Smart rural development depends upon land conservation
The Taos County Commission was tasked this week with approving or denying one of the largest land development projects in the area’s history, and just two weeks after the U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced the acquisition of 3,700 acres of wilderness near the Río Grande del Norte National Monument. While projects like these might influence the landscape where Taos County residents live in very different ways, land development and conservation projects can — and should — be aimed at a common goal: making an area a more desirable, prosperous and healthy place to live. Reaching that goal requires a careful balance that can be tough to calculate.
At around 300 acres, and with hundreds of units of housing, as well as commercial enterprises, the Tarleton Ranch Eco-Village represents millions of dollars in value over time for home buyers, business owners and other investors. It’s more difficult to assign a precise dollar value to conserving the grasslands, woodlands, valleys and watershed recently acquired by the BLM southeast of Taos. A belief persists among some developers that natural resource conservation leads to pure opportunity cost, with protected lands seen as empty space that a residential or commercial enterprise might otherwise occupy.
Yet protecting these natural spaces is more than beautification or environmental do-goodery — conservation efforts like the Río Grande del Norte National Monument have an economic impact that can be supportive of and even essential to thoughtful land development.
Beyond benefits to wildlife, safeguarding natural spaces reduces government spending on services to support ecosystems; they are instead allowed to flourish undisturbed. The International Journal of Wilderness estimates protected wilderness in the U.S. generates some $5 billion annually in passive economic value.
As Taos County residents know, protected areas like the Río Grande del Norte National Monument create outdoor recreation opportunities that drive tourism, which increases spending at local businesses developments, like the ones the Tarleton development plans to introduce. Northern New Mexico’s vast and rugged open spaces have for years attracted mountain bikers, horseback riders, skiers, hikers and rafters plus the industries that support them with their services.
Important economic pillars like Taos Ski Valley Inc., Angel Fire Resort and Red River Ski Area, as well as smaller enterprises like Enchanted Forest Cross Country Ski Area, Sipapu Ski and Summer Resort, and local rafting and outfitting companies, rely on surrounding public lands and waters to enhance their businesses. In 2017, the Journal of Society & Natural Resources found a total of 9.9 million wilderness visitors spent $500 million that year in communities near these areas, generating 5,700 jobs and a net economic benefit of roughly $700 million.
Ample opportunities for outdoor activity improve health outcomes for a population, thereby driving down healthcare costs. Moreover, protecting natural spaces improves air quality by allowing for carbon sequestration. Wilderness areas also improve water quality by improving water filtering; the International Journal of Wilderness estimates one out of five Americans drinks water that originates in such areas, and environmental protections help ensure the viability of this critical natural resource.
All of Taos County’s forests play an important role in the generational cultures of Taos, with trees providing firewood, piñon nuts, vigas, latillas, fenceposts, even shade for mushrooms. Taos County has one of the highest per-capita rates in the country for using firewood for heat, with onethird of residents burning wood as their primary heat source, according to census data.
Proximity to wild lands increases property values, while distance from natural spaces decreases the per-acre price of real estate. And it is this inverse value proposition that makes projects like the Tarleton Ranch Eco-Village at once attractive to developers and their investors, and worrying to property owners who have already put down stakes near natural areas they don’t want to see diminished, encroached upon or taken from view.
None of our Taos County commissioners, the Tarleton family or the El Prado-area residents who have resisted (or supported) this recent proposal can see with perfect clarity into Northern New Mexico’s future, but it is the responsibility of all local policymakers, major landowners and the voting public to ensure Taos County’s natural areas never vanish.