4/17/2026
Contacts:
Antoinette Reyes, Southern New Mexico Organizer, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter, Antoinette.Reyes@sierraclub.org
Erick Meza, Borderlands Coordinator, Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter, Erick.Meza@sierraclub.org
Sherman Neal, Military Outdoors Deputy Director, Sierra Club National | sherman.neal@sierraclub.org
Sierra Club Opposes Feds Seizing NM Lands for Border Wall
SANTA FE — The Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter stands with State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard in opposing the Trump regime’s plan to seize seven acres of New Mexico lands for Border Patrol facilities.
“The Trump administration’s move, after New Mexico was clear that NO state lands would be sold for border wall construction, is a violation of our laws and rights as a state. This is an
assault on our precious ecology, waters, and diverse wildlife through the corrupt militarization of our border communities,” said Sierra Club Southern New Mexico Organizer Antoinette Reyes.
On Friday the Santa Fe New Mexican reported that the federal government would file condemnation paperwork to take the land near the Santa Teresa border crossing for border wall construction, surveillance technology and roads. This proposed theft comes after the U.S. failed to purchase the land in a fair deal with the state. The area in question is located in the NM Bootheel, in Luna County.
Land Commissioner Richard said she would use any available means to resist the “thugs” in Trump’s regime, citing that this land was granted to New Mexico in 1898 in order to raise money for New Mexico schools.
The Sierra Club opposes all despoilment of our lands and their resources. In addition to this latest outrage, the border wall represents a violation of human rights in the form of migrant deaths in the desert and ecological disasters in the form of water pathway and migratory wildlife disruptions. We urge our elected officials to join Garcia Richard in opposing the Trump regime and its attempt to steal land for its fascist agenda.
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Additional Information about Border Environmental Impacts:
1. Arizona and New Mexico: Wildlife corridor in the Peloncillo Mountains on the Arizona and New Mexico border.
This wildlife corridor is important for jaguar movement and consists of specially designated Bureau of Land Management lands including Guadalupe Canyon Wilderness Study Area, and Guadalupe Canyon Outstanding Natural Area and Area of Critical Environmental Concern. The Peloncillo Mountains create a biological bridge between the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico and the Rocky Mountains. Far ranging species such as jaguar, and black bear used to be able to move along the Peloncillos from the mountains of Mexico north to the Gila River watershed.
The most spectacular example of this connectivity was the jaguar photographed in the Forest in 1996. The large male spotted here is believed to have moved north from a population in Sonora. The bridge of the Peloncillos straddles the eastern edge of the Sonoran Desert and the western edge of the Chihuahuan Desert, while the Animas Valley on its eastern side is the southwestern most extension of the Great Plains. Opening from the spine of the Peloncillo range south toward Mexico and Rio Bavispe, Clanton Canyon and Guadalupe Canyon contain excellent riparian habitat. These canyons support many species of concern, as well as the highest avian diversity, in the state of New Mexico. Many species of butterflies, most famously the monarch, also travel the continental pathway of the Peloncillos between the tropical south and temperate north.
There are very few mapped springs in this area which highlights the importance of the water sources like Guadalupe Canyon for wide-ranging wildlife and sensitive species like the Chiricahua Leopard frog and other amphibians that need to complete their life cycle in a water source.
Status and source: Under construction, on-the-ground reports, January 2021 (missing from CBP map )
2. New Mexico bootheel: Wildlife corridor in Hidalgo County
This wildlife corridor is important for pronghorn, jaguar, and the only white-sided jackrabbit locale in the U.S., and a migratory route for the Janos-Hidalgo international bison herd.
Status and source: Under construction, CBP map , January, 2021
3. New Mexico: Chihuahuan Desert wildlife corridor in Luna County
This 2-mile section of 30’ pedestrian fencing cuts through the rugged Carrizalillo Hills, blocking the movement of wildlife between the Sierra Alto mountains in Mexico and the Cedar Mountains Wilderness Study Area and extensive surrounding BLM public lands in New Mexico. Species affected include mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, javelina, gray foxes, badgers, mule deer and endangered Mexican gray wolves.
Status and source: Under construction, CBP map , January, 2021
4. New Mexico: Chihuahuan Desert wildlife corridor in Luna and Dona Ana Counties
This 34.6-mile section of 30’ pedestrian fencing blocks movement of wildlife between Mexico and the sky island mountain ranges of the Florida Mountains Wilderness Study Area and Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument in southern New Mexico. Species affected include pronghorn, mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, javelina, gray foxes, badgers, mule deer and endangered Mexican gray wolves. We recommend beginning this process by removing walls or conversion to wildlife-friendly vehicle barriers.
Status and source: Under construction, CBP map , January 2021