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SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 13

TH LEGISLATURE

- STATE OF NEW MEXICO -

SECOND SESSION

, 2008

INTRODUCED BY

Phil A. Griego and Jeannette O. Wallace

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THAT THE UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE, IN THE STATE

OF NEW MEXICO, ENSURE THAT THE TRADITIONAL, RURAL, CULTURAL AND

RANCHING WAY OF NEW MEXICAN LIFE WILL NOT BE ADVERSELY IMPACTED

BY ITS OWN TRAVEL MANAGEMENT PROPOSAL OF MOTORIZED ROUTES AND

THAT ANY NEW MEXICO NATIONAL FOREST PLANS UNDERGOING REVISION

SHOULD CONTAIN CRITERIA TO PROTECT AND PRESERVE THE TRADITIONAL

NEW MEXICAN WAY OF LIFE.

WHEREAS, the United States forest service has created the

travel management rule in order to better manage recreational

off-highway vehicle use, describing it as one of the four major

threats facing the national forests today; and

WHEREAS, according to the United States forest service,

recreational off-highway vehicle use can have various adverse

impacts, including:

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A. conflict between recreational off-highway

vehicles and quiet recreationists;

B. impacts to significant historic sites;

C. severe soil erosion and spread of invasive

weeds;

D. disturbance of wildlife habitat and interruption

of wildlife migration;

E. destruction of valuable watersheds and

sedimentation;

F. wildfires; and

G. vandalism to private property; and

WHEREAS, rangers from the federal bureau of land

management and the United States forest service agree that off-

highway vehicles represent "a significant law enforcement

problem" and are "the biggest drain on ranger's resources and

generate more law enforcement citations than all other criminal

activity combined"; and

WHEREAS, the United States forest service does not appear

to have a practical plan or budget for enforcement of the

travel management plan or the maintenance of a reasonable

system of motorized routes; and

WHEREAS, areas of the Santa Fe national forest, such as

Glorieta mesa and the Jemez mountains, host unique

archaeological sites and serve as vital wildlife corridors

between core areas in the north and south, allowing species to

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migrate and maintain healthy populations; and

WHEREAS, there are ranchers and federal grazing permit

holders in and adjacent to New Mexico's national forests, some

of whom have lived, ranched and gathered wood there for more

than five generations, who have proven themselves to be

responsible, careful stewards of the forest; and

WHEREAS, the Santa Fe national forest management plan

calls for protection of the "traditional, cultural and ranching

way of life" and the United States forest service region 3

travel management rule guidelines state: "As a critical

component of allotment management, the implementation of the

TMR should be conducted in careful and considered consultation

with the grazing permit holder"; and

WHEREAS, for more than a year, the Santa Fe national

forest has actively solicited the direct involvement of

recreational off-highway vehicle users by explaining the travel

management rule and requesting input and assisting this

stakeholder group in documenting and mapping their preferred

routes, but the Santa Fe forest service has not made a similar

effort to solicit input from its grazing and other special use

permit holders; and

WHEREAS, there are property owners in or adjacent to the

New Mexico national forests and grazing permit holders that

live in a climate of intimidation, such as on Glorieta mesa,

where ranchers and their families have been shot at, had their

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pets killed, livestock harassed and property damaged, are

afraid to speak up for fear of retribution, and in spite of

making these events known to the United States forest service,

there has been no significant action taken to prevent loss of

life or damage to private property or to in any way deter these

criminal activities on forest land; and

WHEREAS, in some national forest areas such as Glorieta

mesa, where there is no history of extensive recreational off-

highway vehicle activity, the little use that exists now has

created a disproportionate disturbance to the land and

ranchers' livelihoods due to destruction of earthen dams and

stock tanks, livestock escaping from gates left open and fences

cut, harassing of livestock, the creation of unauthorized roads

and general vandalism; and

WHEREAS, the off-road abuse in the Jemez mountains is

monumental, causing extreme erosion, sedimentation of surface

water, trail degradation and illegally created trails, property

damage, intimidation and threat to the property inholders and

grazing permit holders, including one long-standing rancher who

was forced to give up his permit after motorcyclists repeatedly

chased his cattle and severely rutted the rangeland; and

WHEREAS, it is illegal to operate all-terrain vehicles on

paved roads and there are access roads to the national forests,

such as Santa Fe county road 51, that are unsafe for off-

highway vehicles and trailering, that serve as "attractive

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nuisances" for illegal all-terrain-vehicle use and that

recently had one all-terrain vehicle-related death;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE

STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the preservation of traditional

culture be established as a mandatory filter in evaluating any

potential designation of routes open for motorized travel,

requiring the United States forest service to actively solicit

input on motorized route designations from all stakeholders in

or adjacent to the forest, such as local ranchers, farmers,

other permit holders, adjacent property owners, in-holders and

local quiet recreational interests; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the preservation of existing

wildlife habitat and wildlife corridors, as well as protection

of watersheds, rangeland, natural resources and archaeological

sites, be established as a mandatory filter in evaluating any

potential designation of routes open for motorized travel,

particularly as applied to off-highway vehicle and dirt-bike

use; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that safe access to areas

designated for recreational off-highway vehicle traffic,

particularly dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles, be

established as a mandatory filter in route designation,

prohibiting access directly from roads that are inherently

unsafe for a particular class of vehicle, for example, off-

highway vehicles or dirt bikes, so as not to create an

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attractive nuisance that could result in injury or death to

recreationists or rural residents; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that recreational off-highway

vehicle activities be adequately enforced and monitored and

that violation of designated closed routes and areas result in

sufficient penalties and, if any designated routes and areas

are shown to be unenforceable, that they are closed permanently

or until sufficient enforcement can be guaranteed; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States forest

service seriously consider the recommendations of the

department of game and fish with regard to motorized use in the

New Mexico national forests; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States forest

service travel management plan proposed actions be suspended

until adequate input from all major stakeholders can be

collected, that the scoping period for proposed actions be

ninety days and that the state forester and the department of

game and fish be requested to report by December 1, 2008 to the

appropriate committee designated by the New Mexico legislative

council on the United States forest service response to this

memorial; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United States forest

service, in the process of rewriting their forest plans for the

national forests in New Mexico, should contain criteria to

protect and preserve the traditional New Mexican way of life;

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and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be

transmitted to the federal secretary of agriculture, the chief

of the United States forest service, the New Mexico

congressional delegation and the state forester.

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