EAA Triple Five Flier Volume 40 Number 11 | Page 22

Although New Mexico has a wide range of airstrips that offer excellent recreational opportunities, more could be done to promote aviation assets and tourism, especially as they relate to
hunting, fishing, outfitting, hiking, biking, and camping. New Mexico offers unparalleled scenic opportunities combined with a moderate climate and an average of 280 days of sunshine
per year. In an open letter, El Paso resident and back country aircraft pilot Brock Benjamin
wrote “There are few things that surpass flying right up to your campsite and being in the middle of a national forest looking at the stars that night.”
For more information visit: http://www.nmpilots.org/nman.asp
Photo: Seated fr om Right to left: Calvin J oyner , For est Ser vice (FS) Region 3 Regional For ester ; J ohn
McKenna, RAF President; Amy Lueders, BLM New Mexico State Director; Loren Hatch, NMDOT Deputy
Cabinet Secretary; Bob Hudson, NM Airport Managers Association President; Jim Welles, NM Council of
Outfitters and Guides (NMCOG)President
Standing from Right to left: Mark Spencer, RAF Public Lands Liaison and Arizona Liaison; Jim Upchurch, FS
Region 3 Deputy Regional Forester; Kerrie Romero, NMCOG Executive Director; Joyce Woods, New Mexico
Pilots Association (NMPA) VP; Rol Murrow, RAF Board Member; Francisco Valenzuela, FS Region 3 Director of Recreation, Heritage & Wilderness; Steve Summers, New Mexico Aviation Director; Ron Keller, USPA
VP and NMPA Board Member; Bill Shuert, NM Aerospace Aviation Association President; Les Nokes,
NMPA Board Member; Jerry Donovan, NMPA President; Debby Lucero, BLM Realty Specialist; Kyung Koh
Willis, FS Region 3 Recreation Planner; David Hamann, NMPA