Udall And Heinrich To Host News Conference With U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell In The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks Region Near Valles Canyon

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich will hold a news conference with U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell in the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks region near Valles Canyon on Friday, January 24, 2014 at 12 p.m. MT to discuss conservation initiatives to preserve some of Doña Ana County's most iconic landscapes, while boosting the region's tourism and outdoor economy and improving recreational opportunities.

In December 2013, the Senators introduced legislation to designate the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument to conserve, protect and enhance scenic, recreational and culturally significant land.

The area is home to a variety of wildlife, including pronghorn and deer, as well as rare plants and animals, some found nowhere else in the world, such as the Organ Mountains pincushion cactus. It encompasses Broad Canyon, Sleeping Lady Hills, Rough and Ready Hills, Picacho Peak, Mount Riley, Peña Blanca and Bishop's Cap. And it contains over 5,000 archeologically and culturally significant sites, including Geronimo's Cave, Billy the Kid's Outlaw Rock, Spanish settlement sites, and numerous petroglyphs and pictographs.

***Media interested in attending should RSVP to press@heinrich.senate.gov or (202) 228-1578 by 6 p.m. MT on Thursday, January 23.***

WHO:
U.S. Senator Tom Udall
U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell

WHAT: 
News Conference & Photo Opportunity In Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks Region

WHEN: 
Friday, January 24, 2014, from 12 - 12:30 p.m. MT

WHERE:
Sierra de las Uvas, CR-D012 near the headwaters of Valles Canyon (also near Fish/Valles Tank and the road to the top of Magdalena Peak)