The New Mexico Wilderness Alliance launches its 1,075,191-acre proposal for wilderness in our New Mexico and Trans-Pecos National Parks. Through on-the-ground surveys and GIS analysis, New Mexico Wilderness Alliance found over one million road-free acres in the seven National Parks that lie in our two-state regions.

These include: Chaco Canyon National Historic Park, Bandelier National Park, El Malpais National Monument, White Sands National Monument, Big Bend National Park, Guadalupe Mountains National Park and Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

Putting these lands into the National Wilderness Preservation System protects them forever from the changes in Administrations that we clearly see can affect our wildest public lands. Threats come from power lines, cell towers and off-road vehicles. The list is long and the protection of these lands is urgent. Wilderness groups have worked for years on National Park Wilderness, but as the opportunities arose to protect Forest Service and BLM lands in the 80’s and 90’s attention moved away from the Parks due to limited resources. However, today, the Parks face many threats and it is crucial that we take the lead in ensuring that these crown jewels enjoy the permanent protection that most Americans assume they already have.