FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 24, 2025
New Mexico Wild Alerts Public to Imminent Threat
Facing National Monuments/Public Lands
Contact: Mark Allison, mark@nmwild.org, 505-239-0906
Bjorn Fredrickson, bjorn@nmwild.org, 206-3720-5608
Nathan Small, nathansmall@nmwild.org 575-496-9540
ALBUQUERQUE, NM — The Washington Post is reporting this morning (“Trump officials consider shrinking 6 national monuments in the West”) that the Trump administration has drafted plans to remove federal protections for at least six national monuments, including Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, in Dona Ana County, New Mexico.
The stated rationale is to open these areas for mining and oil and gas development, activities that are expressly prohibited in national monument proclamations and a significant reason these special places were protected in the first place. The vast majority of public lands in New Mexico are already open to mineral development.
While not included in the reporting today, two other New Mexico national monuments – Rio Grande del Norte and Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks – have previously been mentioned as possible targets.
New Mexico Wild, representing thousands of members in New Mexico and beyond, objects in the strongest possible terms to any plans or attempts to shrink, eliminate, or remove protections for Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks or any other national monument.
These monuments were created as a result of local communities coming together and the tireless efforts of passionate stakeholders working for years to protect these one of a kind places.
“That this president would contemplate this action with zero consultation from our communities is exactly the kind of DC driven, top down, intrusive and unwanted government interference that he claimed as a candidate to be against,” said Mark Allison, Executive Director.
Nearly 90% of New Mexicans – people of all political persuasions – support keeping our monuments intact.
They are not merely lines on a map but critical ecological havens, sacred cultural sites, and irreplaceable natural treasures that help define our state. These lands are where generations of New Mexicans have hiked, hunted, fished, and created lasting family memories. New Mexico’s national monuments are the backdrop to our state’s outdoor heritage and way of life.
Any action to diminish these monuments would be a direct attack on New Mexico’s $3.2 billion outdoor recreation economy and the thousands of jobs it supports.
When President Trump targeted New Mexico’s monuments during his first term, including Organ-Mountains Desert Peaks and Rio Grande del Norte, New Mexico responded by generating the most comments per capita of any state in the country and crowds of hundreds turned out in protest, including 600 people at the Las Cruces Convention Center.
As part of today’s reporting, Department of Interior officials said that the plans were in draft form and that final decisions have not been made.
This provides an opportunity for New Mexicans to tell the administration that we overwhelmingly support our national monuments and that we are absolutely opposed to any actions that would undermine them and the protections that come with them. The public outcry during the last attempt in 2017 forced them to abandon their plans in New Mexico. “If the president doesn’t remember why he backed off last time, we’ll remind him,” stated Mark Allison. “And if he thinks New Mexicans are going to roll over and take this, he couldn’t be more mistaken.”
Reporting today also notes that the draft plan includes administration priorities that include disposing of federal public lands – e.g., transferring American’s birthright to public ownership of lands to the states or privatizing them outright.
New Mexico Wild calls on everyone who values our national monuments and public lands to make their voices heard immediately. Find out how at www.nmwild.org. New Mexico Wild will be available as a resource for media inquiries and will provide updates as the situation develops.
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