I’ve lived in south-central New Mexico for over fifteen years now, and I love it here — I love the wildlife, like the Javelina, Mule Deer, and wild horses, and the beautiful open space. But now, I’m worried that the Trump administration is ruining my home.
I live on 5 acres between the Gila Wilderness to the West and a good amount of land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to the east, outside of Caballo, just south of Truth or Consequences, NM. As soon as he came into office, President Trump replaced former BLM leadership with people who pose a threat to the agency’s mission, including former Acting BLM Director and noted anti-public lands advocate William Perry Pendley. While Pendley was pushed out by public opposition and a recent court ruling, the Trump administration is fighting to keep him in place. That attitude about the value of public land from the top impacts what staff do on the ground here in New Mexico.
I enjoy four-wheeling, driving through the parks, and going hiking. If it’s really hot, I head up to Emory Pass in the Gila National Forest where it is, on average, 30 degrees cooler. From there, I can see the lakes, enjoy the big sky, and breathe the clean air. I’m originally from California, where I remember the smog in the air and the taste of car exhaust in the 1970s, so I love living here where I can enjoy the fresh, clean air.
I feel lucky to live down here in south-central New Mexico, where these outdoor activities and our clean air are not impacted by oil and gas drilling. In the Permian basin in the far southeastern part of the state and up in the Four Corners area, northwest of here, the Trump administration has expanded drilling on public lands. Down here, it’s mostly wilderness and ranching, and we’ve been able to keep the fracking — and the methane released into the air as a result — away.
The open BLM land around me is also used by ranchers — some who have been here for generations on generations, since the 1800s. Some ranchers are great stewards of the land, but some will graze it for all it’s worth, with no intention of caretaking the land. I don’t mind the cattle, but I so want to see these animals live in balance with the natural wildlife and habitats of this area.
New Mexico is a fence-out state, meaning ranchers can just let their cattle graze on and around BLM land. If you don’t want them on your property, you have to fence them out. Cattle will sometimes walk right through a fence, and not all ranchers will help us. In the past, my neighbors and I have relied on BLM agents to help sort out cattle that have ended up on our lands — one time, we even ended up with a couple of horses on our land, one of whom is still around. But the agents have become less reliable recently.
From what I’ve seen, the BLM is not as proactive as they once were. Perhaps they’re not getting the funds that they used to, or they’re understaffed, or maybe they aren’t getting the right direction from agency higher-ups appointed by Trump. But one way or another, there just isn’t the care that there used to be from the BLM for my wild home or the wildlife that rely on the landscapes. All they care about are the industries: ranchers and oil.
It’s horrible what the Trump administration is doing to all of our public lands, as well as to the animals who have lived here for time immemorial. We need them managed and maintained by people who care about them, not by people like Pendley who want to sell the lands to the highest bidder. Pendley allowed the BLM to sell native wildlife to slaughter to make room for more ranchers to graze their herds for next to nothing — ranchers who don’t steward the land. I’ve watched the destruction of our public lands firsthand, and there’s no recourse.
William Perry Pendley is unfit to lead the Bureau of Land Management, even in his acting capacity. If Trump cares about public lands, as he claims, he’ll stop fighting to keep Pendley in place and instead put someone in charge who manages New Mexico’s public lands, and all public lands across the country, the same way I do — with respect and care for the clean air, clean water, and wildlife that live there.
Candace Cooper is retired and living in paradise, in the south central Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico.
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