New Mexico Road Easement Opens Door to Public Access

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation teamed up with the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish and New Mexico State Land Office to provide funding for a continual two-mile right-of-way road

easement that provides hunter access to 52,000 acres of public and State Trust Lands in west-central New Mexico.

“Opening and securing public access remains at the heart of our conservation mission,” said Blake Henning, RMEF vice president of Lands and Conservation. “Luera Road provides the only hunter access to this New Mexico State Trust property in Catron County.”

The landscape provides quality habitat for elk, deer, black bear, cougar and wild turkey in the Luera Mountains.

“This project is a good example of a cooperative effort between the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, the State Land Office and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation,” said Alexandra Sandoval, director for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. “By helping fund this easement, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation has provided public access to prime elk habitat that would otherwise be inaccessible to the public. It demonstrates the importance of collaborative partnerships for the benefit of sportsmen and women.”

“New Mexico’s State Trust Lands offer ample hunting terrain with abundant wildlife, and we are pleased to work together with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the Department of Game and Fish in the spirit of allowing proper hunting access to these lands while also managing them prudently for the benefit of future generations,” said New Mexico State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn.

RMEF has a long conservation history in New Mexico. To date, RMEF and its partners completed 333 conservation and hunting heritage outreach projects with a combined value of more than $39.3 million. These projects have protected or enhanced 497,624 acres of habitat.