PHOTOS: Heinrich Accepts National Wilderness Champion Award

WASHINGTON - This week, the brand new National Wilderness Coalition honored U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, with its inaugural Wilderness Champion Award in recognition of his longtime leadership and successful record of prioritizing wilderness conservation as a critical tool for addressing climate change, ensuring wildland integrity, protecting biodiversity, and connecting people with nature.

"This award is a testament to the success of our community-driven conservation efforts in New Mexico that have led to lasting protections for the lands and waters our communities cherish," said Heinrich. "Throughout my career, I've been proud to stand with New Mexicans to protect our wild lands, from the Gila-the first designated wilderness on Earth-to the Columbine-Hondo, the Ojito, the Sabinoso, Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah, and our newly established wilderness areas in the Rio Grande del Norte and Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monuments. We have a moral responsibility to conserve these wild places for future generations of New Mexicans to enjoy."

Background on Heinrich's Leadership on Wilderness Protection:

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Forest Service designating the Gila Wilderness in southwestern New Mexico, making it the first designated and protected wilderness area on Earth and a precursor to the 1964 Wilderness Act that established the National Wilderness Preservation System.

Since its inception in 1964, the Wilderness Act has been used by Congress to protect 112 million acres of public lands across 44 states. Although the Act has established 800 individual wilderness areas, these areas encompass only about 5% of lands in the U.S. The National Wilderness Preservation System represents the most protective and comprehensive means to ensure public lands are protected in their natural state for future generations.

In June, Heinrich delivered keynote remarks at a community celebration of the Gila's 100th anniversary in Silver City, N.M., the gateway community to the Gila Wilderness. In May a resolution that Heinrich led to recognize the 100th anniversary of the Gila Wilderness passed in the Senate.

Heinrich is continuing to lead the effort to pass the M.H. Dutch Salmon Greater Gila Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, which would provide enhanced protections for the watershed that supports the Gila Wilderness. In this Congress, Heinrich and U.S. Representative Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) have also introduced legislation to establish Cerro de la Olla Wilderness within the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument.

As a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator Heinrich championed the designation of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks and Rio Grande del Norte National Monuments and passed legislation to establish White Sands National Parkand the Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah and Columbine-Hondo Wilderness Areas.

Senator Heinrich helped secure the resources and support for new land acquisitions thatopened up new public access to the Sabinoso Wilderness and the addition of the historic L Bar Ranch property to western New Mexico's Marquez Wildlife Area-the single greatest addition to protected public land in New Mexico in a generation.

He also played a leading role in securing strong, bipartisan support for the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act in 2019 and the Great American Outdoors Act in 2020, two of the most significant pieces of conservation legislation to be signed into law in decades. The Dingell Act established the most protected wilderness in New Mexico in nearly 40 years.

Before he was elected to Congress, Senator Heinrich led the successful community campaign in the mid-2000's to establish the Ojito Wilderness-on Bureau of Land Management lands about an hour northwest of Albuquerque. The Ojito became the first new protected wilderness area in New Mexico in decades and laid the foundation for future successful community-driven campaigns to protect and designate new wilderness areas throughout New Mexico.

Background on the National Wilderness Coalition:

This week, a diverse coalition of local, statewide, and national conservation and environmental justice organizations formally announced the creation of the National Wilderness Coalition (NWC) to reinvigorate a diverse and powerful wilderness movement. The NWC is made up of organizations who have come together to build political power and advance wilderness legislation.

As part of its launch, the Coalition awarded the inaugural Wilderness Champion Awards. In addition to Heinrich, awards were presented to U.S. Representatives Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), and Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) and U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.).

More information about the awards and the NWC can be found here.

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