Corilia Ortega: “As a Young Conservationist, Agriculturist, and Councilwoman of the Town of Taos, I Want To Make a Difference”

By: Corilia Ortega, Councilwoman of Town Taos, New Mexico.  

Playing in the river, picking piñon, riding my bike on the dirt roads, sitting in the back of the truck while enjoying a drive to the river, and even harvesting wild plum or quelites was a big part of my childhood. This was just the beginning of the love I grew for nature as a child to now a young adult.

I grew up near the Rio Hondo, which flows right through the heart of our community Arroyo Hondo in northern New Mexico. Living so close to the river by the mesas set the value for me on the importance of treasuring water. As a family, we would pick up trash to keep our waterways clean and spent many monsoons collecting rain water for our fruit trees and flower gardens. The men in my family would go out to hunt or clean the acequias, and the women harvested delicious fruits- apricots, plums, chokecherries, and fresh veggies to preserve for wintertime. The trees that grew with me as a child are still here, so I have a solid bond with them. My whole life, I've been connected with nature and consider the outdoors a place where I belong.

Now as a Councilwoman of the Town of Taos, I look at the policies and actions we can take in government to not only protect and preserve the beautiful wildlife that surrounds us but also ensure that protections allow future generations to have the same experiences that I had growing up, whether that's fishing, playing in the river or building mud cakes.  

As a young conservationist and agriculturist who grows food on a small-scale level, I'm most concerned with water use and quality when we know we have a finite amount. It is subject to contamination and unplanned development. We need to consider our water access and be efficient in our water use practices.  

In my lifetime, I have always been working, advocating, championing intelligent water policies, and encouraging my community to assess their water use to not only conserve, but collectively ensure that water quality stays intact to prevent the vicious cycle of environmental destruction.   

Being part of HECHO as a Hispanic Conservation Leadership Council (HCLC) member allows me to, alongside like-minded Hispanics who have long-standing roots in New Mexico and other states, tackle any threats that come and face our communities as we see more commodification of our water, land, soils, and lifeways. It's reassuring that I am not the only one who wants to, as previous generations of hard workers and activists, pave the way for younger women like myself to engage and believe that we can make a difference by protecting our natural resources.   

We all have a specific relationship with where we were raised, to where our families are from and with the habitat we share with wildlife. It's only in our best interest as community members, wherever you are in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, or Nevada, to know that our perspective, relationship, and lifeways are essential in terms of the policy that we can create. The relationship with land and water is unique to every individual. So regardless of being an elected official or not, I have always been committed to the notion that we need balance, equity, and hard work to make sure that we have culturally informed and beneficial land management practices.  

I will continue pushing for equity and justice in land management and conservation. I am part of that. I am part of the solution and know we can make a difference as a whole community.