Juan Palma ▪ Former state director of BLM
I was born in a small town in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. We were not oblivious to the harsh reality of poverty in Mexico, which forced us to emigrate to the agricultural fields of the US Life in the United States did not improve for us. At the age of 8 I began the exhausting work of a migrant. Over the years, I have learned to love nature and to appreciate and respect our public lands. With a lot of effort and preparation, I left my job as a migrant in the agricultural fields of the west and managed to become a manager and then director in charge of the management of our public lands, both for the United States Forest Service and for the Office of the Land Management (Bureau of Land Management – BLM).
For more than 30 years I had the opportunity and honor to manage some of the most iconic landscapes in the west, including the redwood forests of northern California, the peaks of the Sierra Nevada at Lake Tahoe, the Mojave deserts in the south. of Nevada, the lighthouses of the eastern states of the United States, and the iconic Red Rock Country in the state of Utah.
As a Latino, I realize and understand why many of my friends still don’t know that the mountains they see around Las Vegas are public lands and that they are there for all of us to enjoy; to tell the truth, I didn’t know it myself until I was almost 30 years old. Our public lands provide a place and space for families to connect with and enjoy nature, whether it is walking its trails, taking a bike tour, enjoying a picnic, or simply relaxing under the shade of a tree. Pine in Mount Charleston. These public lands not only provide places for us, but also for the animals and plants that inhabit these deserts and mountains.
The area provides habitat for the desert tortoise and the mountains for butterflies. For generations, Latinos have had a love affair with the land and our passion must be strong as we engage in such important public policy discussions as the passage of SNEDCA. How do we get involved in protecting these special lands for wildlife, plants, and ourselves?
We have the opportunity to protect these very special public lands in Southern Nevada while providing smart growth through legislation introduced by Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV). When passed, SNEDCA will improve protections for millions of acres of public lands and allow for smart city growth.
SNEDCA is the largest conservation bill in Nevada history, which proposes to expand the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area by more than 50,000 acres and will enhance protections for the Desert National Wildlife Refuge. The law also establishes protections in many vulnerable areas in southern Nevada such as the very important habitat of the desert tortoise.
SNEDCA also proposes to modify existing programs to create new sources of funding that support the implementation of Nevada’s climate and sustainability initiatives. These programs play an essential role for economic diversification and the creation of feasible housing solutions. For example, by passing this law, two million acres of public lands will be protected while addressing growth and housing needs in a thoughtful manner. This law comes at a critical time in which the problems that the population of our area is experiencing in terms of the housing shortage is already seen.
SNEDCA is making history by being Nevada’s largest conservation legislation, allowing a specific amount of land to be available for smart growth and to create needed affordable housing. It is important to note that this bill does not change existing policies focused on development and planning, which at the local level help determine if, when and how development takes place.
I am optimistic about our future. We can move forward with critical conservation measures that benefit Southern Nevada. We can create a future where more low-income Southern Nevadans have access to affordable housing while taking care of our public lands. This means strengthening our ties to the lands we know and love and making sure these places are protected for generations to come.
The health of the land and the health of people are linked, and what affects the land also affects people. That is why I support the approval of SNEDCA and the additional 50,000 acres that will be added to the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Likewise, I invite all federal, state, and local elected officials to also support this Act.
