HECHO Asks Congress To Pass the Cerro de la Olla Wilderness Establishment Act

Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors (HECHO) commends Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández and Senator Martin Senator Heinrich for reintroducing the Cerro de la Olla Wilderness Establishment Act in both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. This bill would designate about 13,000 acres of public lands in northern New Mexico as wilderness. 

This designation would provide long-term stronger protections to a landscape of ecological, cultural, historical, and recreational value within the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, allowing wildlife and communities to thrive by cultivating a legacy of stewardship and preserving intact migratory corridors for species such as elk, bear, and mountain lion.   

“The Cerro de la Olla Wilderness Establishment Act ensures that future generations can access cherished lands that are deeply important to our community,” said Camilla Simon, executive director of Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors (HECHO). “This designation would preserve traditional and ancestral uses in our communities such as hunting, wood gathering, and medicinal herb collecting.”  

“Hunting and other traditional uses needs to be preserved and passed down to future generations. As a conservationist and hunter, I support the Cerro de la Olla Wilderness designation. This landscape must be protected for the wildlife, for current and future generations of local ranchers, sportsmen and women, tribal communities and all people who enjoy and cherish this land,” says HECHO’s Senior Field Coordinator for New Mexico Max Trujillo.  

HECHO asks Congress to pass this vital legislation and provides this area the protection it deserves.