The Conservation Alliance

Project Update

New Mexico’s Otero Mesa is the largest and wildest Chihuahuan Desert grassland left on BLM public lands in this country, providing important and irreplaceable recreational and conservation opportunities, yet it is currently under threat of oil and gas development. Currently, Denver-based Geovic Mining Corp. has started exploratory drilling at Wind Mountain, one of the area's most iconic peaks. Within Otero Mesa, over 500,000 acres are eligible for wilderness designation, based on inventory work conducted by the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance (NMWild). Already our coalition has nominated close to 600,000 acres of the area as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC). Clearly, this valuable and nationally important area demands permanent protection to preserve the irreplaceable resources found here. Over the past months, NM Wild has been leading outreach and online action activities to keep the public informed and active in speaking out against development in Otero Mesa. NM Wild has also been pushing for National Monument status for this wild grassland. In September 2011, a delegation of representatives, including an NMWild staff member, gathered in Washington, D.C., to meet with the state’s Congressional delegation and to call on those elected officials to help implement the key recommendation from a new report; “Otero Mesa & America’s Great Outdoors: A Promise for Future Generations.” “The Otero Mesa & America’s Great Outdoors report spells out point by point how this grassroots campaign fits perfectly into the goals and recommendations the Obama administration has set forth in the AGO initiative,” said Nathan Newcomer, Associate Director, with NM Wild. “We have worked diligently to engage the public and garner local support from many diverse stakeholders, and now we are relying on President Obama to provide permanent protection for this iconic grassland through the America’s Great Outdoors initiative.”