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Floor Speech

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Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico, there is a stunning 13-mile-wide crater that was created by a collapsed supervolcano. What is now known as the Valles Caldera National Preserve is home to a deep grassy valley, volcanic cinder cones, crystal-clear trout streams, and some of the best elk habitat in North America. The Valles Caldera National Preserve is one of the most beautiful places on the planet, but for many, many decades most New Mexicans could only peer into its edge from the side of a road. The entire Caldera was privately owned. That has since changed.

In 2000, we used the Land and Water Conservation Fund to purchase the Valles Caldera, but it took nearly a decade and a half after that to see truly meaningful public access.

One New Mexican deserves an enormous amount of credit for unlocking the Valles Caldera and its scenic hiking trails, elk hunting, and its trout fishing. That New Mexican is Kent Salazar.

As a member of the New Mexico Game Commission, Kent sought to undo a system that allowed wealthy and out-of-state hunters to purchase greater access to elk hunting than everyday New Mexicans or Americans. In the face of big money opposition, Kent pushed to establish a fair and equal lottery system that honored the principle of ``one person, one chance,'' and he succeeded.

I have personally harvested two elk in the Caldera thanks in part to the changes that Kent made. Then, after President Obama appointed Kent to lead the Valles Caldera Board of Trustees, he quickly became a champion for transitioning the Valles Caldera to a National Park Service managed preserve.

This change has expanded public access and made it possible for many more New Mexicans--and for visitors from around the world--to experience this incredible landscape. It also protected the public's fair access to both hunting and fishing, and none of this would have been possible without the determination, leadership, and vision of my friend, Kent Salazar.

A lifelong New Mexican, Kent has dedicated himself to the idea that the outdoors are for everyone, not just for those with wealth or family connections. And from an early age, Kent found that time spent outdoors brought him a sense of renewal. And ever since, he has worked to make sure that all New Mexicans and all Americans can build a connection with nature.

For 20 years as a public administrator, Kent worked to make our land and air and water safer and healthier at the city of Albuquerque's Environmental Health Department.

An avid hunter, angler, and outdoorsman, Kent also breathed new life into the New Mexico Wildlife Federation.

The legendary conservationist Aldo Leopold founded the organization that became the New Mexico Wildlife Federation more than a century ago. But when Kent took the reins, the organization had no staff and no real driving mission. Even so, Kent saw the incredible potential if he could reinvigorate the organization; and, that, he did.

Under Kent's leadership, the New Mexico Wildlife Federation grew its membership dramatically and hired professional staff. Today, the New Mexico Wildlife Federation is one of the most influential grassroots organizations in our State. The organization has become much more active and much more effective in protecting iconic New Mexico landscapes, including the Valle Vidal, the Sabinoso Wilderness, and the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument.

The impact of Kent's leadership has also grown nationally. Three years ago, Kent was elected unanimously to serve as the chairman of the National Wildlife Federation's Board of Directors. With the National Wildlife Federation, Kent helped to lead the charge to secure permanent and dedicated funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund and pass historic investments in landscape restoration as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.

And he is still helping us today as we work to pass the bipartisan Recovering America's Wildlife Act.

Kent also helped to found the Green Leadership Trust and Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors, or HECHO. Through all of this, I have especially appreciated Kent's kindness and passion, his pragmatism and knowledge, his devoted focus on making the conservation movement more inclusive and mentoring the next generation of conservation leaders, the way he keeps an open mind, listens to others, and always seems to drive the whole room in a more productive direction.

Kent's name might not make it to the newspaper that often, but it should. He is one of the most effective conservation leaders of our time. Kent once said:

[I]f we get the right people involved, we can accomplish a lot, and help our communities and our future, our children.

He is absolutely right. We are all better off because Kent is involved, serving our communities, our future, and our children.

I am extraordinarily grateful to have worked with and learned from Kent for all these years, and I am honored to call him a friend.

Kent, we cannot thank you enough for everything that you have done to inspire New Mexicans and to care for our Land of Enchantment.

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