Oil and gas leasing on 97% of Carlsbad field office in new BLM proposal
Oil and gas development in the Permian Basin, NM
Mason Cummings, The Wilderness Society. Aerial support provided by LightHawk.
RMP/EIS threatens habitat, drinking water, national parks; based on outdated findings and limited public input
WASHINGTON D.C. (Sept. 11, 2026) — The Bureau of Land Management issued a proposed resource management plan and final environmental impact statement governing the Carlsbad field office in southeastern New Mexico, kicking off a formal protest period about the agency’s plans for approximately 2.1 million acres of public lands and 2.7 million acres of subsurface minerals that encompass some of the last relatively wild and untouched lands in the Chihuahuan Desert.
The administration’s proposal would make nearly 97% of the Carlsbad planning area available to oil and gas leasing with fewer safeguards to protect air quality and drinking water. The plan would threaten two national parks, the Guadalupe Mountains and an extensive network of underground caves that is one of the U.S.’ true geological treasures. It would also decrease the area managed for recreation, lowering the quality of existing mountain biking trails and reducing access for caving and hunting. Of particular concern, it’s thought that further drilling in the Carlsbad area will also threaten wildlife habitat and introduce new hazards for migratory birds already hit hard by development in recent years.
The proposal comes despite dramatic changes across the region since the draft RMP was released eight years ago. Oil and gas development in the planning area and surrounding Permian Basin tripled between 2018 and 2024, while significant new scientific information has emerged about impacts to air quality, water resources, wildlife habitat and other public-land values. In June, The Wilderness Society and other conservation organizations urged BLM to update its environmental analysis and provide renewed opportunities for public and Tribal input before moving forward. The agency did not respond before releasing the proposed plan.
Michael Casaus, New Mexico state director at The Wilderness Society, made the following statement about the proposal:
“New Mexicans deserve a planning process grounded in current science, meaningful public participation and a careful assessment of how today's development pressures affect the region's lands and waters and our freedom to explore them. Yet the administration is moving forward with a new RMP/EIS arguably worse than the draft plan it considered in 2018, even though oil and gas development has expanded dramatically in the Permian Basin since then, and major new scientific findings have emerged in the years since about the potential impacts. The BLM must update its analysis and provide renewed opportunities for Tribal Nations and the public to weigh in before locking us into shortsighted management decisions based on hopelessly outdated information."
Contact: newsmedia@tws.org / max_greenberg@tws.org
