NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release June 10th, 2016
Contact: Carrie Hamblen, CEO/President
Las Cruces Green Chamber of Commerce
575-323-1575
LOCAL BUSINESSES SUPPORT WILDERNESS DESIGNATION WITHIN ORGAN MOUNTAINS-DESERT PEAKS NATIONAL MONUMENT
LAS CRUCES— A united voice of roughly 60 local businesses support Friday by New Mexico Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, giving greater protections to eight wilderness areas within the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks (OMDP) National Monument. The businesses range from restaurants and grocery stores to body shops and beauty salons. All have a financial stake in Doña Ana County being a place people where people choose visit and live.
The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks Conservation Act, would give a higher level of protection to special areas already located within the monument. Former Senator Jeff Bingaman first introduced legislation in 2009 that would provide these same safeguards for the wilderness areas in Doña Ana County.
There are eight wilderness study areas and two citizen proposed wilderness areas in the Act that are located in the heart of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. They have incredible habitat, vibrant plant and animal populations, and are essential to healthy watersheds. Protecting them creates new ways to share the natural and cultural treasures of the area.
Carrie Hamblen, CEO/President of the Las Cruces Green Chamber of Commerce, says having the areas within the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument designated as wilderness will enhance the tourism appeal for visitors to Las Cruces.
“Permanent protections for these special places can help continue to boost our economy and help create jobs,” Hamben said. She noted that since President Obama designated Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks as a National Monument in 2014, Las Cruces has seen national recognition. “Las Cruces has been featured in several reports, hosted multiple conferences, and recognized in publications like Lonely Planet, largely because of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument.”
The support from local businesses for the proposed wilderness areas reinforces the positive impact that protecting our public spaces can have on job creation, economic development, and tourism in Las Cruces.
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To see the business support letter to Senator Udall and Senator Heinrich, click on the link below: