近距离内射合集

I鈥檝e called New Mexico home for years. Over that time, like my neighbors, I鈥檝e come to measure the seasons by the land: Sandhill cranes returning to the bosque or the Sandia Mountains turning gold.

And while it may not often be top of mind, the natural rhythms I鈥檝e come to mark so casually are only possible because of one of the most consequential laws Congress has enacted in the past 50 years: the Endangered Species Act (ESA). What may sound like political jargon, far removed from life here in the Land of Enchantment, has kept our shared natural inheritance intact.

The ESA, which has the support of everyone from hunters to environmentalists, now finds itself the target of multiple attacks. The consequences won鈥檛 stay confined to the far away landscapes of Yellowstone or the distant waters of the Gulf of Mexico. They鈥檒l reach the Mexican spotted owl in our northern forests, the Mexican wolf in our mountains and the southwestern willow flycatcher along our rivers. These are just a few local species whose survival depends on how effectively the ESA is enforced.

Recently, federal agencies, charged with shepherding our endangered species, narrowed the legal definition of 鈥渉arm鈥� under the ESA despite objections from Americans across the political spectrum. What this means is that destroying a species鈥� habitat may no longer violate the law unless the action directly kills or injures the species. If that logic sounds like something straight out of the Twilight Zone, you鈥檙e not alone. Over 150,000 Americans submitted comments objecting to the Fish and Wildlife Service鈥檚 change.

Litigation and bipartisan legislation are already moving to block this change. But this is just one of many attacks on wildlife protections recently. Just this year, the government proposed shifting grizzly bear management to states known to be hostile to the animals. Additionally, a rarely used bureaucratic 鈥淕od Squad鈥� authority was invoked to grant Gulf oil operations sweeping exemptions from the ESA. What species will be next? Our country already loses a football field of wildlife habitat every 30 seconds, so it鈥檒l be death by a thousand cuts.

Federal bureaucrats are working against the wishes of Americans. A national poll found 85% of Americans 鈥� including 82% of hunters 鈥� agree the ESA matters for protecting species in our national parks. The results speak for themselves. More than 99% of species ever placed under its protection are still with us today, from Florida manatees to the California condor.

Even in a divided Congress, protecting iconic species finds broad agreement. Earlier this year, a bipartisan coalition defeated legislation that would have gutted the ESA. In July, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Mike Quigley, D-Ill., came together to introduce a bill to reverse the rule narrowing habitat protections. This fight shows that Americans have more in common than differences because we all call this beautiful country home.

That鈥檚 why those working to end the ESA pursue a quiet erosion. They know their project is unpopular except for the very few who profit. They are deploying regulatory moves to hollow the law out from within, one exemption at a time. It鈥檚 harder for busy Americans to track, which is exactly why it deserves our attention in New Mexico. Just as the pawprints of Mexican wolf cubs are once again appearing in our state after near extinction before the ESA was adopted, we risk undoing the tremendous success of our state, federal partners and tribal nations in bringing back this iconic species for current and future generations.

We don鈥檛 have grizzlies here, but we have owls, flycatchers, and a Rio Grande ecosystem that depends on these same protections. What happens to ESA enforcement elsewhere applies directly to how the law is enforced at home.

New Mexicans have a long tradition of caring for this land across political lines. I encourage readers to ask their representatives where they stand on the ESA and these rewritten rules.

Fifty years of conservation success is worth defending before it is quietly signed away.

Dan Ritzman is the Lands, Water and Wildlife Director for the Sierra Club and a New Mexico resident, where he has proudly called Rio Rancho home since 2021.