By BEN NEARY
NMWF Conservation Director
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an executive order on Wednesday calling to conserve at least 30 percent of all lands in the state by 2030 to help reduce climate change.
Lujan Grisham’s directive fits with a similar “30×30” national effort championed by President Joe Biden, called the “America the Beautiful” initiative. Lujan Grisham said New Mexico’s effort will be structured to respect the state’s unique cultures and traditional land uses.
Conserving 30 percent of New Mexico’s lands by 2030 will assure a prosperous and safe future for state residents, Lujan Grisham said Wednesday at a signing ceremony at the state Capitol. “And I think in large part, as we work with the federal government, we can highlight our successes and it can be a model for every single other state in the country and, I think, countries all around the world,” she said.
Lujan Grisham’s order directs the New Mexico Environment Department, Office of the State Engineer, Department of Agriculture, Indian Affairs Department, Department of Game and Fish and Outdoor Recreation Division to work together to develop programs to conserve and protect lands and natural environments. The agencies will meet quarterly and prepare annual reports to the governor on their progress.
The order directs the agencies to take a broad view of conservation including contributions from working lands. It also directs the agencies to demonstrate a commitment to equity, including respect for and consideration of tribal sovereignty and self-determination.
Sarah Cottrell Propst, EMNRD cabinet secretary, said at the signing ceremony that she couldn’t overstate how important the importance of the executive order. “It’s driven by climate science and it’s driven by conservation biology,” she said.
“We’re going to support migratory wildlife habitat and connectivity. We’re going to expand outdoor access,” Cottrell Propst said. “And we’re going to make sure that we are doing what we can on carbon sequestration and meeting our climate change objectives.”
Demis Foster, executive director of Conservation Voters of New Mexico, said 80 percent of New Mexicans support the 30×30 goal and 83 percent support creating new parks, monuments and wildlife refuges.
“This executive order also addresses the extinction crisis by setting us on the right path to increase landscape-scale conservation and restoration efforts to connect wildlife habitats and safeguard wildlife migration corridors,” Foster said.
Mike Sloane, director of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, said after the event that the governor’s order highlights the need to protect critical spaces and highlights the value of wildlife across the state.
“It’s going to be great for partnering with private landowners and agriculture too, to make sure we all share those common values and are able to support them,” Sloane said.
Some critics of the 30×30 approach have characterized it as an attempted “land-grab” by the government. Asked to respond to that assertion, Sloane said, “I think it’s really about shared values and ensuring that we have wildlife for generations to come. So if that’s through partnerships, it can be through willing buyer, willing seller acquisitions, but really it’s all about making sure that we have those open spaces and ability for wildlife to move around. And we do all share those same values, it’s just a matter of figuring out the best ways to get there with folks.”
Kent Salazar, chairman of the board of the National Wildlife Federation and spokesman for HECHO (Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting and the Outdoors) said he views the governor’s order as a major development for the state.
“This affects so much: climate change, wildlife,” Salazar said. “And to keep our connectivity alive, we need to protect habitat, the loss of wildlife is caused by the loss of habitat.”
Salazar also rejected the notion that the 30×30 effort is any sort of land-grab.
“These are public lands that we’re going to be protecting; it’s not a land-grab,” Salazar said. “We will be working with private landowners where they want to be working with us on protecting and conserving land. It’s not a land-grab, and it’s very much working with the private sector as well. This is the best of all worlds, where we’re working cooperatively, together to save our environment and our wildlife and our families.”
Jesse Deubel, executive director of the NMWF, said the America the Beautiful effort is gaining momentum nationwide.
“The executive order signed by the governor today represents New Mexico following the commitment of our federal administration to ensure that we protect our natural landscapes, provide connected habitats for wildlife, preserve riparian areas and critical wildlife habitats so that we can have robust populations for hunters and anglers to enjoy for coming generations,” Deubel said.