Otero Mesa is a 1.2 million acre (4,900 km²) area in northern Chihuahuan Desert region of southern New Mexico. Between 1954 and 1965 the U.S. Army expanded its McGregor Range facilities at Fort Bliss onto Otero Mesa by purchasing ranches.[1][2] In 2005, the Bureau of Land Management approved the area for exploratory drilling for oil and gas,[3] but that approval is currently being litigated by the state of New Mexico and environmental groups who want the mesa to be recognized as protected wilderness.
On Tuesday, April 28, 2009, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the US Bureau of Land Management plan for leasing the Otero Mesa for oil and gas extraction. The court found that the BLM had failed to consider an alternative that would leave the Otero Mesa unleased, and also failed to examine potential impacts to the underlying groundwater. The oil company HEYCO had been granted a lease for extracting natural gas for Otero Mesa, pending the outcome of the litigation.
Coalition for Otero Mesa Website