43 Local Elected Leaders and Environmental Advocacy Groups Call on President Obama to Protect Special Places in New Mexico

Environment New Mexico

Albuquerque — Today, Environment New Mexico and 43 groups released a letter to President Obama calling for lasting protections for places like Miranda Canyon from the threat of development.

Miranda Canyon and other beloved places in New Mexico have been providing New Mexico residents with lifelong memories for years. With groups from the Southwest Environmental Center in Las Cruces to Wild Earth Llama Adventures in Taos signed on, the letter demonstrates the tremendous value that citizens, outdoors organizations, and local business owners place on New Mexico’s public parks.

“Miranda Canyon and many other parks all across New Mexico are where some of our families’ most unforgettable memories are formed — our first hikes, our first time camping, our first encounter with wildlife,” said Rikki Seguin, field associate with Environment New Mexico. “That’s why Miranda Canyon deserves permanent protections from development.”

The letter urges President Obama to protect Miranda Canyon, and other special places in New Mexico, by fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund in his upcoming budget proposal. The Land and Water Conservation Fund provides our public lands with critical protection from increasing development by giving our Park Service the ability to purchase privately owned land within or surrounding the park that would otherwise be developed and become a threat to the local ecosystem – all without spending a single taxpayer dollar.

The letter details how Congress’ annual raiding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund has left a legacy of backlogged conservation and recreation needs. Here in New Mexico, Miranda Canyon and many other parks are facing increasing threats from development and destruction.

To prevent further threats to New Mexico’s environment, President Obama must address the undercutting of our nation’s premier fund for land and water protection.

“President Obama has a great opportunity to help ensure that parks like Miranda Canyon are protected by calling for full and dedicated funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund in his upcoming budget proposal. Our parks and future generations are depending on it,” said Seguin.