Help protect New Mexico’s Trout Streams
Dear Trout Unlimited Supporter,
Each day our small team of Trout Unlimited staff in New Mexico goes to work with a simple objective in mind: protecting and restoring coldwater fisheries for future generations in the Land of Enchantment. In the coming months, we have an opportunity to protect many of our best trout streams, and we're asking for your help to make it happen.
The New Mexico Environment Department has nominated 245 river and stream miles to be designated as Outstanding Waters, including most of the state’s Special Trout Waters. Outstanding Waters, commonly referred to as ONRWs, are a state-led water quality designation, resulting in the highest level of water quality protection afforded to waterways in the state.
This is a BIG opportunity to protect New Mexico’s rivers and trout. The list of nominated waters includes popular trout streams like the Rio Chama, Cimarron, Red River, Rio Cebolla, Rio Guadalupe, Rio de Los Pinos, and Pecos River in Pecos National Historic Park. It also includes important Red Chile (Native Trout Conservation) Waters like Cabresto, Columbine, and Frijoles Creeks, to name just a few. (For the full list of nominated waters, click here.)
Designating these rivers and streams as Outstanding Waters would be a big step forward for coldwater conservation in New Mexico. And we’re asking for your help.
Please click on this link to submit a comment in support of clean water and healthy trout streams In New Mexico. It only takes a few minutes, and we encourage you to include the following in your comment:
Express your support for the state’s 2024 Outstanding Waters nominations.
Share why clean water and healthy trout streams are important to you.
If you’d like, you can mention specific waters being nominated (listed here). Or simply state that you support all the nominated waters.
Public comments are due by August 19th at 5:00 pm, so please submit a comment today! The Trout Unlimited community knows these waters and what makes them so special - your comments will make a difference.
Thank you for advocating for New Mexico’s rivers and trout!
Sincerely,
Dan Roper
New Mexico State Lead
Sample comments:
The following comments are examples you can borrow from. Feel free to keep it simple or elaborate with your own ideas or specific examples of waters you know and appreciate. Don’t over think it – the important thing is you are speaking up for clean water and trout!
Click here for a list of nominated waters.
Option #1 - I support all the waters in NMED’s 2024 Outstanding Waters nomination. The rivers and streams being nominated include many of New Mexico’s best trout waters, for both fishing and native trout conservation. Protecting clean water and native trout is important for future generations of New Mexicans.
Option #2 - I’m writing to express my support for protecting New Mexico’s Special Trout Waters as Outstanding National Resources Waters. These waters represent the best trout streams across New Mexico, and their protection is critical to conserving wild and native trout populations, including Rio Grande cutthroat trout. I support all the nominated waters. The following nominated waters are especially important to me... [list examples of waters being nominated].
Option #3 - From wild trout to downstream communities, we all rely on clean water. Outstanding Waters nominations are an excellent tool for protecting water quality and streams in New Mexico, and I support the waters being nominated by the New Mexico Environment Department. This petition represents many of New Mexico’s best rivers and streams, from state designated Special Trout Waters to federally designated Wild and Scenic Rivers. Preserving them for future generations is the right thing to do.