A recent opinion piece in this paper argued that the economic benefits of the proposed Mimbres Peaks National Monument need a full airing in the light of day. We couldn’t agree more.
Where national monuments have been created elsewhere in New Mexico and the United States they have been a resounding economic success. The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument (OMDPNM) in Doña Ana County, next door to Luna County, is a sterling example that provides good reason to believe the economic benefits in our neck of the woods.
The Las Cruces Green Chamber of Commerce, of which we are members, released a report this past September looking at the economic benefits that have accrued to our region since OMDPNM was created in 2013. Amongst the exciting findings by the report’s economist authors at BBC Research & Consulting are that visitation has increased to our region since OMDPNM was created, leading to an overall economic impact of $234 million over eight years. This spending currently supports over 300 jobs in hospitality, outdoor recreation, and other sectors, even while the Bureau of Land Management’s own data even showed grazing increased in OMDPNM in the first six years after it was declared.