Albuquerque Journal: Heinrich’s bill to open landlocked public lands gets boost

It’s no secret that New Mexico has some of the best public lands in America for hunting, fishing, skiing, hiking, camping and other outdoor recreational pursuits.

But did you know that more than a half-million acres of these so-called “public lands” in the state are actually inaccessible to the public?

That’s because they’re either surrounded by private land that offers no public access or the parcels are connected only at the corners, which can’t legally be traversed.

Sen. Martin Heinrich – who often spends his free time hunting and fishing in New Mexico – wants to change this.

He’s been pushing for several years to open more public lands to hunters and recreational users, and last week his bill to do so – dubbed the HUNT Act – gained some traction when it was incorporated into a larger package of lands legislation called the SPORT Act (AKA the Sportsmen’s and Public Outdoor Recreation Traditions Act).

The SPORT Act includes bills introduced by both Democrats and Republicans, which is critical because Heinrich, a freshman Democrat, had been unable to recruit any Republican co-sponsors to his standalone bill.

The larger legislative package would expand access to federal public lands for hunting and fishing, reauthorize some wildlife habitat programs, and reform other existing laws and regulations that keep people from enjoying the outdoors.

Heinrich’s bill would force federal land management agencies to identify public lands that lack access routes and develop plans to provide them to those tracts that have “significant potential” for recreational use.

It would also divert 1.5 percent of the Land and Water Conservation Fund each year to purchase road and trail easements and rights of way from willing sellers who own private land adjacent to inaccessible public lands.

According to the national Outdoor Industry Association, hunters and anglers alone spend more than $465 million per year in New Mexico.

Outdoor recreation activities in New Mexico generate $6.1 billion annually in consumer spending and are also directly responsible for 68,000 New Mexico jobs, according to the association.

Heinrich contends his bill would not only increase use of public lands, but also boost the state’s economy, especially in remote, rural areas that could really use the help.

The Center for Western Priorities this month issued a report that analyzes inaccessible public lands across the West.

The report does a good job of explaining why so much of the land is impossible to use, except by private landowners whose properties surround the “public” land.

“The enclosure of public land can result from different circumstances,” the report says. “Lands may be completely surrounded by private lands without any right of way to access the adjacent public lands. There may be a public road running through private property that has been closed off. Public lands can be surrounded by private lands in a checkerboard pattern. Sometimes, landowners have been known to illegally fence off public roads, effectively shutting out the public from crossing onto publicly owned land.”

Public lands are especially important to New Mexico hunters.

According to the Center’s report, 89 percent of hunters in New Mexico hunt on public lands, the highest percentage in the Rocky Mountain West. The report also makes clear that boosting access to public lands doesn’t mean bulldozing them or giving the public carte blanche access.

“Having access to public lands does not mean the public is granted the right to go anywhere or do any activity,” the report says. “Some lands are accessible by car, while others may only be accessible by foot or horseback. In each case, however, a legal entry point has been provided for the public to enter, while the managing agency maintains authority to limit some uses, such as driving cars or riding bicycles.”

Finally, the report urges federal government action – hardly a given in these times of near paralyzing government gridlock.

“The federal government has tools at its disposal to improve public land access,” the report says. “Programs like the Land and Water Conservation Fund are critically important, but the LWCF is chronically underfunded and at risk of disappearing altogether.

“It is contingent upon Congress to prioritize opening inaccessible public lands by supporting tools like LWCF. And federal agencies should take a more comprehensive approach to identifying public access routes before they are lost, in addition to locating closed-off lands and enhancing access.

“Without a concerted effort, our public lands risk becoming less accessible, not more.”