Editorials

Utah has filed a landmark public lands lawsuit asking the U.S. Supreme Court to address whether the federal government can simply hold unappropriated lands within a state indefinitely. Unappropriated lands are those that the federal government simply holds without a congressionally defined purpose. The "unappropriated" land in question is approximately 18.5 million acres in Utah controlled by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA).

• This lawsuit will NOT impact the millions of "appropriated" acres already designated as national parks, national monuments, wilderness areas, national forests, Tribal lands, or
  military properties.
• The federal government currently controls nearly 70 percent of the land in Utah.
• Utah is committed to keeping public lands in public hands and locally controlled.

What Your Government Is Up To: Land Theft by Fire

Private ownership of land is the foundation of individual freedom and the free market economy.  Federal ownership and control of land has been a contentious issue since the founding of our country.  Parks and Monuments are very popular, but 88% of federal land has no specific public value.  As part of the "30 x 30" program of the global elite's fascist agenda, our government will own and control 30% of American land by 2030.  The goal is the eventual elimination of all private land ownership.

We Fought with Hoo [Juh]? An Apache Family Story By Ruben Leyva, Gila Apache, PhD Student, University of New Mexico

"I Fought with Geronimo," an autobiography by Jason Betzinez published in 1959, has gained acclaim for its detailed depiction of the life of an Apache who resisted U.S. occupation and survived captivity. Betzinez, a Warm Springs-Chihenne (Chíhéne) band member from the present-day Black Range in New Mexico, trained under the Apache leader Geronimo. He later served as an Apache Scout in exchange for pay and temporary relief from reservation life. In 1886, Geronimo, Betzinez, and many others were taken as prisoners to Florida, Alabama, and finally to Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

Has Harris abandoned her previous positions against fracking and natural gas, or does she maintain them? New Mexico residents would like to know.

With Joe Biden having dropped out of the presidential race in favor of Kamala Harris, it is critical to have a robust conversation about Kamala Harris and her public-policy views in a relatively short time, at least by the standards of American presidential campaigns. While Barack Obama is often seen as having been deeply influential in the Biden administration and having even greater influence over Kamala Harris, the reality is that it was Biden, not Obama, who turned Democrats against traditional sources of energy, including oil and gas. Obama was happy to take credit for falling CO2 emissions on his watch thanks to the growth of hydraulic fracturing, but Biden and now Kamala Harris have abandoned such pro-energy rhetoric.

By Michael Russell

Author of The Unfounding of America

TheSecondDeclaration.org 

TDS is rising. So is TDS.

Those who believe that a befuddled dotard and his scatterbrained cackling sidekick have been running their presidential show are clearly unaware of a bigger picture. No less vision-foreshortened, however, are chanting Trump-rally mobs. Joseph Robinette Biden is translucent regarding his dream of an anti-America globalist endgame, whereas Donald John Trump sports a cloak woven of words Americans want to hear. Biden-regime lackeys applaud whatever giveaways, guarantees, and government-knows-best restrictions their petty tyrants offer, trusting that when the music stops they'll get at least the edge of a chair. Trump devotees applaud what hope tells them is the answer to petty tyrants, believing with one eye while closing the other.

Until recently.

By Paul Gessing and Isaac Orr

For several years Gov. Lujan Grisham and the most liberal Democrats in New Mexico’s Legislature pushed to get a so-called “Clean Fuel Standard” through the Legislature. In the 2024 session they finally succeeded with the passage of HB 41 which mandated adoption of such a standard.

That bill passed the House narrowly on a 36-33 vote with several Democrats joining Republicans in opposition.

To be clear, the Clean Fuel Standard has not been implemented just yet. So, it isn’t impacting what New Mexicans pay at the pump, at least not yet. The Rio Grande Foundation attended a series of recently completed Advisory Committee Meetings.  A series of actions will take place before the law takes effect in Spring of 2025.

[Editor's Note: With corrections posted 121624]

By Ruben Leyva, Gila Apache, PhD Student, University of New Mexico

During my visit to Chihuahua, Mexico, in July 2024, I delivered a presentation at the annual festival of the N'dee N'nee Ndé Apache Nación. It was a great honor to present and listen to other speakers with the assistance of a Spanish interpreter. The presentations by Dr. Phil "Felipe" Stover, Licenciado Jose Alberto Dominguez, and Maestro Horacio Chávez were genuinely enlightening. I gained valuable insights into my borderland Apache roots. I learned more about the Ndéndai local group leader Juh (Jú) and the movement of bands and other Ndéndai local groups who settled near Spanish peace establishments in Janos, Carrizal, and Guajoquilla.

 By Ruben Leyva, Gila Apache and Tribal Historian, Chihene Nde Nation

On June 24, 1850, the Chiricahua Apache Geronimo and others came to peace with the Mexican community of Janos, Chihuahua. Eight months later, Apache and Chihuahua officials alike were outraged to learn that on March 5, 1851, Colonel José María Carrasco's Sonoran troops had entered Chihuahua unannounced and attacked the location where Geronimo's family and other Apache were located. According to legend, the army overwhelmed the small Apache guard protecting women, children, horses, and supplies. Geronimo, who was away at the time, lost his mother, wife, and children during the incident, fueling his anger and distrust of Mexicans.

By: Representative Jenifer Jones (District 32) and Representative Luis Terrazas (District 39)

 “In January of this year, we combined our efforts to appropriate $320,000 to help law enforcement acquire technology, like license plate reading cameras. We are pleased to see that this month, the New Mexico State Police deployed 20 LPR units. As proud as we are to help equip the men and women who risk their lives to protect our families, these units are just a drop in the bucket.”

As representatives of the southernmost districts in New Mexico, we are among those living, working, and raising families on the frontline of the southern border crisis.

In April, the New Mexico House Republican Caucus toured New Mexico's southern border - if it can be considered a border in its current state.