ACTION ALERT: Fight BLM's Move to Allow Drilling on NM's Otero Mesa

Photo courtesy of Stephen Capra. Click for larger image.

On Monday, the Bureau of Land Management approved a drilling plan for Otero Mesa, one of North America's remaining natural Chihuahuan desert grasslands, and an ecological gem. The plan would allow exploratory gas and oil drilling on virtually all of the Mesa. Only 124,000 acres of the roughly 2 million-acres would be permanently protected. According to an AP article,

Gov. Bill Richardson and environmentalists, including the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance and Denver-based Earthjustice, promised a court battle.

"The state is going to fight this with everything we've got," Richardson said.

The opponents argue the plan fails to consider the effect on groundwater and grassland at the mesa, extending about 40 miles north of the Texas-New Mexico line.

Richardson –- who once called the mesa "sacred" and wanted to set aside 640,000 acres as a national conservation area –- accused the federal government of ignoring its policy of working with states on major land management decisions.

"By failing to compromise, the federal government might have taken two steps backward, tying this issue up for years," the Democratic governor said.
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Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and New Mexico Land Commissioner Patrick Lyons applauded the plan, saying the BLM balanced the need to protect the environment with the need to develop new sources of oil and gas.

Stephen Capra of the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance acknowledged there were novel parts to the BLM plan, but declared: "The protection the BLM is talking about, it's window dressing."

"These are some of the last unfragmented desert grasslands anywhere in the world and they're just essential to protection of numerous desert species, from the pronghorn antelope to the endangered Aplomado falcon," said Mike Harris, an attorney with Denver-based Earthjustice.

To find out more about Otero Mesa and how you can help, visit the websites of the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance and the Coalition for Otero Mesa. The Coalition is also organizing a Protect Our Public Lands Rally at Albuquerque's Kimo Theater on February 5th from 2:00 to 5:00 PM to raise awareness and funds to fight the BLM plan.

Special guest speakers will include: Gloria Flora, activist and former Forest Service employee; Poet Jimmy Santiago Baca; Terri Swearingen, activist and winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize; Gwich'in activists from the Arctic; Martha Marks, President of Republicans for Environmental Protection; Pojoaque Pueblo dancers, and some Surprise Guests! Plus a musical performance by : "Holy Water and Whiskey. "

Call Nathan Newcomer at 505/843-8696 for more information.