June is National Rivers Month, and New Mexicans who want the Gila and San Francisco rivers protected watched U.S. Senate talks this week on the MH “Dutch” Salmon Greater Gila Wild and Scenic River Act.
Small business owners, tribes, landowners and others have been working on the proposal for nearly a decade, said Martyn Pearson, who runs the Hike and Bike store in Silver City, at the entrance to the Gila Wilderness .
“You want to talk about healthy rivers, you want to talk about protecting one of the last free-flowing rivers, that’s fine,” he said. “It’s really good that it’s happening right now – because from so many different angles this river needs help.”
First introduced in 2020, the legislation would secure segments of the Gila River located primarily in the Gila Wilderness – the first US federally protected wilderness area – by designating nearly 450 miles as Wild and Scenic.
Pearson said saving the state’s rivers is a critical way to mitigate the effects of climate change, as well as protect the Aldo Leopold Wilderness for future generations.
“Someone thought it would be important for someone to go there and see it, exactly as it is, unchanged – the Gila runs through it,” he said. “And it deserves the same protection, because it could help keep the river enjoyable for people long after we’re gone.”
President Joe Biden will visit New Mexico later this week following several record wildfires. Pearson, a kayaker, said he would find the state in a tough spot right now.
“It’s so dry that when it snows, the snowmelt goes straight into the ground – very little makes it into the rivers,” he said. “And so for the last three springs when we’ve been there, we’ve been sitting, we’re waiting, ‘Oh, I wonder when that little window is going to open and we can get out on the Gila,’ and he doesn’t come ever. And that has a pretty big impact on fishing.
A 2020 report said water-related activities contribute at least $427 million to the state’s annual economy.
Support for this report was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
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Those who want to see the Castner Range outside of El Paso protected hope this will be the year President Joe Biden uses his authority to designate the area as a national monument under the Antiquities Act of 1906.
Groups in El Paso have worked for more than 50 years to access and protect the Castner Landscape, which is US military property and not open to the public. Janae’ Reneaud Field, executive director of the Frontera Land Alliance, said she believed opening up the 7,000-acre range would create a better sense of community.
“In an area where there is a high population,” she said, “to have more public access for people to enjoy our natural environment – the historical and cultural elements that are in Castner Range – brings a sense of pride to the community.”
In a letter to Biden on Tuesday, 92 organizations wrote that designating Castner Range as a national monument would affirm its commitment to protecting national treasures and counter a history of inequitable access to the outdoors. A visit by US Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in March boosted locals’ hopes that a monument designation would be forthcoming.
Under the Castner Range National Monument Act, the Department of the Interior would be required to create a management plan to protect and restore habitat, improve recreational opportunities and address any hazards – such as munitions and explosives still buried there from his training days at Fort Bliss.
Ángel Peña, executive director of the Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project, said the designation would align with the Biden administration’s commitment to conserve 30% of the country’s land, water and oceans by 2030.
“It’s exciting to hear that this administration is looking to see how it can leverage antiquities law to really help redefine even what conservation looks like,” he said.
Castner Range is home to over 7,000 acres of desert land.
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Environmental groups say removing Albright Dam on the Cheat River will help restore fish populations, improve water quality and expand outdoor recreation for West Virginians.
The US Department of the Interior recently announced $1 million in funding for the removal of the old Albright Dam as part of an effort to improve water quality and restore waterways. at national scale.
Lisa Hollingsworth-Segedy, director of river restoration for the advocacy group American Rivers, said the private dam holds back water for about half a mile.
“The dam serves no purpose at all, and it’s a barrier to some really important fish species,” Hollingsworth-Segedy said. “For the people of West Virginia, the dam is also contributing to declining water quality in the Cheat River.”
She added that removing the dam would address environmental concerns and reconnect more than 1,000 miles of rivers and streams in an area of the mountain state rich in biodiversity. It is widely believed that the dam has lost its usefulness, but the state has to bear about a third of the cost of its removal.
Frank Jernejcic, a member of the nonprofit group Friends of the Cheat River and a retired biologist, explained that dams can harm fish populations by blocking their natural passage between feeding and spawning areas.
“Fish, especially walleye, have moved upstream from Cheat Lake through Cheat Canyon, and they are now stopped at Albright Dam,” Jernejcic pointed out. “Removing the dam will allow walleye to move upstream.”
A recent Associated Press investigation found that outdated or poorly maintained dams across the country can pose serious threats to communities.
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June is National Rivers Month, and in Montana there is a push to protect more rivers.
The Montana Headwaters Legacy Act in Congress would nearly double the number of river miles protected as Wild and Scenic in the state. After being reintroduced in 2021, he is finally scheduled for a hearing next Tuesday at the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Breweries across the state sent a letter to Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Matt Rosendale, both R-Mont., urging them to support the Montana Headwaters Legacy Act.
“The number one ingredient in beer is water. We mustn’t forget that, and that’s really the core of our interest,” said Matt Leow, executive director of the Montana Brewers Association. “We know it takes clean water to make great beer, so brewers certainly have a vested interest in protecting our water in Montana.”
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., introduced the bill. In a statement to the Public News Service, he said: “This legislation is being built from the ground up with the support of a diverse coalition of stakeholders, and it will ensure some of our most breathtaking rivers stay that way, protecting our economy. outdoors. and lifestyle.”
There does not appear to be any organized opposition to the bill.
Maggie Doherty, co-owner of Kalispell Brewing Co., said protecting Montana’s rivers and landscapes — which are essential to the state’s outdoor recreation economy — can benefit everyone.
“We see that once we take care of the environment around us, business, everything else can thrive,” she said. “It’s not an and/or. We don’t have to pit business against environment. It can work in concert.”
Doherty, who considers himself a “river rat,” said his children also explore Montana’s rivers.
“Rivers teach us so much about ourselves and understanding the natural world around us,” she said, “and it gives me a place and a space to think about the future and where I want my children, and hopefully future generations, to enjoy.”
The Montana Headwaters Legacy Act would protect 385 miles of river in the state, including segments of the Gallatin, Smith and Yellowstone rivers.
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