Washington, D.C. — In response to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signing an executive order—titled “Protecting New Mexico’s Lands, Watersheds, Wildlife, and Natural Heritage”—committing to protect 30% of New Mexico’s lands by 2030, the League of Conservation Voters released the following statement from Conservation Program Director Alex Taurel:

“Thank you to Governor Lujan Grisham for her visionary leadership seeking to protect New Mexico’s public lands, mitigate the worst impacts of climate change, and make access to nature more equitable. We’re thrilled to see New Mexico join state and local leaders across the country who are seeking to meet scientists’ calls to protect 30% of our lands and waters by 2030 to stem the climate crisis and the rapid loss of natural lands and wildlife habitat to harmful development. Communities nationwide are leading the way on locally-driven, collaborative conservation, and we’re counting on the Biden administration to continue this momentum by taking meaningful conservation action to advance its ‘America the Beautiful’ initiative.”

This makes New Mexico the 2nd state to commit to the 30×30 goal by executive order following Governor Newsom’s order last October. Maine also included a 30×30 goal in their state’s climate action plan.

LCV recently held a webinar with White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory and state and local leaders to discuss their recent report highlighting state and local conservation progress toward 30×30. Earlier this year, LCV helped organize letters of support for setting a nationwide goal of 30×30 that were signed by more than 450 state and local elected officials and 70 mayors nationwide. 

Please see full executive order, fact sheets, and press release from New Mexico organizations, local leaders, and elected officials praising the new executive order: 

• Full Executive Order: “Protecting New Mexico’s Lands, Watersheds, Wildlife, and Natural Heritage”
• 30×30 EO Fact Sheet

Full coalition press release here

CONTACT:

Michael Jensen, Conservation Voters New Mexico, 505-362-1063, michael@cvnm.org

Joey Keefe, New Mexico Wild, 505-259-4471, joey@nmwild.org

Jamie Trafficanda, Western Resource Advocates, 720-763-3737, jamie@westernresources.org

Broad Coalition of New Mexicans Praise Governor’s New Executive Order to Protect 30% of Lands and Waters by 2030

Santa Fe, N.M. — A broad coalition of New Mexico advocates today applauded Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham for announcing an executive order to protect 30% of the state’s land by 2030. The order—titled “Protecting New Mexico’s Lands, Watersheds, Wildlife, and Natural Heritage”—is a critical step to conserving the state’s treasured landscapes and biodiversity for generations to come, while bolstering our economy, expanding access to the outdoors, and increasing opportunities for hunting and fishing.

Nearly 80% of New Mexicans support conserving 30% of land and waters by 2030. Click here for a fact sheet on what the executive order will do.

“As New Mexicans, we know that our hunting, fishing, and outdoor heritage and way of life require healthy, intact natural landscapes and clean, flowing rivers. This science-based executive order will help set our state on a path to achieve the landscape scale protections we know we need by 2030 in order to preserve our wild places, and legacy of tradition for our communities and future generations to enjoy.” —Ángel Peña, executive director, Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project

“A New Mexico 30×30 executive order is the start of a conservation conversation that will allow local communities, much like mine, to start the discussions about how best we can achieve that goal of preserving and protecting 30% of our lands and waters here in the state. And we start that conversation by thinking about what’s in our own backyard.” —Theresa Pasqual, executive director, Acoma Historic Preservation Office

“All New Mexicans deserve equal access to our state’s abundant and beautiful outdoor places. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, our local public lands and open spaces have proven to be invaluable for the health of our communities across the state. This 30×30 Executive Order issued by Governor Lujan Grisham will help ensure equitable access to our public lands and open spaces, address the need for climate resiliency, and provide sustainable opportunities to boost our local economies.” —Demis Foster, executive director, Conservation Voters New Mexico

Please see full coalition press release here

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