Environmentalists are challenging the “wise-use” laws
of Catron County, N.M., that have become a model for other rural
counties around the West. Two groups, the Greater Gila Biodiversity
Project and Gila Watch, along with several private citizens, filed
suit in federal court Nov. 17 charging that the ordinances are
unconstitutional and violate civil rights laws. The county
ordinances make it illegal for federal employees to enforce grazing
laws and impose penalties on private citizens involved in
environmental “conspiracies’ (HCN, 2/24/92). Though the laws
haven’t been enforced, “They’ve created a climate that is
increasingly one of violence and fear,” says Kieran Suckling,
director of the Greater Gila Biodiversity Project. He says he has
received threats, had his car vandalized, and been evicted for
being an environmentalist. A state court struck down similar laws
in Boundary County, Idaho, last year (HCN,
2/21/94).
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline ‘Wise-use’ laws challenged.
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