Hamblen: It’s time for Castner Range National Monument
As our country continues to recognize the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, and the 70th anniversary of the Bureau of Land Management, it is appropriate to celebrate the protected public lands in our area.
Just up the road in New Mexico, we have the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks and Prehistoric Trackways National Monuments surrounding Las Cruces. Outside of Alamogordo, the incredible White Sands National Monument draws millions of tourists every year.
Now, there is a wonderful opportunity to designate the Castner Range National Monument.
Americans share ownership of approximately 650 million acres of land and water in the United States. These public-owned lands or “public lands” are our national forests, parks, wildlife refuges, monuments, wilderness areas, Bureau of Land Management land and rangeland and are uniquely part of our American legacy.
According to the Public Lands Foundation, The first public lands were created in 1781 when New York agreed to surrender to the federal government its claim to 4 unsettled territories extending westward to the Mississippi River.
