Rio Chama Watershed Alert Feb. 2019

March Oil and Gas Lease Sale Protest Period Begins Now!

RACC is joining forces with the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club to protest the BLM March Oil and Gas Lease Sale in New Mexico. While there are no parcels in our watershed this time around it is still critically important that we continue to take a stand against out-of-control fracking in New Mexico.

Do you like the idea of New Mexico becoming the number one oil play in the world? With oil and gas development racing on in the San Juan Basin in northwest New Mexico and the Permian Basin in southeast New Mexico, our state is set to contribute mightily to Climate Change and Global Warming in the coming years.

Please take the next 15 minutes to make your voice heard. Click here to reach the RACC website and a form letter that only requires a couple of personal comments from you to make it a “legitimate” letter in the BLM’s eyes. Sierra Club will hand-deliver all letters to the BLM in a planned media event. Letter campaigns in the past have worked! Parcels near Chaco have once again been removed from this sale as a result of public protest.

Please go to www.rioarribaconcernedcitizens.com to get started.

The deadline for receipt of your letters by the Sierra Club (by email or post) is Tuesday, Feb.19th. Do it now! Thank you!

NM Legislation that ultimately affects the Rio Chama Watershed

We all have a lot to keep track of as New Mexico finally makes big strides into the Green Economy. When we can, we will attempt to help you keep track of legislation that affects the health of our watershed and watershed residents. In fact, if you or anyone you know is interested in volunteering to be RACC’s “legislation tracker”, we’d love to hear from you! We are looking for someone to  track schedules on key legislation that ultimately affects the Rio Chama Watershed. If you are interested, you can contact us through our website.

There is a piece of legislation called the Healthy Soil Act (HB 204) that is scheduled for the House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee on Thursday, Feb.14 at 8:30 AM.

Healthy soils provide financial benefits for farmers and ranchers, and environmental benefits that affect all of us here in the watershed. Healthy soils absorb and retain more water, recharging depleted aquifers and improving water quality. Advocates of this Act, like RACC, believe that this piece of legislation supports farmers and ranchers in soil health stewardship by offering voluntary incentives through education and financing. And finally, this state-level program leverages federal funds in the form of grants.

You can link to an informative interview here. And here is some information from Columbia University about how healthy soil can help combat Climate Change.

Consider contacting the committee members below and letting them know you support this bill. Please contact them before Thurs. the 14th! If you would like to testify at the Roundhouse in support of this Act, please contact Isabelle Jenniches at imjenniches@gmail.com.