A vulnerable Democrat seeking re-election in a battleground district repeatedly complained that outdoor recreation has long been dominated by White males and called for "equitable access" to those spaces, according to unearthed podcast appearances reviewed by Fox News Digital.Rep.Gabe Vasquez, D-N.M., who previously referred to New Mexico as "stolen land," praised national conservation organizations during a June 2020 appearance on the "Mountain & Prairie" podcast for adopting what he described as more "equitable" policies aimed at expanding access to the outdoors for people of color."People of color are getting outdoors," Vasquez said in remarks first reported by The Daily Wire.
"There’s amazing organizations out there that are just promoting diversity amongst the outdoors and big national organizations that are slowly and finally starting to get it and actually promote policies that create more equitable access and opportunities.""Spaces that have been traditionally White will no longer be White," Vasquez continued."Secret spots will no longer be secret.
And hunters and anglers and hikers and everybody in between will look different.And so, not only should you be OK with that, not only should you tolerate that, but you should embrace that."Rep.
Gabe Vasquez, D-N.M., during a tour of CN Wire Corporation in Santa Teresa, N.M., on Feb.21, 2024.
(Justin Hamel/Bloomberg via Getty Images)IOWA DEM ADMITS BEING ‘UNCOMFORTABLE’ WITH WHITENESS AS SHE SEEKS TO FLIP COMPETITIVE HOUSE SEAT"It's up to us to be the change that we want to see," he said.Later in the interview, the New Mexico Democrat criticized conservation groups that he said lacked diversity."Today, I think every single executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation up until today has been a White male," he said."There’s no cultural connection, there’s no authentic desire to communicate or connect with Hispanic communities."Vasquez in 2017 co-founded Nuestra Tierra Conservation Proje...