What is the Healthy Lands Initiative?

Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne launched the Healthy Lands Initiative 

(HLI) in 2007 to accelerate land restoration, increase productivity, and improve 

the health of public lands in the Western United States. The goal of the Initiative 

is to preserve the diversity and productivity of public and private lands across the 

landscape. The Initiative will enable and encourage local BLM managers to set 

priorities across a broader scale and mitigate impacts to an array of resources in 

ways not previously available to them.

The President’s 2009 budget includes an increase of $10 million for HLI over 

the level enacted in Fiscal Year 2008. The effort has focused on landscape-level 

restoration effort on southwest Wyoming; northwest and southeast portions of 

New Mexico; south-central Idaho; southwest Colorado; Utah; and a three-corner 

area of Idaho, Oregon, and Nevada. In FY 2009, areas in northwest Colorado and 

parts of California would be added.

Meeting both our energy and land 

health goals requires integrated, 

landscape-scale habitat protections 

and resource management. Our 

initiative combines investments 

in habitat protection with policy 

improvements that will protect 800 

species, including the sage-grouse.

Secretary Dirk Kempthorne

By the Numbers

Broad mesas interspersed with 

deep canyons are characteristic 

of New Mexico’s San Juan Basin, 

as are entrenched narrow valleys, dry 

washes, and fl oodplains. 

Mule deer and elk share the landscape 

with more than 22,000 oil and gas wells 

and two major coal mines. Hunters fl ock 

to northwestern New Mexico each fall 

for opportunities to enjoy the abundant 

wildlife. Statewide, more than 130,000 

hunters spend over $150 million each 

year on their sport.

BLM lands also provide important habitat 

for upland game birds such as Gambel’s 

quail, which inhabit densely vegetated 

areas in canyon bottoms and near 

waterways, and scaled quail, which occur 

in sage/grassland areas. Flowing through 

the Basin are the Animas and San Juan 

Rivers. A world-class trout fi shery on the 

San Juan below Navajo Dam attracts fl y 

fi shermen from around the world.

The San Juan Basin hosts America’s 

second-most productive natural gas fi eld; 

it supplies six percent of the nation’s 

total production and is California’s largest 

supplier of natural gas.

There are currently over 6,400 miles of 

roads on the public lands managed by the 

BLM, most of which were created for the 

oil and gas industry. The BLM is working 

with the industry to ensure that pipelines 

follow existing roads wherever possible 

and to encourage “twinned” well locations 

when practical for new wells. 

Impacts of these roads include 

fragmentation of wildlife habitat; 

expansion of invasive plant species, such 

as Russian knapweed and musk thistle; 

and water quality degraded by erosion. 

Restoring landscapes in the San Juan 

Basin will help ensure that hunting and 

fi shing opportunities are maintained and 

enhanced, protecting a major contributor 

San Juan Basin,

Northwestern New Mexico

• Number of acres in the Basin: 

8 million (about the size of 

Massachusetts)

• Number of producing oil and gas 

wells: 20,000 (mostly natural gas)

• Number of new wells to be added 

in the next 20 years: 10,000

• Number of cubic feet of natural gas 

produced in the Basin annually: 

1.1 trillion 

• Percentage of natural gas consumed 

by homes in the U.S. that comes from 

the Basin: 20 percent

Healthy 

Lands 

Initiative

NEW MEXICO 

San Juan Basin

Healthy 

Lands 

Initiative

NEW MEXICO 

San Juan Basin

2009 Budget Update
Getting Involved

There are 

many ways to 

get involved 

through 

Restore 

New Mexico, 

a statewide 

partnership 

to restore 

woodlands, 

grasslands, 

and riparian 

areas of 

New Mexico 

to a healthy and productive condition. 

Landowners and other agency employees 

can contact the BLM’s Farmington 

District Offi ce or its partners for further 

information. Conservation groups are 

working with the BLM on specifi c habitat 

improvement projects. Contact the 

BLM or your group to see how you can 

participate or otherwise support their 

work. 

New Mexico Partners

U.S. Geological Survey

USDA Natural Resources Conservation

 Service

New Mexico Association of Conservation

 Districts

Oil and gas companies

New Mexico State Land Offi ce

New Mexico Department of Game and 

 Fish

Electric utility cooperatives

Conservation groups, including Quail

 Unlimited

Private landowners, including those 

 holding BLM grazing permits

For additional information contact:

Bureau of Land Management 

New Mexico State Offi ce

Hanson Stuart

Hanson_Stuart@nm.blm.gov

505-438-7510

Farmington District Offi ce

1235 La Plata Highway, Suite A

Farmington, NM 87401-8731

505-599-8900

San Juan Basin

New Mexico

to the economic health of northwestern 

New Mexico. Our work will also focus on 

protecting wildlife species affected by past 

land uses, including legacy oil and gas wells.

Ranchers, recreational users, conservation 

groups, the oil and gas industry, hunters, 

and other public land users recognize the 

advantages of large-scale collaboration. 

The BLM understands the importance of 

reclaiming disturbed areas so as to reduce 

the likelihood of listing sensitive wildlife 

species while enhancing other wildlife 

populations. 

Goals 

• Remove exotic plant species and reverse 

the expansion of invasive shrubs.

• Restore native habitat for fi sh, wildlife, 

and special-status species.

• Improve water quality and watershed 

health.

• Reduce habitat fragmentation from 

historic oil and gas development.

and ensure responsible energy 

development.

• Reduce impacts from catastrophic 

wildfi re.

Continuing the 

Momentum

In 2007, the BLM and its partners 

restored and reclaimed 42,480 acres of 

public land in northwestern New Mexico, 

up from 18,000 acres in 2006. During the 

next two years, we plan to restore and 

reclaim up to 70,000 additional acres of 

public land.