Heath Haussamen
THE DOCUMENTS:
• Summary of the proposal
• Handout from April 10 meeting
• Statement from tribe
UPCOMING PUBLIC MEETINGS:
Meeting for residents of Las Alturas, Talavera and La Tierra Escondida neighborhoods
Nov. 7, 6-7:30 p.m.
New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum
4100 Dripping Springs Road in Las Cruces
Register to join via Zoom
General public meeting
Nov. 24, 6-7:30 p.m.
New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum
4100 Dripping Springs Road in Las Cruces
Register to join via Zoom
The Mescalero Apache Tribe has proposed a land swap that would give it hundreds of acres with pristine views south of Tortugas Mountain near Las Cruces.
Some nearby residents have expressed concern that the tribe could build a casino or amphitheater there, but the tribe isn’t pushing in those directions, at least currently.
“We do not have any specific plans for the use of the land,” Thora Walsh Padilla, president of the Mescalero Apache Tribal Council, said in a recent social media post. “…We are primarily exploring possibilities at this time.”
She said the tribe doesn’t want to pursue a casino. “That would require the tribe to reopen our gaming compact, and strategically that is not a good idea at this time,” she said.
As for an amphitheater, Padilla said the tribe met with a contractor who is a friend of a tribal council member. The contractor suggested such a project.
Tribal officials haven’t responded to my requests for an interview. But in her post, Padilla said the tribe is looking at the land because of a past exchange the N.M. State Land Office made with an out-of-state tribe without consulting in-state tribes. She said the tribe made a decision to pursue land that is culturally important while it can.
Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard invited all tribes in the state to apply for state-owned land that was “of importance to their communities,” said Joey Keefe, the office’s assistant commissioner of communications.
Though the land would be owned by the tribe, it would be subject to county zoning and other ordinances unless the tribe applied to have it held in trust by the federal government. That’s a process that takes years and could end with the land being exempt from local governance — should the land swap happen and the tribe decide to pursue such a route.
If the deal goes through, it’s not clear what land the state would receive in exchange.
The proposed exchange has generated a great deal of discussion among residents of the nearby Las Alturas and La Tierra Escondida neighborhoods. Keefe promised public hearings before any deal could be finalized. On Thursday, the Land Office announced two public meetings to be held in November.
Visiting the land
The Mescalero Apache Tribe, whose reservation is located about 90 miles from Las Cruces near Ruidoso, submitted its application in September 2024 after visiting several sites around Las Cruces.
The parcel they settled on, which the State Land Office owns, is 640 acres. The tribe has proposed taking ownership of 288.5 acres, according to a summary of the proposal. The Land Office has suggested 330 acres to account for geography.
I visited the area earlier this month to have a look. The intersection of Tellbrook Drive and Sonoma Ranch Boulevard is at the northwest corner of the property atop a hill. Most of the land in question is down the east side of the hill, where a large arroyo cuts through the property.
I saw someone shooting at targets, which isn’t unusual in the desert east of Las Cruces. As I hiked I saw bobcat and javelina tracks and heard quail calling. A mountain biker passed me on a trail.
I was scouting for doves, as it’s hunting season, but didn’t see many.
The views of the Organ Mountains to the east and Tortugas Mountain to the north are spectacular.
The hill where I started my walk provides cover between the state-owned land and Las Alturas. La Tierra Escondida, on the other hand, is visible across the arroyo about a half mile away.
Questions about road access
The tribe could face some hurdles in developing the land. A prominent group of officials gathered in Las Cruces on April 10 to discuss the proposal. Garcia Richard led a delegation from the Land Office, according to a handout from that meeting. Representatives of the tribe’s executive and legislative branches were present, including Padilla. So were officials from Doña Ana County and the Elephant Butte Irrigation District.
Among them was a county assistant manager, Stephen Lopez. In an interview, he said he shared a concern at the meeting that Tellbrook Road — which is currently the only access to the land in question — is residential, with only two lanes. Las Alturas Drive, the frontage road along Interstate 10 that provides access to Tellbrook, is also only two lanes.
Tellbrook “could not handle the traffic of an amphitheater,” nor is Las Alturas Drive designed for such a purpose, Lopez said.
He pointed officials to the long-term traffic plan created by the Mesilla Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization, a multi-agency group. That plan includes extending Sonoma Ranch Boulevard south from Dripping Spring Road around the west side of Tortugas Mountain to Tellbrook.
The land where a future Sonoma Ranch extension could be built is owned by New Mexico State University.
The university has plans for that area. It’s currently working to build what it calls “Aggie Uptown” — a multi-use, walkable neighborhood east of Interstate 10 where the golf course is located. That development already includes a new Maverik convenience store and would include other restaurants and bars along University Avenue. A Blake’s Lotaburger and White Sands Federal Credit Union will soon be built there, said Scott Eschenbrenner, president of the university’s development organization.
Future plans include medical facilities, senior living and student housing. Depending on the plan’s success, parts or all of the golf course would be relocated to the southeast, near the land the Mescalero Apache Tribe is eyeing.
The land where a future Sonoma Ranch extension could be built is located east of Aggie Uptown. It was acquired from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management with a requirement that NMSU use it for educational purposes, Eschenbrenner said. The golf course, which supports an academic program, is an obvious fit.
But a road extension to reach Mescalero Apache land? That’s unclear. The Land Office met with Eschenbrenner to discuss a possible Sonoma Ranch extension awhile back. He told me such a project would be up to the university’s administration and Board of Regents.
Local indigenous groups
Eschenbrenner pointed out that the Las Cruces area is home to two indigenous groups — Tortugas Pueblo and the Piro-Manso-Tiwa Tribe. Though neither has federal recognition, the groups’ annual pilgrimage to Tortugas Mountain “is something that’s foremost in our mind,” he said.
A Sonoma Ranch extension would cross the path of that annual pilgrimage.
“That’s a historical pilgrimage, and we’re going to continue to honor that,” Eschenbrenner said. He added that if NMSU ever considers development on the land directly west of Tortugas Mountain, “We’d want to have them understanding what the plans are and understand what their concerns are.”
I reached out to both tribal groups about the proposed Mescalero Apache land exchange. I haven’t heard back from either.
Immediately after I published this article, the State Land Office announced its public meetings. This article has been updated to include information about those meetings.
