Face it, New Mexico is an energy producing state. 4.8 million acres of New Mexico are already leased for energy development, more than any state save Wyoming. Trout Unlimited is not opposed to energy development.

We all need and use energy. What we do expect is that energy development is done in a responsible manner that also protects the other uses of our resources and especially our public lands.

Due to the fact that we produce a lot of energy, and due to the current make-up of the US Senate, New Mexico has a large role to play in defining how our national energy policy is implemented.

Trout Unlimited played a large role in preventing coalbed methane drilling in the Valle Vidal. It was our opinion that this place was too valuable for its fishing hunting and wildlife values to allow it to be turned into a gas field, especially considering the small amount of gas under the surface. While drilling the Valle Vidal would have been a lucrative proposition for the companies extracting that gas, it would have produce only enough gas to power the nation for a couple days. And that energy would have to be extracted over a period of about 20 year, not counting the decades of reclamation that would be necessary.

Trout Unlimited is part of the Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development, a group formed to insure that common sense is part of the equation in the current push to develop energy resources in the Rocky Mountains and accross the nation.
If you want to learn more about TUs role in protecting our streams from unchecked energy development, you can visit the Energy Section of the TU national website:

TU Energy Page

The New Mexico Council also works closely with the New Mexico Wildlife Fedration on
energy issues as they are common to all our wildlife resources. Visit them here:

New Mexico Wildlife Federation

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