Blog: HECHO in Washington D.C. June 2022
With more than a million acres surrounding the Grand Canyon at risk to continued mining operations, an HECHO delegation recently met with Congressional members to discuss the Grand Canyon Protection Act as well as several other important issues.
Camilla Simon – HECHO Executive Director, Gabriel Vasquez – Strategy and Partnerships Director, José Gaona – Policy and Advocacy Manager and Max Trujillo – Senior Field Coordinator, updated Senator Ben Ray Luján and Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez, both of New Mexico, as well as members of the offices of Congresswoman Veronica Escobar of Texas and Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona in addition to staffs from the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands and the Department of the Interior, and the Council on Environmental Quality from the Executive Office of the President.
The Grand Canyon Act would protect 1,006,545 acres of Federal land around the Grand Canyon and, subsequently, the Grand Canyon Watershed including the Colorado River from ongoing threats of mining operations.
The HECHO delegation also was able to highlight the campaign for the Save Oak Flat Act to protect 4,300 acres of deeply sacred land for the San Carlos Apache people who have been on the land, 40 miles east of Phoenix, for millennia and face destruction of their land from copper mining
HECHO also highlighted the ongoing and devastating fires in Arizona and New Mexico, requiring comprehensive approaches to address recovery and future fire prevention needs. Additionally, the delegation identified mutual goals related to national monument designations efforts and wildlife and riparian corridor conservation in the Upper Rio Grande.
HECHO is excited for the continued work on our campaigns with the support of the leaders that we met with last week. We will continue to work towards public lands and waters conservation, and do so while engaging and elevating voices from our Hispanic community to ensure that the threats that we face are addressed with our needs in mind.
