The rule ensured conservation, wildlife, clean water, cultural resources, and Indigenous Knowledge would be fully considered alongside development across more than 250 million acres of public land. Rescinding the rule strips the agency of critical tools needed to manage land health and respond to growing climate and ecological challenges, while also harming local communities built on recreational tourism who depend on healthy landscapes.

The move is part of the administration’s agenda to weaken protections in order to benefit extractive industries. As it has with similar attacks on our environment, the administration pushed the rule forward with a truncated public comment period and ignored more than 130,000 comments submitted on the rule–  98% were in support of the Biden-era protections .

The Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter urges our state officials to join other states in opposing this latest attack on New Mexicans, our environment and communities who need more safeguards than ever as climate-related disasters increase.

“The Bureau of Land Management has a responsibility to the land, not to corporations and their corrupt allies in the Trump administration,” said Chapter Director Camilla Feibelman. “Our public land supports tourism, recreation and local economies. And, as our wildfire and drought conditions continue to get worse, this short-sighted move would all but guarantee greater risk for the people of New Mexico. We need our officials to act now and protect us.”

Even with recent policy changes, the responsibility to care for public lands has not changed. The Bureau of Land Management continues to have both the authority and obligation to manage lands for long-term health, balance competing uses, and address the very real degradation facing many landscapes today. Land conservation and management has overwhelming public support. The Sierra Club and its allies will continue to resist all smash-and-grab attempts by the Trump administration to loot our public resources.

■ ■ ■

Southern New Mexico Group Project Jupiter Raises Concerns Over Pollution, Transparency. Beware the Sleight of Hand. If Something Seems “Too Good to Be True,” It’s Worth Investigating

The 21st century has seen an advancement in technology like no other point in history, but due to the rapid pace of these advancements, we are often unaware of the potential downsides. State and federal governments have taken certain steps when it comes to the supervision and regulation of emerging technologies, but these steps are often insufficient to address potential risks. Worse, the public is often left unaware and uninformed.

Project Jupiter — a massive new data center planned for Doña Ana County in southern New Mexico — is an example of private companies rushing ahead with development without adequate oversight and transparency.      The developers promise to bring significant monetary investment and job opportunities. But there has been a troubling lack of transparency about the project, which is especially worrisome given how fast the project is moving.

There’s no doubt that the regional economies of the El Paso-Las Cruces area are going to see massive changes if the project moves forward. But the environmental harms may be drastic as well as the developers intend to install a large natural gas plant to power the facility, but they have not been transparent about how big it will be or the pollution impact. According to notices published in November 2025, the project will emit about 500 tons of ozone-forming nitrogen oxides per year. That is a major public health concern in an area that struggles with dangerously high ozone pollution already.      The November notices also report the plant will emit a staggering 12.7 million metric tons of green-house gases per year — considerably more than the 8.5 million metric tons emitted annually by the entire El Paso metro area.      An October notice showed an even greater climate impact, apparently underscoring the fact that even the developers are unclear regarding the true impact of the project. And we haven’t even touched the topic of the water demands of the project.

If the Project Jupiter developers truly want to partner with the community, it is imperative they not leave us in the dark about the risks involved. Better still, the developers should use solar power and battery storage instead of fossil fuels to run their power grid. This would be easily affordable, particularly since the region is one of the sunniest places in the country. It would also demonstrate a commitment to delivering positive change for our community.

More information on Project Jupiter – https://projectjupitertogether.com/

Michelle Compean is a senior at Pebble Hills HS in El Paso, Texas.
Fernanda Theresa Compean is a senior at UTEP, studying Art.
David Baake is the Chair of the Southern New Mexico Group of the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Year in review: Success partnered with chaos in 2025

January

Thousands attend the People’s March to protest  Trump’s promised policies. State Sen. Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, introduces climate and just-economic transition bills at the legislative session.

February

SB4, The Clear Horizons Act, which would have codified the governor’s climate climate orders, fails in the Senate Finance Committee with all Republicans and two Democrats, Benny Shendo of Jemez Pueblo and Chair George Muñoz of Gallup, voting against it.

Hundreds gather for Climate Crisis and Lands, Water and Wildlife Days at the Roundhouse delivering dozens of articles enumerating the impacts of climate change on New Mexico to the offices of Senators Shendo and Muñoz.

March

Chapter wins major legislative victories including SB48, Community Benefits Act, and SB 83, Innovation in State Government, a $300M investment in climate solutions and a just economic transition. SB21, giving NM primacy over its surface water permitting and intermittent waterways that were left unprotected by a US Supreme Court ruling.

SB5, reforms the newly named State Wildlife Department and State Wildlife Commission — formerly the State Game Commission. Governor line item vetoes provision for commissioner removal for cause only. The US Fish and Wildlife Service releases the 2024 Mexican Wolf population count at 286, an increase of 11% over 2023. There are 162 wolves in NM and 124 in AZ.

April

Thousands turn out for the annual Earth Day Festival co-organized by the Chapter. This year’s we focused on energy efficiency and EV rebates available to the public.

Chapter members table at and join thousands of others for Hands Off! rallies to protest the destruction wrought by the Trump regime.

Rancho Viejo Solar and battery project to be located south of Santa Fe, supported by the Northern Group and the Chapter, gains county Planning Commission approval. Former Global Warming Express student, now university climate science major Magnificent Farrell gives a thoughtful and passionate speech in support of the project to great acclaim. Club opposes Trump administration’s efforts threatening public lands and monuments.

Catron County declares a “wolf emergency,” claiming wolves are a threat to humans, which they are not.

State Sen. Mimi Stewart, author of SB4, the Clear Horizons Act, and her entire staff request a visit with the students of the Global Warming Express Program at Acequia Madre Elementary School. They attend an after-school class in order to understand how the students learn and process environmental science and public policy information.

May

Sierrans join the May Day March in defense of working and immigrant families.

Chapter is part of a group that successfully persuades the state Water Quality Control Commission to adopt a rule to prohibit the discharge of toxic oil and gas produced water into surface and ground waters and opposes a House bill to end a methane emission reduction program that eliminates a charge on emissions and funds a grant program to reduce pollution.

June

Members gather at Capulin Springs for our annual appreciation picnic.

Chapter Director Camilla Feibelman is an invited speaker, addressing a crowd of about 20,000 people at the No Kings Rally in Albuquerque.

Thousands gather in Santa Fe to protest US Interior Department head Doug Burgum’s efforts to sell off public lands.

The US Supreme Court allows licenses for nuclear waste facilities to stand in NM and Texas. The Chapter and State of NM both opposed this storage; the legislature passed legislation prohibiting it in 2023.

The State Game Commission unanimously passes a science-based Wildlife Action Plan supported by the Chapter.

State learns of Trump plans to roll back several national monuments, including Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks. Letter of protest sent.

Mexican wolf Asha, who roamed in the wild almost to Colorado, twice, gives birth to 5 pups in captivity.

July

The Water Quality Control Commission votes to move forward with an oil and gas industry-backed proposal that would allow produced water to be discharged to surface and ground waters for a range of industrial, agricultural and commercial uses despite the ban on discharge outside of oil and gas operations it just approved in May.

Flash flooding ravages communities in Texas and in Ruidoso.

EPA proposes elimination of the “endangerment finding,” which allows the agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

Sierra Club joins the Good Trouble Lives On Candle Light Vigil inspired by John Lewis to keep resisting Trump policies.

Club opposes EPA elimination of methane release fee.

New Mexico youth travel to the Sierra Club’s Claire Tappan Lodge for a student activist training. They join participants from across the US in a vote to reestablish the Sierra Student Coalition, the youth-led arm of the Sierra Club.

August

Asha, her captive mate and all 5 pups are named the Quartz pack and are finally released to the wild on a private ranch in NM. But not all the wolf news is good. Ella, “the wondering wolf,” was found dead near Mt. Taylor, and two other wolves were killed by US Fish and Wildlife at the urging of ranchers. The Catron County Emergency Wolf Declarations spreads to Socorro and Sierra Counties. The NM State Game Commission signals willingness for wolves to be allowed to roam north of I-40 at its meeting in Catron County, where comments supporting wolves in the wild exceeded those in opposition.

Dozens of New Mexicans speak out against the rollback of the EPA’s Endangerment Finding.

Trump EPA proposes a delay of the implementation of its methane rule that would have applied to Texas, which is largely unregulated, leaving New Mexico communities exposed even with our nation-leading rules. Also EPA rules would have led to certain improvements to our state rules.

The Chapter and other partners win the fight against the reopening of the Copper Flat mine in southern NM.

September

Through webinars, radio stories and car shows, the Chapter helps New Mexicans take advantage of federal EV tax credits before the Trump administration’s elimination of the tax credit on Sept. 31.

Sierra Club cohosts the SUNday of Action along with 350NM, Third Act and other groups.

Six Global Warming Express year-long programs for New Mexico students ages 8-11 kick off the 14th year of the program and the 8th year of the program’s partnership with the Rio Grande Chapter.

October

Sierra Club helps plan and lead the massive No Kings 2.0 March in Albuquerque, and members take part in protests around the state.

The Chapter is among those urging tighter bonding requirements for oil and gas producers in rulemaking at the Oil Conservation Commission. Dozens speak out in public comment.

AES solar and storage effort clears Santa Fe County Commission. Opponents appeal to court.

Years-long effort by Chapter comes to an end when Holtec decides not to put more waste in NM.

November

Chapter opens its new office by the Sunport Airport.

Chapter sees 12 of 15 endorsed candidates win. Three others, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller and City Council Candidates Teresa Garcia and Stephanie Telles, faced runoff elections on Dec. 9.

Under pressure from the public and environmental groups including the Chapter, the Water Quality Control Commission reverses its decision to consider Big Oil’s proposed produced-water rule. This reversal restored our prior win, a rule prohibiting the discharge of treated fracking wastewater into New Mexico’s waters.

The Bureau of Land Management moves to eliminate the 10-mile buffer zone around Chaco Historic Park.

Trump nominates former US Rep. Steve Pearce, D-NM, to lead the Bureau of Land Management. The Chapter opposes, given his record of threatening public lands protections.

NM’s US Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján both vote to stop EPA’s methane-rules delay, but the challenge to the delay fails.

2025 NM State Wildlife Action Plan approved by US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Seven new avian, fish and non-game species biologists, and one coordinator for Species of Greatest Conservation Need have been hired at the soon-to-be renamed NM Department of Wildlife.

Rio Grande Chapter file photos, Miya King-Flaherty and Richard Barish, photographers.

Feds Move to Revoke Chaco Buffer Zone Trump’s Executive Oder “Unleashing American Energy” Prioritizes Fossil Fuel Pofits Over All Else

Tribal leaders and the state’s congressional delegation are expressing displeasure with the federal government’s plans to remove a 10-mile oil and gas development buffer around Chaco Canyon Culture Historical Park.

On Oct. 30, the Bureau of Land Management sent notification to tribal governments that it would begin the process of revoking the buffer. The buffer was announced in mid 2023 by then-Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. She cited tribal communities’ worries “about the impacts that new development would have on areas of deep cultural connection.”

BLM said its decision is based on President Trump’s recent executive order “Unleashing American Energy.”

The administration is moving forward with the Chaco plan despite Interior’s estimate that it would add only a few dozen wells to the area over the next 20 years, but which represent impacts to small communities, their health, and the greater Chaco landscape.

In response to BLM’s announcement, the Greater Chaco Coalition condemned the action.

In a release, it said, “Local communities have been experiencing a devastating increase in drilling activities that threatens their health and the health of the land. (We) once again call for holistic protections for the entire Greater Chaco Landscape and its communities, including an end to fracking, remediation and reclamation and meaningful investments in regenerative local economic opportunities and a just energy transition, grounded in the principles of free, prior and informed consent.”

The coalition also said the decision not only threatens irreplaceable sacred cultural sites, but  also endangers the health of the local Diné people.

“Again, we are back at potentially desecrating a spiritual and holy place on Mother Earth. All for greed and money,” said Hazel James-Tohe with Dine Matriarch. “Do we really want to see puddles of black oil and gas waste, destruction of the landscape and continue to breathe the toxic fumes that are a threat to all life?”

The state’s five-member congressional delegation also condemned the move. They said they have been in regular communication with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum about the importance of protecting Chaco Canyon. They also have introduced legislation to try to make the buffer zone permanent.

Camilla Feibelman with the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club said, in part, “This is a stunning failure of governance and justice. … (T)he Trump administration is once again prioritizing fossil fuel profits over public health, climate stability and the protection of our shared public lands.”

Despite years of cross-fostering genetically valuable lobo pups from captive litters into wild wolf dens, scientists have determined that the overall genetic diversity of the wild wolf population has declined each year for the last four years.

The Mexican wolf was nearly eradicated before recovery efforts were begun. The genes of only seven wolves founded the entire Mexican wolf population alive today. It is a limited genome from which to draw, but the captive population still has 37% more genetic diversity than the wild one, which means more can be done. Cross-fostering is not enough.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service must stop removing wolves from the wild. In the last six months, the agency has fatally shot two wolves, captured and removed four members of another pack and killed the fifth member in the den. A kill order for an eighth wolf is in effect at this writing. These actions are taken at the behest of livestock interests.

The Rio Grande Chapter joined 29 other conservation organizations urging that these removals stop.

It is also becoming increasingly clear that a genetic infusion from the Northern gray wolf that is being restored to Colorado will be needed. For this to happen, the Mexican wolf must be allowed to naturally migrate north beyond the arbitrary boundary of Interstate 40. Some members of the NM Game Commission seemed open to allowing this at the August meeting in Catron County.

Releasing well-bonded captive wolves with their pups is also a proven way to get genetically important wolves on the ground quickly. In very welcome news, Asha, the wolf who twice wandered north of I-40 only to be captured and placed into captivity where she chose a mate with whom she produced pups this spring, has been returned to the wild with her entire family. They were released onto the Ladder Ranch in Southern New Mexico.

The pack has been named the Quartz pack, and while the pups are not yet collared, the approximate locations of Asha and her mate can be viewed on a map provided to the public by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

You can see her location on this map. Please note the locations are not precise. The hexagons are 2000 acres in size, and they are not in real time.
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/mapviewer/index.html?webmap=dbcc9960867948aea225fc53c50d0ed0

In late August, the state engineer issued a decision denying Tulla Resources’ application to transfer water rights needed to reopen the Copper Flat Mine near Hillsboro in southern New Mexico.

NM State Engineer Elizabeth Anderson also noted the effects of climate change on New Mexico’s water resources. Quoting a 2006 Office of the State Engineer report, she stated, “New Mexico’s water future will be determined by water demand and availability of our water resources, (and) climate change will likely have a significant impact on both.”

The state engineer’s decision to deny the water rights application was based upon the hearing examiner’s findings of fact and conclusions of law that the application will impair existing surface and groundwater rights; that the applicant did not meet its burden of proof that it would be able to put the water rights to beneficial use within the 10-year permit term; and that the application is detrimental to the public welfare of the state as it adversely affects New Mexico’s Compact obligations with Texas.

The Copper Flat Mine operated briefly for about three months in 1982 before shutting down and leaving behind a legacy of contaminated groundwater and a toxic pit lake. The mine has not operated since.

The Australian company Tulla Resources Group applied to transfer 2,400 acre-feet per year of groundwater rights on behalf of New Mexico Copper Corporation in order for it to build, operate and reclaim the open-pit copper mine. Tulla Resources Group is the primary lender to New Mexico Copper Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Canadian corporation Themac Resources Group, which is itself owned by Tulla Resources Group.

The protestants also provided testimony that the water rights transfer would damage local waterways, such as the Rio Grande, Las Animas Creek, Percha Creek and Caballo Reservoir, essential to people, wildlife and native vegetation, harming riparian habitats that sustain unique Arizona sycamores and the endangered Southwestern Willow Flycatcher.

Charles de Saillan, attorney representing the Hillsboro Pitchfork Ranch, LLC, the Percha-Animas Watershed Association, the Gila Resources Information Project and the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club wrote:

“This proposed mining operation would have used a tremendous amount of water – 6,100 acre-feet (almost 2 billion gallons) of water per year for approximately 12 to 14 years.  Yet Hillsboro is an arid region.  And close by we have a residential community and local businesses; two working ranches; and a truly unique, biologically rich ecosystem along Las Animas Creek. They all depend on water. And a few miles downstream we have the Lower Rio Grande, which is subject to a water compact with Texas.  The state engineer absolutely made the right decision in finding that this proposed water transfer would be detrimental to the public welfare of New Mexico.”

Read more here –

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