La Luz race falls victim to federal land micromanagement

The Rio Grande Foundation has long been concerned with the “one-size-fits-all” restrictive approach of the federal government when it comes to federal lands. While New Mexico continues to be impacted economically by the Biden Administration’s moratorium on federal leasing permits, federal control has reared its ugly head here in the Albuquerque metro area as well.

The latest issue is something so simple that it should never be an issue, but it involves the permanent cancellation of the La Luz trail race up the Sandias. The event was canceled because commercial activities are expressly prohibited in Wilderness areas. That may seem reasonable, but a trail race with paid participants is hardly the same as putting a McDonald’s in the middle of a Wilderness area.

Of course, radical environmentalists have eagerly stepped up to defend the decision because they simply don’t care about people and their interaction with nature. Rather, to an increasing number of enviros, the only way to truly preserve nature is to put up a big sign saying, “stay out.”

To be sure, Deb Haaland as Secretary of Interior has incredible power here and New Mexico’s “green” Congressional delegation including Martin Heinrich said  they are “working on it,” but it seems this “fun” race (if running up a mountain is your idea of fun) has gone away for good.