Sportsmen around the country, including in New Mexico, are lobbying to revive an omnibus public lands bill that failed to pass the U.S. House of Representatives by two votes last week. Among the more than 100 measures in the bill is one creating the Sabinoso Wilderness in northeastern New Mexico.

The U.S. Senate approved the bill in January.

The New Mexico Wilderness Alliance is hosting a meeting Saturday to talk about how the state benefits from the omnibus bill and the nonprofit groups proposals to eventually protect portions of the Upper Rio Grande Gorge, Chaco Canyon, and portions of Doña Ana County as national conservation areas.

Hunters and anglers descended on Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, stumping to have tthe public lands bill heard again. "This package of bills includes many important provisions for America's public lands and waters, which provide crucial habitat for game birds, deer and elk and provide healthy watersheds and streams," said Steve Torbit, regional executive director for the National Wildlife Federation's Rocky Mountain Natural Resource Center.

In Northern New Mexico sportsmen also want to see a remnant volcano, a sagebrush plateau and portions of the Rio Grand Gorge protected eventually. Saturday's meeting will have information available regarding proposals to designate 24,000 acres as wilderness and 276,000 acres as the Rio Grande del Norte National Conservation Area, but those plans are not yet official legislation. The proposed conservation area runs from the Colorado border south to near Tres Piedras and east to Questa. A sliver of the conservation area encompasses the 800-foot-deep Rio Grande Gorge from Colorado south almost to Pilar.

Some of the land is already protected as a Wild and Scenic Rivers area. Much of the land is under Carson National Forest or U.S. Bureau of Land Management jurisdiction. The lower gorge is already protected as an area of critical environmental concern.

Several sportsmen groups, including Trout Unlimited and the National Wildlife Federation, support the omnibus public lands bill and proposals to protect the Rio Grande Gorge.

John Olivas, an outfitter and northern director for the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, said protecting these lands are critical to his livelihood as a hunting guide and outfitter. But it's also important to protect traditional uses such as livestock grazing and wood cutting, said Olivas, who also is a member of the Mora Land Grant board. He said both must be considered in any legislation eventually drafted.

The New Mexico Wilderness Alliance also wants to designate 20,000 acres within the Chaco Culture National Historical Park as wilderness and protect 96,500 acres in Doña Ana County as a national conservation area.

Not everyone is sorry the omnibus public lands bill failed. Several people oppose a small, almost unnoticed land exchange measure in the bill between a private landowner, the Pecos National Historical Park and Santa Fe National Forest in Cañoncito, east of Santa Fe.

"If this bill re-surfaces, I would certainly hope that the affected landowners are intimately involved in the process," wrote AJ Kessel, who claimed to be a Cañoncito landowner, via e-mail from Kabul, Afghanistan.

"A number of citizens were very unhappy with what appeared to be the stealth tactics used by the bill's sponsors."

An Internet search for Kessel indicates he owns Spirit Ridge Ranch in the Cañoncito area. Kessel did not respond to an e-mail and attempts to reach him by phone.

Contact Staci Matlock at 986-3055 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com.



A previous version of this story incorrectly reported that the omnibus public lands bill included the proposed conservation areas in the Rio Grande Gorge, Chaco Canyon and Doña Ana County.