For Immediate Release:
September 22, 2020
Contact: Matt Baca — (505) 270-7148
ALBUQUERQUE, NM—Today, Attorney General Hector Balderas announced that the
New Mexico Office of the Attorney General is launching an initiative focused on equity
and access to justice concerns for minority communities in the natural resources and
environmental protection arenas. The Office of the Attorney General has started by
appointing an advisory council comprising representatives for marginalized communities
who have historically been ignored in policy and decision making in these areas, and who
bear disproportionately negative consequences from the state and federal policies that
do not adequately protect their health, safety, and welfare. The council will engage a wide
range of stakeholders from these communities and make recommendations to the Office
of the Attorney General for direct engagement of state and federal agencies to address
issues of racism and equity in natural resources and environmental policy.
“For far too long, state and federal government has systematically oppressed and ignored
the needs of Indigenous, Hispanic, Black, and other communities of color in natural
resources and environmental policy,” said Attorney General Balderas. “These
communities rarely benefit from the positive aspects of state and federal policies, and
always directly bear the brunt of the negative impacts on their health and safety. Together
we will leverage the authority of the Attorney General’s office to break down barriers and
put these communities at the head of the decision-making table on these issues.”
The purpose of this initiative is to demand equity in conservation, environmental
protection, and land and resource management and use. Race, class, and gender have
profound effects on people’s environmental experiences, and consequently their access
to regulatory and legislative processes, activism, and environmental discourses. While
there has been incredible work on equity in outdoor recreation, the future of conservation
and environmental protection depends upon deconstruction of systemically racist policies
that disproportionately ignore and outright harm Indigenous, Hispanic, Black, and other
communities of color. This initiative will focus on making conservation, environmental
protection, and natural resources management relevant and meaningful to all New
Mexicans.
This work will start with, and be led by, the very communities who have been
systematically excluded from government. The Equity Advisory Council will assist in the
review and development of federal and state land and environmental resource policies
and practices, and make recommendations to the Office of the Attorney General on
engagement of state and federal agencies on matters of environmental justice that will
center the needs and views of traditionally marginalized New Mexican communities. The
Office of the Attorney General will use its authority as both the chief legal and law
enforcement office of the State to direct steps through advocacy, litigation, and
representation to implement the recommendations of the Council. The Council comprises
the following members:
• Arturo Archuleta, NM Land Grant Council Program Manager
• Paula Garcia, NM Acequia Association Executive Director
• Derrick Lente, NM State Representative
• Javier Martinez, NM State Representative
• Rita Padilla-Gutierrez, NM Livestock Board
• Amira Rasheed, Community Advocate
• Angelica Rubio, NM State Representative
• Daniel Tso, Navajo Nation Council
• Devont’e Watson, Equity Consultant, Watson & Associates International, LLC
Together, the Council and the Office of the Attorney General will develop a more inclusive,
culturally centered, broad-based environmental agenda that will center the needs and
views of marginalized communities; identify and analyze racial, class, and gender
disparities in environmental, natural resource, and conservation policy; and work to
improve resource allocation, quality of life, autonomy and self-determination, human
rights, and fairness.