Hispanic Heritage Month Is a Time To Recognize the Tremendous Contributions of Hispanic Americans to Conservation and the Power of Their Voices in This Space

By Camilla Simon, Executive Director of HECHO. 

The National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15 to October 15 every year in the United States to honor and recognize the many contributions of Hispanic Americans to our history, heritage, culture, and accomplishments as a nation. 

This year, Hispanic Heritage Month is particularly special and meaningful for all of us at HECHO because we are also celebrating our 10th anniversary. 

Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors (HECHO) was created in September 2013. Since then, we have been committed to empowering Hispanic leaders and providing them a platform to contribute their perspectives and knowledge about public land conservation. 

From southwestern deserts to northern forests, Hispanics throughout America have a strong connection to our country’s diverse landscapes. For way too long, though, their voices were excluded in critical conservation policy decisions that disproportionately impacted their communities. Historically, Hispanic knowledge and perspectives were absent in the management to safeguard our precious public lands and waters. 

But this has changed in recent years, and we are proud, as an organization, to be part of that significant and needed change.   

For the past decade, HECHO has been lifting Hispanic voices in conservation, getting more Latinos involved in speaking out about environmental issues and helping local Hispanic elected officials and community leaders from across five Southwestern states to weigh in on federal conservation policy. 

As part of our evolution as an organization and our commitment to amplifying Latino voices, HECHO launched the Hispanic Conservation Leadership Council (HCLC) in 2020, formed by Hispanic-serving elected, appointed, and community leaders. This fast-growing first-of-its-kind network has become the heart and soul of everything HECHO does. These leaders have demonstrated how influential and impactful they can be if given the opportunity.  

Throughout the years, HECHO has worked on key advocacy efforts, including the reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), the passing of the Great American Outdoors Act and the historic Inflation Reduction Act, the designation of National Monuments such as Browns Canyon, Rio Grande del Norte and Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks in New Mexico, and Avi Kwa Ame in Nevada.  

Environmental justice is deeply rooted in the work we do every day. HECHO's advocacy efforts locally and at the federal level have been instrumental in protecting Oak Flat, a sacred land in the Tonto National Forest in Arizona with vital water resources for wildlife and nearby communities with a predominately Latino population.  

After months of restless work and advocacy in this campaign, the U.S. Forest Service paused the publication of the Final Environmental Impact Report, which would have triggered a 60-day period in which the U.S. government had to transfer Oak Flat to Resolution Copper, a foreign mining company, to develop this controversial mining project that will exhaust about 250 billion gallons of water and destroy the holy land of several Tribes in the region. 

Another significant milestone in HECHO's advocacy work just happened last month. There was no better way to celebrate our 10th anniversary than the designation of the Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument, protecting nearly one million acres of public lands surrounding the national park from uranium mining. HECHO advocated for this permanent protection for years, and this conservation win could not have come at a better time to reflect on how far we have come and how much work there is still to be done in conservation and in pursuing environmental justice.  

The 2023 theme for Hispanic Heritage Month is "Prosperity, Power, and Progress," and it aligns with what we at HECHO know well: the contributions of Hispanics in the United States to conservation are immense, and their power is unquestionable.   

HECHO has shown the country that Hispanic communities are multifaceted when it comes to conservation. Their knowledge, profound commitment to protecting the environment, and love for the land should be recognized not only during Hispanic Heritage Month but every day!