WildernessProtection - New Mexico Wilderness Alliance

Wilderness:A Bi-partisan Affairby Stephen CapraWilderness has alwaysbeen a bi-partisan politicalissue. In New Mexico,much of the wilderness we enjoytoday is the result of the dedicationof wilderness activists and effortsby Senators Clinton Andersonand Pete Domenici. However, thespirit that came from the passageof the 1964 Wilderness Act seemsat times to have faded completelyfrom sight as we prepare to celebratethe 40th anniversary of theAct that to date has protected some105 million acres of land acrossAmerica.With the signing of the WildernessAct, some 9.1 million acres of landbecame wilderness with the strokeof President Johnson’s pen, includingthe nation’s first wilderness-theGila. Johnson would add another800,000 acres of wilderness duringhis tenure, including the first billto move through congress, the145,118 acre San Rafael Wildernessnear Santa Barbara, California.The Nixon Administration wouldfollow and while the total acreageof designated wilderness wasnot as dramatic-1.6 million acrestherewere tremendous effortsmade to process hundreds of recommendationsof lands for wildernessdesignation. Locally, Wildernessbills included the Salt CreekWilderness near Roswell, whichwas established in 1970. It wasalso during the Nixon years thatthen Interior Secretary, Rogers C. B.Morton, worked through the complexAlaska Native Claims SettlementAct. The resolution of whichlaid the groundwork for the historicAlaska Lands Act of 1981. Many ofthe lands identified in the Nixonyears became some of the core wildernessareas in the Carter Bill.Following Nixon’s resignation,Gerald Ford took over the Presidencyfor three years. During thistime 3.1 million acres of wildernesswere designated, including30,287 acres of riverside forestin the Bosque del Apache and23,267 acres of desert canyonsand cliffs in Bandelier NationalMonument. The key to these successesremained strong bi-partisansupport. But it was Jimmy Carterwho would set the standard forwilderness preservation. Duringhis Presidency, Carter focused onAlaska and pushed for passage ofthe Alaska Lands Act. When Congresswas stalling and filibustering,Carter and Interior Secretary, CecilAndrus, created a 100 million acrenational monument of Alaska landsin 1978. This changed the politicaldynamics and Congress movedon legislation. In 1979 the Housepassed a strong bill only to havethe Senate committee approve amuch weaker bill. With the electionof Ronald Reagan, conservationistswere forced to accept the weakerbill, but it still was historic in size.On December 2, 1980 the AlaskaNational Interest Lands ConservationAct was signed into law by theoutgoing President Carter. In all, 55million acres of wilderness wereadded to the system, doubling itssize in a day.During the Reagan Presidency,the whole issue of the environmentbecame more of a political footballwith the elevation of people likeJim Watt to positions of real power.While the majority of Americansonce held strong support for conservationmeasures, public opinionbecame more divided as specialinterests pushed an agenda thatwas hard on the land, but sweet forinvestors. This was also the timewhen conservative talk radio beganto hit the airwaves. In those timeslisteners were few, so controversialsubjects were needed to livenup the conversation. The environmentbecame an easy target. Buteven as trouble was brewing, PresidentReagan signed into law thecreation of some 10.6 million acresof wilderness nationally, includingin New Mexico the creationof the Bisti-De-Na-Zin, West Malpaisand Cebolla wilderness areas.While Reagan may have foughtmany environmental policies, hewas, with a few exceptions, willingto protect land on a truly nationalscale.The first Bush Presidency wouldfollow Reagan’s. While Georgesenior would promote drilling inthe Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,he would also go on to protectover 4 million acres of wildernessacross the nation, including 90,000acres in the Ruby Mountains ofNevada, 25,370 acres at PointReyes National Seashore in Californiaand 40,000 acres of desert andarid forest at Wabayuma Peak inArizona, to name a few.In the first years of the ClintonAdministration, wilderness billsmoved forward, including the creationof the California Desert Pro-Page 10 Summer 2004