Commentary: Over the next week, the diverse communities of northern New Mexico will be celebrating the fifth anniversary of Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. Since its designation on March 25, 2013, the local business community has touted Rio Grande del Norte as instrumental in protecting the land and heritage of surrounding communities, as well as providing a significant boost for tourism and the local economy. Average annual visitation to Rio Grande del Norte since its designation has been 180,400 people, an increase of 45 percent.
To celebrate the anniversary, the Partnership for Responsible Business, local business partners, Taos County, and the Village of Questa are running a full-page ad in the March 22 edition of the Taos News. In addition, these partners have released an infographic this week explaining the benefits of Rio Grande del Norte to the economy and way of life of northern New Mexico.
“The community’s investment of sweat and tears that went into securing Rio Grande del Norte’s designation was tremendous and will continue to pay off for New Mexico,” said Alexandra Merlino, Executive Director of the Partnership for Responsible Business. “From the efforts of U.S. Senators Tom Udall, Martin Heinrich, and Jeff Bingaman, and Congressman Ben Ray Lujan, to the grassroots determination of the people of northern New Mexico, we should all be proud of what we’ve accomplished.”
President Obama designated the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument in 2013 under the provisions of the Antiquities Act of 1906. The Monument is comprised of 242,000 acres of uniquely beautiful public lands, featuring steep gorges, pristine rivers, extinct volcanoes, and high mesas. The area has been a center of human activity since prehistoric times, and features several important cultural, archaeological, and historical sites, including petroglyphs and prehistoric dwellings, up to recent homesteading sites from the 1930s.
Rio Grande del Norte is also a haven for wildlife including bighorn sheep, elk, pronghorn, bobcat, cougar, river otter, and Rio Grande cutthroat trout. The area overlaps with the Rio Grande Migratory Flyway, one of North America’s great bird migration routes.
The unique setting of Rio Grande del Norte provides a wealth of opportunities that have supported numerous businesses and the economy. In fact, national monument designations in New Mexico, including Rio Grande del Norte and Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks in the southern part of the state, continue to play an instrumental role in growing New Mexico’s outdoor recreation economy. This includes the upcoming Outdoor Economics Conference in Las Cruces, New Mexico (more details below).
“My business wouldn’t survive without the access guaranteed by Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. It is a significant driver for our business, and it upholds our community. I couldn’t imagine living here or doing what I do without it,” commented Aphra Bond who, with her husband, Darren, owns Gearing Up Bicycle Shop in Taos.
“The 10,000 annual viewers of our Rio Grande del Norte National Monument webpage is a major reason why the TAOS.org website has seen a 12 percent annual increase in web traffic,” according to Alyson Hyder, Manager of TAOS.org and the developer of BookTaos.com.
Another boom has been to the restaurant and hospitality businesses in the area. “Since the Monument was designated, our business has seen a 26 percent revenue increase, year over year,” boasted Dan Irion, owner of Taos Mesa Brewing. “There is no doubt that this is thanks to Rio Grande del Norte, which has quickly become such an important part of our community.”
Monument Celebration and Business Events Planned
The Partnership for Responsible Business, Rio Grande del Norte National Monument Coalition and New Mexico's B-Corp business community are holding a business-networking event to celebrate the Monument’s anniversary and discuss how our businesses can be a force for good for the environment and our communities. The event will be on Tuesday, March 27, from 5-7 pm at the Taos Mesa Brewing Tap Room in Taos. For more information, contact Alexandra Merlino (info@PRBnewmexico.com or 917-721-3127) or go to this website.
In addition, the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument Coalition, in conjunction with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, will conduct volunteer service project work in the Monument at the Orilla Verde Recreation Area (near Pilar, NM) on Saturday, March 24, from 10 am-2 pm. For more information, contact John Olivas with New Mexico Wild (John@nmwild.org or 505-379-5551).
Directly related to benefiting from national monuments, the New Mexico Outdoor Economics Conference will be held in Las Cruces on May 3 and 4, focused on leveraging the pristine public lands in New Mexico to create jobs and grow local and statewide economies. The conference will bring together local, statewide, and federal elected officials, business and tribal leaders, and key community voices, with an eye to what’s possible for New Mexico. For more information, visit www.OutdoorEconomicsNM.com.
Monuments Still Under Threat
Despite the widespread popularity of and support for Rio Grande del Norte and other national monuments across our nation, the Trump administration conducted a review in 2017 of over two dozen national monuments and then implemented an unprecedented and likely illegal rollback of monument protections from 2 million acres of public lands in Utah. This action has opened up these public lands to mining and oil companies and put tens of thousands of Native American sacred sites at risk of looting and desecration. U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has also recommended that President Trump make yet-to-be-announced changes to Rio Grande del Norte and Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monuments despite overwhelming public opposition.
U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, along with Rep. Ben Ray Lujan and Michelle Lujan Grisham,have worked hard to defend New Mexico’s national monuments. Most recently, Senators Udall and Heinrich introduced the ANTIQUITIES Act of 2018 to safeguard our national monuments from further rollbacks. The Partnership for Responsible Business recently released https://vimeo.com/user64459895","_id":"0000017d-23af-dd26-adfd-e7ef59b60000","_type":"035d81d3-5be2-3ed2-bc8a-6da208e0d9e2"}">https://vimeo.com/user64459895&source=gmail&ust=1521844117167000&usg=AFQjCNGLO2zZ4XHN9VzEXhyfHkDOZE7-tQ" href="https://vimeo.com/user64459895","_id":"0000017d-23af-dd26-adfd-e7ef59b60000","_type":"035d81d3-5be2-3ed2-bc8a-6da208e0d9e2"}">https://vimeo.com/user64459895" id="m_6687579198326460062LPlnk130884" style="color: blue; text-decoration-line: underline;" target="_blank">a series of 30-second videos of New Mexico business owners and leaders stating their appreciation for New Mexico’s Senators for championing the ANTIQUITIES Act of 2018 and defending our monuments.
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The Partnership for Responsible Business works to educate the public about local sustainable economies, to promote economic development through environmentally and socially responsible entrepreneurship, and to partner with allied organizations to advances socially responsible economic and community development policies and practices. To learn more, visit www.PRBnewmexico.org.