FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 24, 2014
Contact:
Carrie Hamblen, Executive Director-Las Cruces Green Chamber of Commerce
Carrie@nmgreenchamber.com or 575-323-1575
Celerah Hewes-Rutledge, COO-New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce
Celerah@nmgreenchamber.com or 505-916-1247
Poll Shows New Mexico Voters Support New Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument
LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce today said that according to recent polling, 3 in every 4 New Mexicans support the new Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument.
Carrie Hamblen, Executive Director of the Las Cruces chapter of the New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce, said that like local business owners, New Mexicans across the state are optimistic that the new national monument will benefit the local economy, and protect their outdoor heritage. “This community worked hard to see our public lands protected. We see the new monument as an investment in our economy, and our future.”
According to pollster Dave Metz, a partner in the firm Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates (FM3), which conducted the poll, a 55-percent majority of New Mexico voters said that they had seen, heard, or read something about the new monument. Roughly one in five (17 percent) said they had heard “a great deal” about the issue. Poll respondents were read a brief description of the area and the National Monument designation, and asked whether they supported or opposed the designation of the site as a monument:
The Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument protects public lands in south central New Mexico near Las Cruces, including the Organ Mountains, as well as prominent historic landmarks such as Butterfield Stagecoach Trail, Apollo space mission test sites at Kilbourne Hole, World War II-era Deming Bombing Targets, Geronimo’s Cave and hundreds of archeological sites, as well as other natural areas including the Sierra de las Uvas, Robledo, and Potrillo Mountains. The monument designation allows continued public use of these areas for activities including hunting, grazing and mountain biking but prohibits new oil drilling, mining, and other forms of development and sprawl there. Having heard this, would you say that you support or oppose the establishment of the Organ Mountains – Desert Peaks National Monument?
Three quarters of New Mexico voters (75%) reported support for this action, with over half (54%) saying they “strongly” support it.
The New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce had requested that support for the new monument be assessed as part of a broader statewide poll conducted June 1-3, 2014 by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates (FM3), a Democratic polling firm. The firm completed 400 telephone interviews (on landlines and cell phones) with likely voters in New Mexico. The margin of sampling error is +/-4.9%.
Click here for a pdf version of this release: NMGCC Press Release_OMDP poll