New Mexico Lands and Realty

New Mexico BLM is responsible for managing the lands and mineral estate for about 13.5 million acres of public lands and 42 million acres of Federal mineral estate in a four state area (New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, and Oklahoma).  The lands and realty program responsibilities include processing land use authorizations and land tenure adjustments on public lands.  Use authorizations, which are processed at the field office level, include rights-of-way for energy development and in support of community growth, oil and gas, communication sites, film permits, long-term leases, and Recreation and Public Purpose Act leases.

Land tenure adjustments include purchases, exchanges, donation, sales, and acquisitions.  Consolidated ownership patterns provide an efficient landscape for BLM managers and their planning and decision-making processes to conserve values considered important to the public.  The BLM completes ownership transactions involving land and interests in land when such transactions are in the public interest and consistent with publicly-approved resource management plans.  The BLM processes new withdrawal actions and withdrawal revocations for all the Federal land managing agencies, and is also the custodian of land status records such as master title plats and cadastral survey notes and plats.