Conservation on the minds of NM kids

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - In the shade of a big cottonwood's canopy near the river, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar talked about the quest "to create a 21st-century conservation agenda for this country."

"How do we put that together so we protect these special places like the Rio Grande, working farms and ranches, great urban parks, and connect the young people to the outdoors?" Salazar asked.

Salazar and Harris Sherman, under secretary for Natural Resources and the Environment in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, were among the federal officials who visited Albuquerque on July 17.

It was the latest stop in a series of nationwide "listening sessions" taking place as part of President Obama's "America's Great Outdoors Initiative," which is aimed at setting a conservation agenda for the country and "reconnecting Americans with the outdoors."

The suggestions gleaned from the public will be distilled into a report due in November.

"That (report) will be the foundation for changing certain federal policies (and determining) how we spend our money...," Sherman said.

While the public at large had the chance to weigh in during the afternoon, the morning was set aside for young people.

About 150 participants attended the youth session and were asked by Salazar what recommendation they would take to President Obama on how to get youth involved in the conservation effort of the country.

"Really, I think it's education," said Travis McKenzie, 23, whose community involvement includes being gardening coordinator for the SouthWest Organizing Project. "We need more service-learning-based curriculum, where people can learn about nature."

Earlier in the session, McKenzie mentioned that some urban residents have challenges "even getting into nature."

In the end, McKenzie talked about shoring up funding for programs, organizations and school efforts that already exist and allow young people to learn about nature.

East Mountains resident Akilah Sanders-Reed, 16, said, "I think one of the biggest problems ... is the motivation and encouragement for youth to be outdoors just isn't there, especially in our society where there's more emphasis on material possessions, appearance," among other things.

She talked about a community garden in a school setting as one way to engage youth.

Jessica Decker, a Stamford, Texas, resident in New Mexico for the summer, said one important aspect of supporting the outdoors comes in supporting farmers and ranchers.

"We need to maintain those multiple-use lands that farmers and ranchers are able to produce on and support the farmers and ranchers because they, in turn, support the wildlife and the environment ...," she said.

Salazar said he sometimes hears that now is not a good time for a conservation initiative; that there are too many other issues to focus on: the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the gulf oil spill and its aftermath.

"And I remind people that it was during the Civil War that Abraham Lincoln set aside the lands for Yosemite. It was during the ravages of the Great Depression and the Dustbowl which led to Franklin Roosevelt's creation of much of what we know today as the National Wildlife Refuge system," Salazar said. "So I think it's in times of crisis like this that we do call out for a new agenda for conservation."