Event Recap: Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting and the Outdoors (HECHO) Hosts Roundtable Discussion for Full Conservation Funding of Great American Outdoors Act with Senator Tom Udall’s Office

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.

adminJuly 15, 2020Event Recap, Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF)Comment

#MyGrandCanyonStory | Patrice Horstman

HECHO spoke with Patrice Horstman on her connection to the Grand Canyon, and why she believes it deserves protection and advocacy.

Patrice Horstman (PH): I moved to Flagstaff in 1972 to go to school in Northern Arizona University, and like many, I fell in love with the San Francisco peaks and the Ponderosa Pine Forest. Having the Canyon as a neighbor has allowed me an up close and personal relationship with it. I've been able to spend over four decades exploring and hiking its trails, river running on the Colorado river through its red walls, and spending literally countless hours on the rim. The Grand Canyon is also an economic engine for us here in Northern Arizona. It has over 6 million visitors that visits the Canyon annually, which brings hundreds of millions of tourists dollars here to Arizona and has produced tens of thousands of jobs.

Guest Blog, Grand CanyonadminJuly 6, 2020#MyGrandCanyonStory, Grand Canyon, Uranium Mining, ArizonaComment

#MyGrandCanyonStory | Elizabeth Archuleta

#MyGrandCanyonStory | Coconino County Supervisor, Elizabeth Archuleta

HECHO founding member and Coconino County Supervisor, Elizabeth Archuleta sat down with us to talk about why advocating for the Grand Canyon is important for her.

Guest Blog, Grand CanyonadminJune 29, 2020#MyGrandCanyonStory, Grand Canyon, Uranium Mining, Arizona, Liz ArchuletaComment

Blog: Hope, Leadership, and Humanity During the Covid-19 Pandemic

For some, COVID-19 has changed our daily lives and how we interact with each other. For others, COVID-19 has made the impacts of existing societal, economic, and health disparities even worse. The truth is that we must navigate the unique challenges brought about during these uncertain and unprecedented times, and come out of this pandemic with a greater sense of how we are all connected.

As we hear stories about how community leaders are responding to the pandemic in thoughtful ways, we are hopeful that we will emerge from this in a better place. But that takes leadership and an understanding of our humanity. As an example, in Santa Fe County, NM, Commissioner Henry Roybal recognized the economic impact that solid waste disposal fees were having on some residents after seeing trash being dumped on the land. In response, he led a county effort to suspend solid waste disposal fees during the pandemic to reduce barriers for appropriate trash disposal.

adminJune 17, 2020Advisory Board, Henry Roybal, Evi Steyer, Mark Cardenas, Donald Valdez, Liz Archuleta, Lynn Cordova, Rebecca Chavez-HouckComment

#MyGrandCanyonStory | Nikki Julien

HECHO spoke with Nikki Julien, Outreach Director for the Arizona Wildlife Federation to learn about her favorite memory at the Grand Canyon, and why she believes uranium mining poses a dangerous threat to the National Park.

HECHO: What is your personal connection to the grand Canyon?

Nikki Julien (NJ): My personal connection to the Grand Canyon started the first time I visited, I was probably about five, six years old. My family had moved to Arizona and my parents, of course, put my brother in boy scouts. They had a boy scout trip to go down to Havasupai Village and we all hiked all the way down and back up again. While I was there, I actually learned to swim in that beautiful blue, green water. I learned how to swim in Mooney Falls. I was just a kid at the time, so I didn’t think much about it until after I realized how major it actually was. In the education field and nature writing field, and nature advocacy field, one of the first questions that is asked at almost any conference, is about your connection to the land. When that is asked, I get to say that I learned to swim at Mooney Falls at Havasupai Village which is an amazing, amazing experience. Not many six year olds can make that trip down and back out again. In 2014, I was able to helicopter down into the village and that was remarkable.

Event Recap: May 27, 2020 Digital Briefing and Advocacy Training to Protect the Grand Canyon

Advocates for the Grand Canyon came together on Wednesday for a digital briefing and advocacy training about the threat of uranium mining at the Grand Canyon. Community members joined the call from across the nation, sharing why protecting the national park is important to them.

HECHO presenters Camilla Simon and Elizabeth Archuleta discussed recent recommendations released by the Nuclear Fuels Working Group supporting opening up public lands near the Grand Canyon for uranium mining. They also informed advocates about a proposal to permanently protect the public lands around the Grand Canyon, introduced by Rep. Raul Grijalva and passed by the House in March 2020 called the Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act.

Joint Press Release: Conservation, civic organizations file amicus brief of stream access rule to state Supreme Court

The New Mexico Wilderness Alliance (New Mexico Wild, alternatively), the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Hispano Roundtable of New Mexico, Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors, and the Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project have filed an amicus brief with the New Mexico Supreme Court in support of a petition asking the Court to invalidate a rule passed in the final days of the Susana Martinez administration that limits public access to New Mexico’s rivers, streams and lakes and risks privatizing many of the waterways enjoyed by outdoor enthusiasts and traditional users.

Press Releases/StatementsadminApril 29, 2020New Mexico, Access, Water, Joint Press ReleaseComment

Press Release: New Recommendations Risk Public Health and Safety, Invites Uranium Mining at the Grand Canyon

FLAGSTAFF (April 23, 2020)—Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors (HECHO) opposed new recommendations released today from the Nuclear Fuels Working Group citing the audacity of its claims that the U.S. Government ought to “revive and strengthen the uranium mining industry” by streamlining “land access for uranium extraction”—a move that could open up uranium mining outside the Grand Canyon.

Statement: HECHO Statement on Halting Enforcement of Pollution Regulations Amid Public Health Crisis Despite Link Between Air Pollution and Covid-19 Deaths

Recent reports demonstrate the link between air pollution and deaths from COVID-19. This distressing connection underscores existing failures of the Trump Administration to prioritize public health-- from restricting access to health care to allowing corporations to pollute the air, land, and water-- making the Trump administration’s shamefully inadequate response to this public health crisis even worse. In response HECHO issued the following statement.

Press Releases/StatementsadminApril 22, 2020Statement, Utah, Pollution, Mark Archuleta Wheatley, Advisory BoardComment

Statement: Local Elected Officials Urge Administration not to Repeal Methane Waste Rule

On April 10 the San Miguel County Board in Northern New Mexico unanimously passed a resolution opposing the BLM’s proposed repeal of the Methane Waste Rule, intended to reduce methane leaking, venting and flaring from oil and gas operations. Introduced by HECHO Board Chair and County Commissioner Rock Ulibarri, the resolution was prompted by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s refusal to hold hearings on the repeal of this important Rule, which would save New Mexico approximately $10 million per year in revenue that could be used for education and other infrastructure.

Press Releases/Statements, Oil & GasadminApril 16, 2018Statement, Advisory Board, Rock Ulibarri, New Mexico, Methane WasteComment

Guest: Teaching Kids & Getting Them Outdoors - It's Part of Our Heritage

Seeing the wide-eyed faces of those kids and hearing their questions reinforced why I was there. I can be a part of shaping policy that affects our land, air and water, and that will ensure these kids have years of outdoor experience to look forward to.

Guest BlogadminFebruary 19, 2015Every Kid in a Park Initiative, Antiquities Act, ColoradoComment

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