Be part of a solution for lands

NEW MEXICO sportsmen’s groups strongly support the responsible management of areas that provide essential fish and wildlife habitat, and therefore offer some of the highest-quality fishing and hunting in our state. Our organizations work collaboratively in communities around New Mexico with industry, farmers and ranchers, local officials, off-highway vehicle operators and local, state and federal agencies to develop stakeholder-driven management solutions to sustain fish and wildlife habitat. Healthy public lands are critically important for fish and wildlife resources, and the hunting and fishing opportunities they support.

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Carlsbad Field Office has issued its draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) that, when finalized, will direct management activities on over two million acres of public lands in southeast New Mexico over the next 20 years. This is the first BLM land-use plan to be issued by the Trump administration and could be perceived as a measure of what’s to come.

The Delaware Basin, in southeast New Mexico, is rich in oil and gas resources. Southeast New Mexico is also home to Carlsbad Caverns National Park and Guadalupe Mountains National Park, both popular tourist attractions. The area also offers opportunities for hunting mule deer, elk, pronghorn and Barbary sheep, and for the past five years has been one of the best areas for quail hunting anywhere in the country. This abundance of natural resources offers a unique opportunity through the ongoing RMP for balanced management of these resources and values, and to serve a variety of stakeholders.

The BLM needs to hear from sportsmen and women about how these lands should be managed, through the RMP, under the multiple use mandate for the next 20 years.

Comments can be submitted any time online at: https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/plans-indevelopment/new-mexico/carlsbadrmp. The comment period is open until Nov. 5.