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| Wilson Urges Ojito Wilderness Preservation |
July 20, 2004 |
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| Lawmaker Sees Progress for Pueblo & Wilderness
Washington, DC – Speaking in the House Resources Committee today, Congresswoman Heather Wilson urged support for the Ojito Wilderness and Land Transfer Act (H.R. 3176) and welcomed today’s hearing of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands as an important step.
The bill would establish the Ojito Wilderness Study Area, nearly 11,000 acres, as a permanent wilderness area to be protected under the 1964 Wilderness Act. It also provides for the purchase and transfer of adjacent ancestral lands, now under the Bureau of Land Management, to the Pueblo of Zia. The public would have continued access but the lands would be preserved as open space, and unite two areas of the reservation.
“This legislation is locally developed and locally supported,” said Wilson, an original cosponsor of the bill with Rep. Tom Udall. “This balanced approach ensures that public and private needs are addressed, and provides the long-sought transfer of important ancestral lands to the Pueblo.”
“I would like to thank Representative Wilson for her hard work on behalf of the Ojito Wilderness,” said Jim Scarantino, Chairman of the Coalition for New Mexico Wilderness. “With her strong backing, and wide support throughout New Mexico, we can build on our tradition of wilderness protection. This legislation adds to her legacy of protecting important lands in the Sandia Mountains and the Valles Caldera National Preserve. Without her leadership, these lands would not have been protected for New Mexicans of this and future generations.”
"The Pueblo appreciates Congresswoman Wilson`s leadership on the Ojito Wilderness Act," said Governor Peter M. Pino, Pueblo of Zia. "She and Congressman Udall have helped us move closer than ever to uniting our reservation land."
The Pueblo has worked with the county, the Bureau of Land Management and the state land office in developing legislation with broad support. The effort has the support of Rep. Udall, Sen. Pete Domenici, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, Governor Richardson, State Land Commissioner Pat Lyons, all 20 Pueblos of New Mexico, Bernalillo and Sandoval county commissions, the city of Albuquerque, adjacent landowners and grazing permit holders.
Highlights of the Ojito Wilderness
Home to diverse animal and plant species
Characterized by dramatic land and rock formations, badlands, plateaus and mesas
Contains cultural, archeological and paleontological sites
Discovery site of one of the largest dinosaur skeletons in 1978 – a 110-foot Seismosaurus, one of the world’s longest dinosaurs
Historic sites of petroglyphs and multi-room pueblos of the Zia ancestors
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