U.S. Department of the Interior - News Release - Secretary Salazar Joins New Mexico Congressional Leaders to Highlight Benefits to New Mexico of Omnibus Public Lands Act

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: April 17, 2009 Contact: Hugh Vickery 202-501-4633
Secretary Salazar Joins New Mexico Congressional Leaders to Highlight Benefits to New Mexico of Omnibus Public Lands Act
Albuquerque, NM – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today joined Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall and Congressman Martin Heinrich at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History to highlight the many benefits to New Mexico from the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, recently signed into law by President Obama. Bingaman, as chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, helped shepherd the bill through Congress. These benefits include the designation of the Sabinoso Wilderness in northeastern New Mexico, the Prehistoric Trackways National Monument near Las Cruces, and the Fort Stanton-Snowy River Cave National Conservation Area in Lincoln County. It also settles a water rights claim that will ensure running water for members of the Navajo Nation and authorizes construction of a pipeline to transport water to eastern New Mexico. "I applaud the tireless work of New Mexico’s congressional delegation on this bill, including Senator Bingaman’s nearly two-year effort to get this legislation through Congress and to the White House. As a result, President Obama was able to sign within his first 100 days in office a bill that conserves the natural beauty and historic heritage of the Land of Enchantment while also providing a reliable water source for the state’s communities, including providing running water to families that have never had access to it before,” Salazar said. “This new law is not only very good for our country, it’s extremely important to our state. In it we are able to protect special places in New Mexico and address pressing water issues, as well. I want to thank Secretary Salazar for coming to New Mexico to celebrate the enactment of this new law,” said Bingaman, who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “I am very proud that the first 100 days of new leadership in Washington has resulted in so much positive action for New Mexico,” said Senator Tom Udall. “The legislation we are celebrating protects cherished New Mexico lands, provides communities with access to clean water and makes strides for the future of our great state and the nation. I am also pleased that Secretary Salazar, who has such strong roots in New Mexico, brought us together for this momentous occasion.” “Our public lands are a big part of what makes New Mexico the Land of Enchantment,” said Representative Heinrich. “This bill protects some of our state’s most special places while guaranteeing our access to hike, camp, hunt and fish on these lands.” The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 is a sweeping Act that includes wilderness designations, land conveyances and exchanges, river and trail designations, historic preservation measures, and important water settlements nationwide. For example, it adds more than 2 million acres to the National Wilderness Preservation System; designates approximately 1,000 miles of new Wild and Scenic Rivers and creates more than 2,800 miles of new national trails. The Act also formally establishes the Bureau of Land Management’s National Landscape Conservation System, which was originally created administratively by the Clinton administration in 2000. The system brings together and coordinates the management of bureau lands that have special scientific, cultural, education or ecological value, including National Conservation Areas, National Monuments, Wilderness Areas, Wilderness Study Areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers, and National Historic and Scenic Trails. The Act further benefits the citizens of Albuquerque by transferring title for some federal lands along the Rio Grande from the Bureau of Reclamation to the City of Albuquerque to enhance recreational and outdoor educational opportunities at Tingley Beach and the Albuquerque BioPark complex, where over 200,000 local citizens and visitors annually enjoy swimming, fishing and water recreation activities. Provisions of the Act that benefit New Mexico also include: Navajo Water Rights. Recognition of a right of water supplies to the Navajo Nation for agricultural, municipal, industrial, domestic and stock watering purposes. It also authorizes federal funding for the Navajo-Gallup Pipeline project and various water conservation projects in the basin. Sabinoso Wilderness. Designation of 16,000 acres of BLM-managed lands in northeastern New Mexico as the Sabinoso Wilderness. This remote area includes a series of high, narrow mesas surrounded by cliff-lined canyons that supports piñon pine and juniper woodlands and occasional clusters of ponderosa pine, with a perennial warm season grass savanna on the mesa tops. Prehistoric Trackways National Monument. Creation of the 5,300-acre Prehistoric Trackways National Monument in Dona Ana County, New Mexico. The new national monument protects fossilized rocks that contains ancient footprints of numerous amphibians, reptiles and insects, plants, and petrified wood dating back to 290 million years, predating dinosaurs. Fort Stanton-Snowy River Cave National Conservation Area. Designation of 25,000 acres of BLM public lands surrounding the former Fort Stanton Military Reservation in Lincoln County, New Mexico as the Fort Stanton-Snowy River Cave National Conservation Area. The designation will provide permanent protection to the Snowy River formation and protect it for future research and educational purposes. The formation contains a more than 4-mile-long continuous calcite-crystal river bed that is believed to be the longest one of its kind in the world. Water for Eastern New Mexico. Authorization for the Bureau of Reclamation to assist with the planning, design and construction of the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System Project. This project would pipe water to an area of Eastern New Mexico with a population of approximately 60,000 people. Current water supplies are diminishing and there is a concern for future water supplies as the population continues to grow Fish recovery. Increase in funding authorization for conservation and recovery efforts for endangered fish on the upper Colorado River and the San Juan River. Pueblo Irrigation Infrastructure Study. Instruction to the Bureau of Reclamation to study tribal water infrastructure on lands occupied by the18 American Indian Pueblos in the Rio Grande basin in New Mexico. The study will identify future tribal water infrastructure projects aimed at extending available water supplies, increasing agricultural productivity, providing economic benefits, ensuring safer facilities, and preserving the culture of Indian Pueblos in the state.

Albuquerque, NM – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today joined Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall and Congressman Martin Heinrich at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History to highlight the many benefits to New Mexico from the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, recently signed into law by President Obama. Bingaman, as chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, helped shepherd the bill through Congress.

These benefits include the designation of the Sabinoso Wilderness in northeastern New Mexico, the Prehistoric Trackways National Monument near Las Cruces, and the Fort Stanton-Snowy River Cave National Conservation Area in Lincoln County. It also settles a water rights claim that will ensure running water for members of the Navajo Nation and authorizes construction of a pipeline to transport water to eastern New Mexico.

"I applaud the tireless work of New Mexico’s congressional delegation on this bill, including Senator Bingaman’s nearly two-year effort to get this legislation through Congress and to the White House. As a result, President Obama was able to sign within his first 100 days in office a bill that conserves the natural beauty and historic heritage of the Land of Enchantment while also providing a reliable water source for the state’s communities, including providing running water to families that have never had access to it before,” Salazar said.

“This new law is not only very good for our country, it’s extremely important to our state. In it we are able to protect special places in New Mexico and address pressing water issues, as well. I want to thank Secretary Salazar for coming to New Mexico to celebrate the enactment of this new law,” said Bingaman, who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

“I am very proud that the first 100 days of new leadership in Washington has resulted in so much positive action for New Mexico,” said Senator Tom Udall. “The legislation we are celebrating protects cherished New Mexico lands, provides communities with access to clean water and makes strides for the future of our great state and the nation. I am also pleased that Secretary Salazar, who has such strong roots in New Mexico, brought us together for this momentous occasion.”

“Our public lands are a big part of what makes New Mexico the Land of Enchantment,” said Representative Heinrich. “This bill protects some of our state’s most special places while guaranteeing our access to hike, camp, hunt and fish on these lands.”

The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 is a sweeping Act that includes wilderness designations, land conveyances and exchanges, river and trail designations, historic preservation measures, and important water settlements nationwide.

For example, it adds more than 2 million acres to the National Wilderness Preservation System; designates approximately 1,000 miles of new Wild and Scenic Rivers and creates more than 2,800 miles of new national trails.

The Act also formally establishes the Bureau of Land Management’s National Landscape Conservation System, which was originally created administratively by the Clinton administration in 2000. The system brings together and coordinates the management of bureau lands that have special scientific, cultural, education or ecological value, including National Conservation Areas, National Monuments, Wilderness Areas, Wilderness Study Areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers, and National Historic and Scenic Trails.

The Act further benefits the citizens of Albuquerque by transferring title for some federal lands along the Rio Grande from the Bureau of Reclamation to the City of Albuquerque to enhance recreational and outdoor educational opportunities at Tingley Beach and the Albuquerque BioPark complex, where over 200,000 local citizens and visitors annually enjoy swimming, fishing and water recreation activities.

Provisions of the Act that benefit New Mexico also include:

Navajo Water Rights. Recognition of a right of water supplies to the Navajo Nation for agricultural, municipal, industrial, domestic and stock watering purposes. It also authorizes federal funding for the Navajo-Gallup Pipeline project and various water conservation projects in the basin.
Sabinoso Wilderness. Designation of 16,000 acres of BLM-managed lands in northeastern New Mexico as the Sabinoso Wilderness. This remote area includes a series of high, narrow mesas surrounded by cliff-lined canyons that supports piñon pine and juniper woodlands and occasional clusters of ponderosa pine, with a perennial warm season grass savanna on the mesa tops.
Prehistoric Trackways National Monument. Creation of the 5,300-acre Prehistoric Trackways National Monument in Dona Ana County, New Mexico. The new national monument protects fossilized rocks that contains ancient footprints of numerous amphibians, reptiles and insects, plants, and petrified wood dating back to 290 million years, predating dinosaurs.
Fort Stanton-Snowy River Cave National Conservation Area. Designation of 25,000 acres of BLM public lands surrounding the former Fort Stanton Military Reservation in Lincoln County, New Mexico as the Fort Stanton-Snowy River Cave National Conservation Area. The designation will provide permanent protection to the Snowy River formation and protect it for future research and educational purposes. The formation contains a more than 4-mile-long continuous calcite-crystal river bed that is believed to be the longest one of its kind in the world.
Water for Eastern New Mexico. Authorization for the Bureau of Reclamation to assist with the planning, design and construction of the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System Project. This project would pipe water to an area of Eastern New Mexico with a population of approximately 60,000 people. Current water supplies are diminishing and there is a concern for future water supplies as the population continues to grow
Fish recovery. Increase in funding authorization for conservation and recovery efforts for endangered fish on the upper Colorado River and the San Juan River.
Pueblo Irrigation Infrastructure Study. Instruction to the Bureau of Reclamation to study tribal water infrastructure on lands occupied by the18 American Indian Pueblos in the Rio Grande basin in New Mexico. The study will identify future tribal water infrastructure projects aimed at extending available water supplies, increasing agricultural productivity, providing economic benefits, ensuring safer facilities, and preserving the culture of Indian Pueblos in the state.