Yesterday (July 22, 2010) the House Resources Committee marked up Heinrich & Lujan's H.R. 5388, a bill to expand the boundaries of the Cibola National Forest. As part of the expansion the BLM Manzano Wilderness Study Area would be transferred to the Forest Service and designated as wilderness.

During markup, Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) offered an amendment which would have allowed hunters and the handicapped community to use "wheeled, muscle-powered carts for the removal of shot game" in the wilderness. Both Heinrich & Lujan voted against the amendment and it failed. Note the "muscle-powered" limitation. No motor, just a cart with wheels (which the agencies say is mechanical transport and disallowed by the Wilderness Act).

Interestingly, during the markup several weeks ago of H.R. 3914, the San Juan Mountains Wilderness Act, the full committee approved the language allowing the game carts. Coloradans will be authorized to use the game carts in their new wilderness, but thanks to Heinrich & Lujan, hunters and the handicapped in NM will be prohibited from using game carts.

Rep. Bishop said, “The right to hunt shouldn’t just be limited to those physically fit enough to carry their game out on their backs or who can afford to hire expensive guides and pack animals." Apparently Heinrich & Lujan think hunting should be limited to a select few.

And do Heinrich & Lujan really believe a wheeled cart with no motor will destroy the resource or ruin someone's wilderness experience? Are they so anxious to do the bidding of the enviros that they will oppose any amendment to the Wilderness Act no matter how reasonable? The ability to use the carts would expand the hunting opportunities for many New Mexicans, but apparently environmental lobbyists come first.

Heinrich & Lujan are all for expanding the federal domain, but oppose expanding hunting opportunities. Shame on them.

Let this also serve as a lesson to all those who continue to say the Border Patrol will have adequate access to Bingaman's proposed new wilderness designations in southern NM. They can't even patrol in a motorless wheeled cart!

Imagine the federal government closing a section of the Lincoln Memorial because it was under the control of Mexican drug lords and bands of illegal immigrants. That scenario is playing out as reality in southern Arizona, where parts of five federal lands -- including two designated national monuments -- continue to post travel warnings or be outright closed to Americans who own the land because of the dangers of "human and drug trafficking" along the Mexican border. Roughly 3,500 acres of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge -- about 3 percent of the 118,000-acre park -- have been closed since Oct. 6, 2006, when U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials acknowledged a marked increase in violence along a tract of land that extends north from the border for roughly three-quarters of a mile. Federal officials say they have no plans to reopen the area. Elsewhere, at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, which shares a 32-mile stretch of the border with Mexico, visitors are warned on a federally-run website that some areas are not accessible by anyone. "Due to our proximity to the International Boundary with Mexico, some areas near the border are closed for construction and visitor safety concerns," the website reads. On another page titled "Border Concerns," the website warns that visitors should be aware that "drug smuggling routes" pass through the park...more