 
Located in the south-central part of New Mexico, the Greater
Otero Mesa Area represents one of the last true strongholds of
Chihuahuan Desert grassland remaining in the lower 48 states on
public land. Over a million acres in size, this landscape is home
to a wide variety of wildlife and native plant species.
Several years ago however, natural gas was discovered at the
base of Alamo Mountain, in the heart of this wild grassland.
Since his inauguration, President Bush has used the bully pulpit
to push for the opening of vast parts of the West and Alaska for
oil and gas production. The Cheney Task Force was set up to expedite
the opening of vast tracts of lands for such development.
 In
the summer of 2001 President Bush issued an executive order asking
all BLM state directors to consider that "decisions made by the
BLM will take into consideration adverse impacts on the President's
National Energy Policy." In other words, anything that puts conservation
before energy development will be frowned upon.
So it comes as no surprise that several weeks ago when the BLM
released its final Environmental Impact Statement, it choose to
ignore the three options offered in the Draft plan, which would
have offered varying degrees of protection for the fragile grassland.
Instead, the BLM offered a new alternative. The new plan calls
for a roving 5% surface occupancy, without stipulations. In other
words, industry can drill 5% of any lease (and there could be
hundreds), and then perform "reclamation" and move on to the next
5% within about 116,000 acres of the currently proposed 280,000
acres of leases. Outside of the 116,000 acres, the land is opened
for drilling with little or no restrictions.
The reality for Otero Mesa, if this drilling is allowed to move
forward, is that this remnant Chihuahuan Desert Grassland will
be turned into an industrial development that will rival the development
found in the Permian Basin north of Carlsbad. Fragmentation and
the associated road construction will open up this remote part
of our state. Poaching will impact pronghorn as new roads create
new opportunities. Power lines, pipelines, drill pads and waste
ponds will dominate the horizon. Dust and pollution related to
production could effect nearby Carlsbad and Guadalupe National
Parks. One State Representative from Alamogordo has even proposed
building a power plant in the area at state expense. In addition,
talk of reclamation seems based in fantasy, not reality. In this
dry, harsh environment, reclamation has had little or no success.
For the pronghorn, mountain lions, coyotes, prairie dogs and
hundreds of raptors and migratory bird species that depend on
this remote land, such dramatic development could forever alter
their claim to this challenging landscape. Your help is needed
to protect this important part of our conservation heritage.
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