Federal Land Policy And Management Act - Text

Federal Land Policy And Management Act - Discussion

Federal Transaction Facilitation Act Of 2000/Baca Bill

BLM Special Designations

BLM National Management Strategy For Motorized Off-Highway Vehicle Use On Public Lands

Sonoran Institute Potential Economic Impacts Of Wilderness In Dona Ana County (see "Full Report PDF")

What's it all about?

In late 2005, Senator Pete Domenici drafted legislation which called for Wilderness or National Conservation Area (NCA) protection of certain BLM lands. The legislation also outlined methods of land disposal and use of funding by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The Senator subsequently asked the City of Las Cruces, in partnership with Doña Ana County, to begin a public input process to learn more about what individual user groups would like to see in public lands legislation for Doña Ana County.

This process targeted interested Stakeholders from the public, recreationists, sportsmen, farmers, ranchers, developers, realtors, homebuilders, conservationists, community action groups, neighborhood associations, business and economic development groups, and federal and state agencies. Areas of interest include the Organ Mountains, the East and West Potrillo Mountains, Mount Riley, Aden Lava Flow, the Robledo and Las Uvas Mountains, Broad Canyon.

In a series of public meetings, the participants were asked to provide their positions and concerns regarding proposals for Congressional designations and land management decisions. A work group was formed to analyze and distill these comments into a set of recommendations regarding the protection of certain BLM lands, methods of land disposal, and use of funding. The work group, comprised of two representatives each from of eight stakeholder groups, met in a series of work sessions through early February, 2007. They discussed land use, future growth and development, wildlife corridors and habitat protection, water use and water quality, and stakeholder needs. The stakeholder representatives wrapped up the work sessions by drafting position papers that articulated areas their group supported for protective designations and why. The position papers and a final report about the entire process were sent to Senator Domenici for review. The goal is to shape a new comprehensive land use bill for Doña Ana County.

On this website, you will have access to:

• pertinent legislation and documents related to the project;
• maps of the areas under discussion that you may download
• a compilation of the public comment we have received to date;
• weekly results of the work sessions;
• the final report;
• each stakeholder’s position paper; and
• a link to contact us so that you may provide your own responses to the results of this public input effort.

Thank you for your interest in this vital community issue!