Proof

The 300 millionth American was born today. That is a real milestone. I was born in 1945 and the country's population was 132 million. We have more than doubled. Will we double again in the next sixty years? Probably not, hopefully not.

I cant think of a better reason for protecting places like Valle Vidal and Otero Mesa than these statistics. We really must think sixty to one hundred years ahead on everything we do. The chances of protecting these places with New Mexico's population growth during that time get slimmer and slimmer. New Mexico will probably grow faster than much of the country due to in migration from other parts of America and South America.