Download NEW Special Energy Newsletter
Download NEW Special Energy Newsletter
A Special Report
Drilling The Heart Out Of America
Featuring Articles By:
Governor Bill Richardson (D-NM)
Rancher Tweeti Blancett
Alaskan Native Rosemary Ahtuangaruak
Secretary Joanna Prukop, New Mexico Energy, Minerals & Natural Resources Department
Plus Many More...
Featured Topics:
Drilling in Otero Mesa
Offshore Drilling
Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Nuclear Power
Tackling Climate Change
Mining
And Much More...
DOWNLOAD THE FULL NEWSLETTER HERE
...NEW Otero Mesa Book
Unique Southwest Grassland Preserved in New Book
ALBUQUERQUE—In January of 2005, the Bureau of Land Management approved a plan to drill more than one hundred new wells on Otero Mesa, a pristine grassland in southern New Mexico. What followed was an extensive international activist effort that exposed the public to the environmental threats, including wildlife decimation and groundwater contamination, posed by oil drilling on this unique natural wonder. Otero Mesa’s fate is yet undecided, the case resting in federal courts.
“Preserving places like Otero Mesa will require the engagement of citizens who recognize the value of clean water, open spaces, and the beauty of nature to our own s...
Critics blast BLM decision on Otero Mesa
By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press Writer
09/26/2008
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—A Roswell company learned Friday that it's one step closer to being able to drill an exploratory natural gas well on southern New Mexico's Otero Mesa, but critics are crying foul.
The Bureau of Land Management has approved a final environmental assessment of plans by the Harvey E. Yates Co. of Roswell, known as Heyco, to drill on the mesa.
The BLM has laid out several requirements for Heyco to ensure the company protects the area, but environmentalists and others opposed to oil and gas development on the mesa say the decision is "bad news."
"Drilling Otero Mesa will not only damage a fragile ecosystem, wildlife habitat and wilderness quality lands, it flies in the face of increasing public support for keeping drilling rigs off of the mesa," said Deanna Archuleta, southwest regional director of The Wilderness Society. "While local governments such as the city ...
Working to Keep Sabinoso Wild
Albuquerque Journal
Monday, July 7, 2008
By Raam Wong
Journal Staff Writer
LAS VEGAS, N.M. — The absence of the Sabinoso wildlands in eastern San Miguel County from most road maps is perhaps fitting given the forlornness of its hulking mesas and dry streambeds during these long, dusty days of summer.
It exists near where the high-desert plains along N.M. 104 east of Las Vegas abruptly sink and form sandstone canyons more than 1,000 feet deep.
Ranchers once called this place home, as evidenced by abandoned homesteads still filled with items like a rickety rocking chair and a yellowing copy of “Casper, the Friendly Ghost.”
&n...
Sabinoso wilderness bill passes House
June 10, 2008
By Tom McDonald
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Monday that would set aside 17,638 acres of land about 40 miles east of Las Vegas as a wilderness area. The measure now goes to the Senate.
Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., authored the legislation, which passed the House unanimously as the Sabinoso Wilderness Act of 2008. Udall said he worked with a variety of groups “to make this a plan that everybody, from every part of the political spectrum, can support.”
The area is located northeast of Trujillo along the Canadian River in San Miguel County. Supporters of the bill say it’s home to a variety of wildlife, including several bird species, coyotes, mountain lions and gray foxes. The area is rich in canyon vistas, including the 1,000-foot tall Canyon Largo, and impressive rock formations — all p...
