Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is recommending that two large national monuments in New Mexico be reviewed to allow increased access and other uses. The plan does not change the boundaries of the Rio Grande del Norte monument near the New Mexico-Colorado state line and the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks monument along the southern border. It does call for making public access a priority and congressional authority to enable Native American tribes to co-manage cultural areas within the monuments’ boundaries. Zinke’s plan also urges more grazing, hunting and fishing at these sites, and requests a new assessment of border-safety risks at the monument near the Mexican border.
