Write a Letter to Secretary of the Interior Salazar

Now is the ideal time to encourage Secretary of the Department of the Interior Ken Salazar to pursue National Monument designation for Otero Mesa!

In the spirit of President Obama’s April memorandum, America’s Great Outdoors Initiative, our government is being encouraged to promote community-based conservation efforts, and to listen to and learn from local voices. Make your voice heard! Let Secretary Salazar know that communities in New Mexico want permanent protection for the natural beauty and valuable resources exemplified by the Otero Mesa region.

Otero Mesa encompasses the finest remaining Chihuahuan Grassland ecosystem, and supports a wealth of wildlife — pronghorn antelope, burrowing owls, mule deer, and black-tailed prairie dogs, to name a few species. Protecting this region with a National Monument designation would permanently safeguard this biodiversity, as well as the hydrological resource Otero Mesa represents with its extensive watershed and aquifer.

If we let this region remain unprotected, these resources are at risk of ruin from unprofitable exploration for oil and gas deposits.

Click here to download a sample letter (Word file) to send to Secretary of the Interior Salazar, or write a letter in your own words explaining how important the region and its natural resources are to you.