From 10,000 feet off the ground, the piece of Colorado north of Taos looks segmented into perfect rectangles by a series of roads. The plots appear ripe for development.
The state border in this bit of America is stark, because, on New Mexico's side, there are very few roads and the plains stretch for miles with only sporadic intrusions by modern society, like a solitary road or house.
Conservationists in New Mexico want to keep the area unmolested in perpetuity, and, on Sunday, several interested parties were f lown over the roughly 330,000-acre section of this state that has been proposed for protection under U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman's El Rio Grande Del Norte National Conservation Area Establishment Act, introduced into legislation in April and co-sponsored by Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M.
A Journal reporter was in one of the 11 small planes circling the sky above the land, which runs north from about Taos, between San Antonio Mountain and Ute Mountain, and ends at the Colorado border.
The Rio Grande Gorge runs like a massive crack along the east end of the proposed national conser- vation area, and on Sunday changing leaves in the aspens looked like golden rivers running through surrounding mountains.
Also in a plane was a representative for Rep. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M. David Ehrman of the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance said his group hopes Luján will introduce a bill similar to Bingaman's in the House.
If the legislation is passed, Ehrman said: "It would mean there won't be any drilling. This area would be forever opened to the people and the wildlife, but there will be no ATVs, no developments, no drilling."
Ehrman said New Mexico has the least amount of land designated as "wilderness" of any Western state. Though the occasional road over the proposed acreage prevents some of it from being labeled as official "wilderness," it would all be designated a "conservation area," leaving it essentially undisturbed. (The bill allows for continued collection of piñon nuts and firewood in the area, as well as cattle grazing. Bingaman's office has said these touches came through input with surrounding communities.)
Herds of elk could be seen from the sky Sunday as they made their way across the plains east of San Antonio Mountain. Bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, cougars and otters also call the area home. In the skies, eagles, falcons and hawks can be seen, and they make nests in the Rio Grande Gorge.
"Our children and the state of New Mexico benefit long term with the protection of this land," said Kent Salazar of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation.
"If you've never been there, you need to go, because it's a special wildlife area. It's got incredible scenery and fishing. ... People are stressed a lot, and they need nature. We're getting away from that."
Salazar said that, apart from wrecking the scenery, drilling this section of New Mexico could destroy an underground aquifer crucial to the surrounding areas.
