sense. We must be stewards of the wild just as a farmer must be a steward of his land to ensure a bountiful harvest in years to come. For Hispanics, it goes even further, as it’s part of our culture. Hunting and fishing are centuries-old traditions, and we know that in order to enjoy these activities, we depend upon healthy watersheds, clean air, and robust wildlife habitats.

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Statement: Good News for Protecting the Moab Region

Whether it is hiking, camping, fishing, or recreating in the Moab region Latinos have been enjoying the great outdoors for generations.  It connects us to our ancestors, and guides how we see our future. Yet over the years we have seen these public lands increasingly impacted by development, and our access compromised. Development is a reality, but should not come at the expense of the lands that we continue to depend upon for recreation, sustenance, and the growing tourism economy.

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LTE: San Miguel County, NM supports clean air and less waste of our natural resources

The methane also creates harmful smog, which has increased asthma attacks and aggravated lung diseases, especially devastating the state’s Latino population, which is three times more likely to die from asthma than any other racial or ethnic group. Fortunately, we are now on a better path.

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Blog: A Father’s Day to Remember - President Obama and the Future of our National Parks

Let’s call on President Obama to issue a Presidential Memorandum to ensure that the second century of conservation in America reflects the full diversity of our nation’s citizens; respects the historical, cultural and spiritual stories and unique contributions of all Americans; and actively engages all people.

Sign the petition.

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Q&A: HECHO Advisory Board Member Rock Ulibarri

The Ulibarri side of my family was one of the original 36 families that settled in Las Vegas, New Mexico and my mother’s side of the family is a mix of Apache and French Canadian (as a result of the cavalry in southern New Mexico). Our ancestry and heritage is assimilated from the Native American community, so we see ourselves as caretakers of the land, not owners.  Indigenous DNA runs through us and makes us uninterested in developing or exploiting the land. The land is sacred. The blood from my father’s umbilical cord is soaked into this land and his mother before him and her mother before that.

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Press Release: HECHO launches ad campaign calling on NM State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn to back measures to end natural gas waste

Each year in New Mexico, $101 million in natural gas is wasted on public lands through venting, flaring, and equipment leaks. As hunters and anglers, we use every bit of what we kill or catch. Surprisingly, New Mexico State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn is against common-sense rules to curb and capture natural gas waste. We call on Commissioner Dunn to support efforts to rein in waste on public lands and ensure New Mexicans get their fair share of revenues from the mining of our publicly owned resources. 

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