Senators Bingaman and Udall Introduce Legislation to designate Columbine Hondo Wilderness Area!

New Bill to Permanently Protect Columbine Hondo Area

Please call your Senators and say thank you!

Senator Jeff Bingaman: 1-800-443-8658
Senator Tom Udall: (202) 224-6621

Senator Bingaman today introduced S. 2468, the Columbine-Hondo Wilderness Act, to permanently protect the 45,000-acre Columbine-Hondo Wilderness Study Area. The legislation is being praised by a coalition of New Mexicans who have been working for years to see this wild land preserved. Senator Tom Udall is cosponsoring this important bill.

The Columbine Hondo area north of Taos boasts some of the state’s most spectacular landscapes, encompassing the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, including Gold Hill, its highest peak. Elk, mountain lions, black bear, Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, pine marten, and Rio Grande cutthroat trout make their home here. It contains the headwaters for two important rivers that supply water to the acequias used by the community.

Congress formally recognized the wilderness values and character of the Columbine Hondo area in 1980 and gave it interim protection as a wilderness study area (WSA). Designation as wilderness is the highest form of protection, and bars any development.

New Mexico’s Senators deserve our thanks in taking this major step forward in protecting this important place. Please a make a quick call to their offices and let the staff person who answers that you’d like to say thank you to the Senator for introducing the Columbine Hondo Wilderness Act and encourage him to continue to work for its enactment this year.

Senator Jeff Bingaman: 1-800-443-8658
Senator Tom Udall: (202) 224-6621

For more information, visit www.columbinehondo.org