Martin Heinrich: “let me start out by righting a wrong. I hadn't realized Chairman Wyden, our chairman from Oregon, had not had a chance…”

“let me start out by righting a wrong. I hadn't realized Chairman Wyden, our chairman from Oregon, had not had a chance to visit the great State of New Mexico. I will fix that right now and make sure he is not only invited, but we might seek to show him some of the incredible places the two programs we are talking about today have helped preserve, protect, and make as assets to our local economy in the State of New Mexico. As we heard from our colleague Senator Udall and our colleague Chairman Wyden of Oregon as well, this month we celebrate two incredible milestones in our country's conservation history. We celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act and the 50th anniversary of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Both of these programs have been etched into the history of my home State by New Mexico conservationists with names such as Aldo Leopold, Senator Clinton P. Anderson, and Secretary of Interior Stewart Udall. When Senator Anderson steered the passage of the Wilderness Act here on the floor of the Senate, he said on August 20, 1964: In no area has this Congress more decisively served the future well-being of the Nation than in passing legislation to conserve natural resources and to provide the means by which our people could enjoy them. . . .…”