Carlsbad Caverns National Park is an American treasure. Every year, thousands of tourists travel to southern New Mexico to see the park’s wondrous caves and enchanting desert wildlife, including thousands of bats that take flight from the park’s caves every night.
But Carlsbad’s riches do not stop at park boundaries. The desert and grasslands surrounding the park harbor extensive cave networks and wildlife habitat for species like cougar, cave swallows and Brazilian free-tailed bats.
Sadly, this greater Carlsbad Caves and Rivers region is threatened by a massive oil and gas boom. Drill pads stretch over much of the land and the drilling is now threatening the park's caves, waters and wildlife.
Take action: Defend the Carlsbad region from more drilling.
Unfortunately, the Bureau of Land Management is considering handing over even more land to drilling.
More drilling would, at great magnitude, destroy rare desert rivers, intact grasslands and sensitive cave ecosystems. But we have an opportunity to weigh in and protect the most sensitive nearby areas.
Tell the BLM the sensitive lands in the Carlsbad Caves and Rivers region are too wild to drill.
- Wilderness Society
(Please, consider personalizing it a bit it so they won't throw it away.)
In developing the Carlsbad Regional Management Plan (RMP), the BLM should consider the following resources to conserve the region’s rare desert river systems and sensitive cave ecosystems. The BLM should protect all Lands with Wilderness Characteristics and restrict oil and gas development in the final RMP to ensure these places continue to provide quality backcountry recreation and wilderness experiences for future generations.
The BLM should designate the 10 Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) identified in the draft RMP for protection. The BLM should also designate 4 additional ACECs proposed by the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance: Birds of Prey, Chihuahuan Desert Rivers, Desert Heronries and Salt Playas. These are some of the last untouched places in the region and should be protected.
This arid region is also heavy hit by the impacts of a changing climate. Yet the BLM’s preferred alternative does not have any emission reduction requirement and opens 97% of the planning area to development. The BLM must acknowledge the impact that increased oil and gas development will have on climate change, implement a management plan that reduces emissions and ensure the plan includes adaptation for wildlife species at risk to a changing climate.
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