“The Great American Outdoors Act is beneficial to us all, protecting our country’s most precious places, and expanding critical outdoor and recreational opportunities to our communities,” said Camilla Simon, Executive Director of Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors (HECHO). “The future of our nation’s special and venerated public lands is bright, and we look forward to the upcoming park projects, and improved outdoor access many will experience in our country’s landscapes.
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With strong bipartisan backing, the Great American Outdoors Act today passed the House of Representatives and is one step closer to becoming law.
The landmark legislation fully funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which will address the maintenance backlog in our national parks and public lands, as well as allocating funding to parks and habitat projects.
HECHO commends the members of the U.S. House of Representatives who have come together to protect our nation’s state and local parks, trails, recreation facilities and public lands, fortifying our connection to our nation's diverse landscapes.
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HECHO, in partnership with ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M.), hosted a virtual roundtable with community leaders and small businesses to discuss the Senate passage of the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), and the ways in which the legislation will benefit New Mexico.
Panelists included Senator Udall, HECHO Executive Director, Camilla Simon, HECHO Board Member and Chairman-Elect of the National Wildlife Federation’s Board of Directors, Kent Salazar, Enchanted Circle Trails Association representative, Carl Colonias, Southern NM Trails Alliance representative, Matt Mason, Santa Fe City Councilor, Renee Villarreal, and Roswell City Councilor, Judy Stubbs.
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June 17, 2020 -- Today, HECHO is celebrating alongside countless others the passage of the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) by the U.S. Senate. An act of bipartisanship (73-25) marks a major milestone for full and consistent funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which protects and increases access to public lands and national parks, and addresses the significant maintenance backlog in our national parks.
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Yesterday, March 10, 2020, 56 U.S. Senators introduced legislation that would support full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). The proposed bill, named The Great American Outdoors Act, would fully fund LWCF in addition to supporting national parks and public lands by addressing maintenance backlogs.
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HECHO (Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors) proudly hosted the third installment of the Cocktails and Conservation education series at La Flor De Calabaza in Phoenix, Arizona on February 13 to present Happy Hour.
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As a native Arizonan raised in Douglas, I have always admired the desert. While many might think of a desert landscape as arid, and perhaps even uninhabitable, I find the desert to be one of the most life-sustaining biomes, teeming with species who have adapted and thrive in our dry climate.
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At HECHO, our mission inspires us to care for the natural resources that we all rely on. We know that Hispanics and Latinos care about protecting our outdoor spaces and resources, but that hasn’t always translated into action. That is why HECHO is working to provide opportunities to weigh in and advocate for conservation issues that affect us all. From the air we breathe, to the waterways we recreate in, issues such as climate change, wildlife protection, clean water, conservation funding, and cutting methane are essential to learn about and participate in for the protection of generations to come. Read on to learn about 5 conservation issues that affect our community.
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The passage of the Natural Resources Management Act is a historic win for our public lands, outdoor heritage, and conservation across the country, Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting and the Outdoors (HECHO) said today. HECHO urged the president to swiftly sign it into law.
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I always went fishing with my grandfather and my uncles, Bernave Arellano and Virgil Lopez, who taught me how to catch trout. Both of my uncles were very respectful of the land and understood that it was important to leave it better than you found it.
Growing up in Salt Lake City, I always enjoyed the outdoors. The air felt so good to breathe and it seemed like the opportunities were endless. We were rather poor. My mother raised four kids by herself. We didn’t have a car for much of the time. When we got on the train to visit relatives, I always looked out the window at the open range where you could run fast and feel free.
Back then, my family hunted deer and elk. It’s important to realize that hunting and fishing are fun, but the best reason is to hunt to put food on the table. This is true for most Latinos. My family made jerky from the meat of the animals they killed. They would smoke the fish that we caught. Today, my relatives living in small towns in the Southwest still hunt for subsistence. A lot of these towns are food deserts and don’t have access to the best grocery stores. But through fishing and hunting you can still feed your family with good nutrition.
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When my daughter, Vida, was 3, she wanted to go on an adventure.
We packed up our backpacks with snacks, notebooks, crayons and water, and set out to explore the outdoors. We headed to Phoenix’s Piestewa Peak to climb rocks and investigate various plants and animals, and had an inspiring day that sparked our curiosity for the natural world right in our own backyard.
Vida is 8 now and a proud member of the Girl Scouts, where I also work. I watch as she and her troop members learn new skills, push the boundaries of their imaginations and nurture their connections to the earth.
I am also struck when I see Latino families in Phoenix grow closer each year when we gather at South Mountain Park to go camping, practice archery and cook dinner on the open fire. All of the generations bond for this special experience in the outdoors that is becoming increasingly rare in our urban culture.
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In honor of the LWCF, we asked some of our HECHO Board Members to share their favorite places that have benefited from the LWCF in this edition of Enjoying the Outdoors. Read on for their great tips on where to visit this holiday season and throughout the year.
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In late November, our mission and our passion came together when HECHO Advisory Board Members from Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah flew to Washington D.C. to speak directly to their members of Congress on the importance of protecting our shared public lands by reauthorizing the Land Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).
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By Mark Archuleta Wheatley
Rep. Rob Bishop has been called a lot of things by the environmental community, but late this session of Congress he defied labels and voiced his support for reauthorizing one of the most important, if underappreciated, conservation laws, the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
Bishop’s pursuit of a bipartisan deal to sustain this important program was a watershed moment for a town renowned for gridlock and on an issue that had previously and repeatedly died on the vine due to the congressman’s past opposition.
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Early last year, the National Wildlife Federation formed a strategic partnership with HECHO (Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors). The conservation group provides an effective voice for communities that traditionally have been underrepresented on matters relating to the environment. “HECHO is a national leader on public lands issues, and NWF is proud to have such a powerful partner to advance our collective conservation priorities,” says NWF Regional Executive Director Brian Kurzel.
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Hispanics Enjoying Camping Hunting and the Outdoors (HECHO) was joined by the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Vice President, Monica Villalobos on November 14, 2018 at the Murdock Community Center in Flagstaff for a presentation of DATOS 2018. The report highlights “Elements of a Healthy Community.” Villalobos provided an overview of the state of Latinos in Arizona and key facts on climate change views.
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I recently had the honor to speak at an event celebrating the recent opening and expansion of the Sabinoso Wilderness Area to the public. This was the result of years of hard work among Latino public lands advocates, sportsmen and other northern New Mexico stakeholders.
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The Trump Administration’s proposed 2019 budget aims to destroy the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) -- perhaps the most important piece of federal legislation that has been protecting our nation’s land and water for the last 50 years.
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America's National Parks Service recently celebrated its centennial and Secretary Sally Jewell laid out her vision of the next 100 years of American Conservation in her speech commemorating the event. In a letter to Secretary Jewell, HECHO voiced its support of her vision, including promoting landscape-level planning and increasing diverse stakeholder input when managing public lands, supporting the protection of our national treasures through the Antiquities Act, and emphasizing the importance of permanently authorizing and fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
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