Gubernatorial candidate Bill Richardson opposes new oil and gas development
on Otero Mesa in southern New Mexico because it could cause environmental damage.
Richardson wrote to Interior Secretary Gale Norton recently to say that drilling
on the mesa would "forever destroy the wild character of this biologically
rich area, and negatively impact the independent cattle ranchers, air quality
and water supply."
The Bureau of Land
Management is considering new rules for oil and natural gas drilling on Otero
Mesa, which is valuable Chihuahuan desert grassland habitat but also the site
of a potentially huge natural gas reserve.
Richardson also
asked the federal government to do a new study to determine whether some of
the 1.2 millions acres in the area is eligible for wilderness designation.
Published in the Albuquerque Journal 5-22-2002.