In July 2011, the Coalition for Otero Mesa developed the following report, which details point-by-point how the campaign to save this wild and beautiful grassland fits perfectly into the Obama Administration’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative. In June of 2010, over 400 supporters of protecting Otero Mesa turned out to an administration listening session in Albuquerque. Since that time there have been several other public forums held in Alamogordo, Albuquerque, and Las Cruces, all designed to educate the public about the values of Otero Mesa, and why this crown jewel of the American Southwest...

My name is Twyla Rayne. I am an Apache Indian from the Mescalero Reservation. Otero Mesa is more than just a place to me. It’s a sanctuary, it’s a place of peace, understanding, reliability, not only for me, but animals of all sorts, as far as spirits go. I felt spiritually reborn; I am concerned for its spiritual well-being. Like a seed it needs care, patience, time, it needs nutrition, not only to a certain extent but for it to be completely pure it needs natural resources to be as providing as possible, it still feeds on its instinctive well-being. Who are we to contaminate that? My dream...

Phil Taylor and Manuel Quinones, E&E reporters June 30, 2011 Tribal and environmental leaders lobbied the Obama administration this week to designate a national monument on more than a million acres in southern New Mexico, a sacred land to some that contains one of the United States’ most intact and ecologically diverse desert grasslands. Members of the Mescalero Apache Tribe in southeast New Mexico and a leader of the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance met with Democratic members of the state’s congressional delegation and Interior Department officials to urge protections for Otero...

Albuquerque Journal Sun, Jun 5, 2011 By Ted Rodriguez, Alfred LaPaz, Larry Shay, Houston Murphy, and Styve Homnick / Mescalero Apache Advocates For Otero Mesa National Monument Until a few months ago only a handful of the curious knew the importance of Otero Mesa to the Apache. Otero Mesa is one of the most sacred of places, if not the holiest, to us Apache. From time immemorial we have had profound ties to this enchanted land. Historically, Apache country spanned from Western Texas to Eastern Arizona and deep into Northern Mexico. We shared all of New Mexico with the Pueblos. Otero Mesa is centrally...

On June 1st, Congressman Martin Heinrich (D-NM) wrote a letter to the Las Cruces Bureau of Land Management airing concerns over potential impacts of hardrock mining in America’s wildest grassland – Otero Mesa. Click here to read the full letter, and please call Congressman Heinrich to thank him for standing up for Otero Mesa.  In Albuquerque: 505-346-6781 In Washington, D.C.: 202-225-6316

Mining Claims in Otero Mesa Nearly Triple Geovic Mining Corp goes from staking 68 mining claims to 183 in the heart of America’s wildest grassland FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 5, 2011 CONTACT: Nathan Newcomer, New Mexico Wilderness Alliance 505-250-4225 John Cornell, New Mexico Wildlife Federation 575-740-1759 New Mexico Wilderness Alliance* The Wilderness Society* Southwest Environmental Center* New Mexico Wildlife Federation* National Wildlife Federation* Sierra Club* The Audubon Society* Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership* Restoring Eden* Environment New Mexico* Apache Advocates...