Public Lands Issues
Roadless Areas
Since 2001, 1.6 million acres of NM lands have been protected from new road construction under the federal government ‘roadless rule.’ These lands are a buffer against wildfires, a haven for wildlife, a place of solitude and a source of clean water. The Trump administration has moved to repeal this rule. We stand against this public land giveaway and attempts to throttle public input.
Otero Mesa
Otero Mesa covers 1.2 million acres, much of it managed by the BLM’s Las Cruces District Office. In 2024, the Coalition to Protect Otero Mesa asked the BLM to designate the heart of the Mesa an Area of Critical Environmental Concern. We support as the coalition as it explores every available path to lasting protection at the federal and state levels.
Chaco Canyon
Chaco Canyon, one of the most historically significant regions in New Mexico, is a World Heritage site and is sacred to generations of native peoples who live here today. The Trump administration is planning on rolling back a ban against oil and gas drilling. We can help our allies to protect this irreplaceable piece of living history.
Public Lands Rule
In 2026 the Trump administration removed the 2024 Public Lands Rule, which directed the BLM to prioritize conservation, wildlife habitat, clean water, cultural resources and Indigenous Knowledge across 250 million acres of land. The rule’s removal is a gift to extractive industries and puts these lands at risk. Learn what we’re doing to protect them.
What the Sierra Club is doing to protect our public lands
The Rio Grande Chapter Public Lands Team are stewards of the more than SIZE square miles of New Mexico, eastern Arizona and west Texas. Sierra Club is involved in numerous aspects of protecting public lands from extraction, abuse, neglect for the health of our environment and our communities. Land based advocacy is important because it protects our homes and communities from loss of life and livelihood, and the spiraling costs of climate change. We can best protect ourselves and future generations by caring for where we live today. We’ve celebrated several major victories in just the last few years:
- Permanent protection for Rio Grande del Norte in Northern New Mexico and Organ Mountains Desert Peaks in Southern New Mexico with their designations as national monuments in 2013 and 2014
- Transfer of Valles Caldera to National Parks Service management, which has better resources to manage it than its current structure in 2015
- Federal designation of Columbine Hondo in Northern New Mexico as a Wilderness in 2015
Our advocacy efforts focus mostly on federal lands under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management, but it also can include state and local jurisdiction land as well. We work in coalition with other environmental organizations on:
- Reviewing and commenting on updates to U.S. Forest Service and BLM Resource Management Plans.
- Working to protect wilderness on all public lands and helping identify Lands With Wilderness Characteristics for further inclusion.
- Identifying and opposing projects that are harmful to the land, water and wildlife on public lands and do not support sustainability or address effects of climate change.
- Coordinating with other organizations to promote the designation of lands suitable for national monuments.