U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), clad in a camouflage vest over his collared shirt, took the mic in the Roundhouse rotunda Friday afternoon while onlookers crowded around the third-floor railing looking down.
“We have the leadership of the House and the Senate here in New Mexico stand up for public lands, water and wildlife in the last five years in a way that has never been seen in our state before,” Heinrich told the crowd. He pointed to the Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund, which directs state money to land, water, agriculture and outdoor recreation projects. He said it has made New Mexico “the envy of much of the West.”
Heinrich’s remarks came as part of “Camo at the Capitol Day,” which was dedicated to giving climate and public lands advocates an opportunity to tell their state representatives and lawmakers that they support conservation policies. The New Mexico Wildlife Federation on social media encouraged attendees to wear camo to send the message: “We hunt. We vote. We matter.” Other speakers included Rep. Angelica Rubio (D-Las Cruces) and Sen. Angel Charley (D-Acoma).
“It makes me incredibly proud to be a New Mexican,” Heinrich told the crowd. “They’ll never take our public lands from our public hands.”
After his remarks, Source NM asked Heinrich about President Donald Trump’s nomination of former New Mexico Republican Congressman Steve Pearce to lead the federal Bureau of Land Management and the federal government’s attempts to sell off public lands.
If confirmed, Pearce, who founded an oilfield services company before entering the political arena, would oversee 245 million acres of public lands nationally that are used for recreation, grazing and the oil and gas industry.
“I’m going to reserve judgment until after his hearing,” Heinrich told Source NM. “But as you can imagine, having known him for 20 years and being on different sides of a number of different issues, I’m going to have some probing questions for him.”
Last summer, Heinrich was a vocal opponent of the federal government’s attempts to sell off public lands and roll back protections, such as the so-called “roadless rule.” On Friday, he said he believes the Trump administration has shifted its strategy to target public lands in a piecemeal fashion, rather than seeking to sell them wholesale.
“It’s a way for them to roll back some of the protections that we have created with the community involved and to do it in a way where they’re not taking on the whole country,” Heinrich, the ranking member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said. “We’re going to keep standing up for these places, because they’re part of our culture and they’re great for our economy and they’re a reflection of our democracy.”
