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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Report: Boosting "Great Outdoors" Could Mean More Jobs in NM

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Friday, February 18, 2011   

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - A major federal report finds a consensus that protecting and promoting the "great outdoors" should be priorities for government - especially if more jobs are created along the way.

One recommendation in the "America's Great Outdoors" report suggests the establishment of a "21st Century Conservation Service Corps" that would create jobs, get youths involved in working outside and protect and restore natural and cultural resources.

Harry Bruell, president of the Southwest Conservation Corps, which has an office at Acoma Pueblo, says the idea would be great for New Mexico and the region, where there's already plenty of demand.

"We had 2,000 more applications this year than spots, and that's a lot of young people who want these opportunities. They want to reconnect to their public lands. They want a job. They want a service opportunity."

The report draws on feedback gathered at 51 listening sessions about conservation held across the country last year, including one in Albuquerque. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and other members of the Obama administration helped lead the effort.

The report also suggests incentives to conserve rural working farms, ranches and forests, as well as programs to develop more urban parks and community green spaces.

The report also suggests full funding for the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. John Muñoz, president of the Hispano Chamber of Commerce in Las Cruces, says some of the more notable landscapes of southern New Mexico already have been protected through the fund.

"Like Mesilla Valley Bosque Park, a beautiful area, and of course we have the iconic Organ Mountains that some visitors that I have in town from Denver and Florida absolutely love."

Lawmakers in Washington are looking at cutting programs including conservation initiatives, but Muñoz says programs such as those recommended in the report preserve quality of life and pay big dividends in the long run for local economies.

The "America's Great Outdoors" report is online at americasgreatoutdoors.gov.


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