Given the fact that the BLM manages 12.9 million acres of public lands in New Mexico, we must work in partnership with all agencies, organizations and individuals who use or care about the public lands. Partnerships in New Mexico Let me share some of the good things our partnerships are accomplishing in New Mexico. One of our success stories is the development of the Resource Advisory Councils or RACs. In forming these RACS, the BLM has taken a new approach. We invited representatives of each group to work together.
Stockmen sit down with recreationists, oil and gas folks sit down with environmentalists.
They put aside their single interests and forge a common vision for the future of public rangeland. New Mexico's RAC is one of 24 RACs throughout the West. In April, BLM's New Mexico State Director and the Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico signed a Memorandum of Understanding under which the BLM and New Mexico will work jointly on an Environmental Impact Statement on rangeland-related standards and guidelines. Over in the Rio Puerco Resource Area, the BLM has established the Rio Puerco Management Committee, which is a partnership charged with finding ways to reduce watershed erosion and restore the health of the land. Sediment carried by the Rio Puerco has been one of the chief sources of silting in the Elephant Butte reservoir.