Congresswoman Heather Wilson, First Congressional District of New Mexico

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STATEMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE HEATHER WILSON ON S. 156 - THE OJITO WILDERNESS ACT	October 18, 2005

Mr. Speaker, I raise today support the Ojito Wilderness Act (S. 156). Congressman Udall and I reintroduced the Ojito Wilderness Act (H.R. 362) on January, 25th 2005. During the 108th Congress, we passed the Ojito Wilderness Act in the House. Our Senators passed their version of the bill through the Senate in the last hours of the last Congressional session bundled together with some other more controversial legislation. Earlier this Congress, the House Resources Committee passed by voice vote H.R. 362, the House companion to S. 156. After talking with the Resources Committee, Tom and I asked the House to take up the Senate bill, identical to ours, so that the next step will be the President’s desk. While the bill does not have his name on it, I want to commend my colleague, Tom Udall. He and his staff have been a pleasure to work with as we ironed out problems and worked on issues over the last three years. This legislation will accomplish two important things. First, S. 156 establishes the Ojito Wilderness Area, an area of nearly 11,000 acres, as a permanent wilderness area to be protected pursuant to the 1964 Wilderness Act. Second, it also provides for the purchase and transfer of adjacent Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands to the Pueblo of Zia and requires that all lands acquired by the Pueblo of Zia be preserved as undeveloped open space with continued public access. For more that a decade, the Pueblo worked with the county, the BLM, and the state land office to develop legislation that is broadly supported. I think the final legislation reflects a balanced approach – ensuring that public and private interests are addressed, while providing the long-sought transfer of important ancestral lands to the Pueblo and the consolidation of their reservation lands. The Ojito Wilderness Study Area, soon to the Ojito Wilderness, is located 40 miles Northwest of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Ojito Wilderness was studied by the Bureau of Land Management and found to be suitable for a permanent wilderness designation and the area was recommended to Congress for wilderness designation by then Secretary of the Interior, and native New Mexican, Manual Lujan. This legislation is locally developed and locally supported. New Mexico’s two Senators jointly introduced the Senate version of the bill. New Mexico’s Governor and Land Commissioner and all 20 Pueblos of New Mexico support this legislation. Further, the Sandoval County Commission, the Bernalillo County Commission, and the Albuquerque City Council have passed unanimous resolutions endorsing the proposal. The Ojito Wilderness is home to many diverse animal and plant species and is characterized by dramatic landforms and rock structures, multicolored badlands, expansive plateaus and mesa tops. In addition to the Ojito Wilderness’s striking physical features, it contains extensive cultural, archeological, and paleontological sites. One of the world`s longest dinosaurs, the Seismosaurus, lived in this area some 150 million years ago. In 1978 one of the largest dinosaur skeletons ever discovered, a 110 foot long Seismosaurus, was discovered in this area. Over 7,000 years ago ancient hunter and gatherers populated this area. We have learned much about how they lived from the clues they left behind. Around 1200 A.D., Zia’s ancestors moved to this area and their ancient multi-room pueblos and petroglyphs are scattered throughout the vicinity. In closing, I want to thank Chairman Pombo, Subcommittee Chairman Radanovich, and Congressman Udall and their staffs for working so hard on this legislation. I also would like to recognize the work of successive Governors and tribal council members of Zia Pueblo, including the current Governor, Teofilo Pino and his predecessor and long-time tribal administrator, Governor Peter Pino, and their counsel Dave Mielke. Additionally, I would like to thank Oscar Simpson of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, Stephen Capra of New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, Melyssa Watson of the Wilderness Support Center, the former and current chair of the Coalition for New Mexico Wilderness, Jim Scarantino and Arturo Sandoval, and former Sandoval County Commissioner Daymon Ely. Linda Rundell and Lisa Morrison from the BLM and New Mexico Land Commissioner Pat Lyons were also very helpful on this legislation. Finally, I want to thank Albuquerque City Councilor Martin Heinrich who, from the very beginning, has been instrumental in ironing out problems and working through issues associated with this legislation. I am very pleased that the Ojito Wilderness is going to get the permanent wilderness designation it deserves and Pueblo of Zia is going achieve its long-sought transfer of important ancestral lands that will unite the two non-contiguous areas of its reservation.