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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] N.M. Tradition Clashes With Off-Roading on Public Lands
  • Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:30:34 -0600


N.M. Tradition Clashes With Off-Roading on Public Lands

http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/apoffroad06-23-08.htm
Monday, June 23, 2008


Susan Montoya Bryan
Associated Press

OJO DE LA VACA Richard Montoya looks out the pickup truck's window
as he heads down the dirt road toward the steel gate.
To the right, a few cows and horses graze in a pasture bordered by
hills thick with pinon and juniper trees. To the left, the remaining
stone walls of this once vibrant trading post stand out against the
backdrop of Glorieta Mesa.
"So what do you think of this country?" the 67-year-old northern New
Mexico rancher says.
It's not a question, but rather Montoya's way of affirming the beauty
of the surroundings he and his wife, Zenaida, have known all of their
lives. They say they're lucky to live on the mesa, raising their horses
and cattle and living off the land as their families have done for
generations.
But the couple worries about whether they can maintain their
traditional way of life now that the challenges of ranching in the West
are being compounded by a new threat the growing popularity of off-road
motorized recreation on public land.
And the ranchers of Glorieta Mesa are not alone.
Battles among off-roaders, ranchers, land owners and
environmentalists are heating up around the country as the U.S. Forest
Service tries to decide which of its millions of acres should be
designated for travel by motorcycles, four-wheelers and other backcountry
vehicles.
About 36 national forests have already completed travel management
maps and the rest will follow over the next two years. The Santa Fe
National Forest, which includes Glorieta Mesa, plans to release its map
this summer.
More than half of the Santa Fe Forest is currently open to
cross-country motorized travel.
"And with the growing population, the resource impacts of that are
unacceptable," Santa Fe Forest Supervisor Daniel Jiron said.
Residents on Glorieta Mesa say irresponsible off-roaders are
threatening their livelihood by tearing up the forest they depend on.
Some have photographs of tracks crossing pristine land. Others have
stories about their livestock being chased, fences being cut and earthen
stock tanks being used for impromptu mud bog sessions.
Forest officials have been talking with off-roaders and others in an
effort to determine what the travel plan should look like. But the mesa's
residents argue that until recently, they had not been included in the
process, making for an even more contentious debate.
Some residents said early maps looked like spaghetti, with roads
crisscrossing the mesa. They became suspicious that the travel plan was
an effort to force ranchers to give up their grazing allotments on the mesa.
The impacts of off-roading on public land can be measured by
monitoring wildlife, meadows and streams. In New Mexico, where people
have lived off of the land for centuries, resident Sharon Eliashar said
the impact on traditional culture also needs to be considered.
"Their relationship to the land is very deep," she says of her
neighbors, many who are fifth generation ranchers. "It's who they are.
It's their identity. Destroying it is like destroying them."
Congress has held hearings on off-road vehicle use on public lands
and a group of New Mexico legislators has taken a keen interest in the
issue, especially the cultural aspect.
Democratic Sen. Phil Griego of San Jose earlier this month brought
together state leaders and regional forest officials to talk about
finding a balance between off-road recreation and New Mexico's
traditional ways of life.
"The Hispanic rancher, the Native American rancher and the Anglo
rancher were here long before there was a national forest and they
maintained the land," Griego said. "They want to continue to do that.
They want to continue to pass the ability to ranch that land, manage that
land, down to their grandkids and their great-grandkids."
The off-roading community also has concerns about maintaining their
right to enjoy the forest.
"Everything's at stake, not just for us but really for the whole
public that accesses the forest," said Mark Werkmeister, president of the
New Mexico Off Highway Vehicle Alliance board of directors.
He said most people use some type of motor vehicle to access the
forest whether they're backpacking, bird watching, hunting or driving
motorcycles or ATVs.
Werkmeister acknowledged that off-roaders often get a bad rap, but he
said his group promotes responsible use on public land. He said good
management by the Forest Service should include restricting use to
prevent resource damages.
"But there's a vast difference between closing a forest to motor use
and management for proper use," he said.
Daniel Patterson, southwest director of Public Employees for
Environmental Responsibility, said forest officials need to consider all
uses from off-roading to grazing when developing the travel plans.
"In a lot of places, we're seeing single-use management, which means
off-road vehicles," Patterson said. "Off-road vehicles tend to displace
everything else. Good luck hunting and fishing in an area where there's
tons of off-road vehicle use."
Patterson said off-roading has become a burden on land management
agencies and law enforcement. He said a recent survey of rangers shows
off-highway vehicle use is one of the top threats to public lands across
the country, especially in the West.
"The truth is," he said, "there's maybe a few good apples who are
trying to get a handle on this thing and far too many off-roaders who
have just a callous disregard for the rights of other people on public
lands."
Ron Lynch, whose family has ranched on the mesa for five generations,
said it's not about how big the problem is now but how big it's going to
get as the population in the West continues to boom. He pointed to the
summer homes popping up on Santa Fe's hillsides.
"We're the last of the frontier. We're the last of the wide open
country," he said. "Everybody's discovering that."
For the Montoyas, it's not difficult to see why people are attracted
to the mesa. The challenge, they say, is instilling in visitors the same
kind of respect the two of them learned growing up as descendants of the
land's original stewards.
"We want the forest to be here when our kids have kids," Zenaida
Montoya said. "I think once you destroy it, we won't have anything."






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