New Mexico has always been a culturally diverse, multilingual state, and in 1911, after Mexico had ceded the state to the U.S., a provision was included in the New Mexico Constitution calling for all laws to be published in Spanish and English. Additionally, the state’s Constitution specified that no citizen would be restricted or denied the right to vote, to hold office or serve on juries, or to go to public school if they were not able to speak, read or write English or Spanish. Public school teachers were also to be trained to be bilingual.
Today, as the state with the highest per capita population of Hispanic residents and with the greatest percentage of Spanish speakers, translation of key documents rightly contributes to the state’s equity, fairness, and inclusivity. This should continue to be the dominant norm of our social fabric.
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Community leaders and nonprofit organizations are applauding New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham for signing House Bill 200 into law today. The legislation, which was co-sponsored by Reps. Matthew McQueen and Nathan Small and Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart and Sen. Siah Correa Hemphill, ends the proposed Gila diversion project and fast-tracks the spending of the remaining approximately $80 million in the NM Unit Fund for priority water projects, creating long-term water security and jobs in southwest New Mexico (Catron, Grant, Hidalgo and Luna Counties).
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My family has been hunting for generations in New Mexico. It has been a tradition that we have participated in year after year, and one that has bonded each of my family members.
I started hunting at 8 years old by tagging along with my father and uncles, and eventually began to hunt small game like squirrels and rabbits. I look back on these memories fondly, remembering how I first learned to walk quietly, use my senses of sight and smell, reading tracks, and learning the ways of my prey. Later I learned to safely carry and fire my hunting rifle, my grandfather’s old Remington Rollingblock.
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Lately there has been a surge of state-based Outdoor Recreation Offices, and important coinciding efforts—namely equity funding in New Mexico and the Kids Outdoor Initiative in Utah, both supported by HECHO.
Earlier this month representatives from eight states signed off on a first-of-its kind agreement called the Confluence Accords, to unify and strengthen the outdoor industry voice on matters of public policy.
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HECHO Board Member Kent Salazar, lifelong resident of New Mexico and an avid hunter and outdoorsman, has been busy lobbying for important conservation bills in the state legislature. Just a 30-day session in 2018 (New Mexico’s legislative sessions alternate each year between 30- and 60-day sessions), there is a lot to do in a short amount of time!
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In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we asked people on Facebook to share their favorite family memories of outdoor activities, and to post a photo if they could. The response was incredible and confirmed what HECHO proudly represents – the centuries old cultural connection of Hispanics to our public lands. Not only do Hispanics enjoy camping, hunting and the outdoors, for centuries, Hispanics have worked the land, provided sustenance for their families from the land and have been stewards of the land.
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HECHO (Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting and the Outdoors) eagerly awaits the public release of Secretary Zinke’s report detailing his recommendations to change a handful of monuments. Which monuments will be reduced in size and by how much is unclear, as the Administration has yet to release the full report to the public.
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HECHO Board Member Kent Salazar speaks out about the importance of New Mexico's national monuments as we await Secretary Zinke's review. Please read his op-ed in the Santa Fe New Mexican.
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Last week was Latino Conservation Week, when hundreds of events took place around the country to celebrate and honor Hispanics’ ancestral connections to the outdoors and stewardship of the land. No other event exemplifies this more than the clean-up of High Point canyon in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of Northern New Mexico. The event was spearheaded by HECHO Advisory Board Chairman Rock Ulibarri, whose family has lived in the Las Vegas area for seven generations, along with HECHO Advisory Board member Kent Salazar, volunteers from Hermit's Peak Watershed Alliance, Casa Cultura, San Miguel County, and more.
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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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On February 16th, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) held a public hearing in Farmington, NM on their proposal to update regulations to address the wasteful release of natural gas into the atmosphere from oil and gas operations on public and Tribal lands. HECHO Board member Kent Salazar attended the hearing and discusses the diversity of people supporting the rule, from Tribal people, people of faith, elected officials, and enviros. The oil and gas industry made a showing, but their economic arguments were not valid; we must do a better job in the future of informing local officials and industry workers as to the economic benefits of capturing natural gas on public and Tribal lands.
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Throughout 2015, we interviewed each of our Advisory Board members and posted them on our blog to help our community get to know them. We discussed their upbringings, their experiences in the outdoors, their jobs, and more. Today we’re sharing snippets of their inspiring stories.
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We applaud the U.S. Department of the Interior’s announcement today of a proposed rule that will address the wasteful release of natural gas into the atmosphere from oil and gas operations on public and American Indian lands. Wasting resources contradicts our values of conserving and respecting what the land provides for us and we must update our 30-year old regulations to align with these values.
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"Spending time outdoors has always been a renewal to me, almost like going to church. In the hardest times of my life when I was facing adversity, I found that being outdoors, camping and spending time alone in nature rejuvenated me, brought me back, and cleared my vision of life.
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