While most of the space is still in boxes with maps and informational flyers strewn about, there will soon be a new Public Lands Interpretive Association Discovery Center opening its doors in Old Town Albuquerque.
PLIA is a non-profit that supports public lands throughout the Southwest and partners with federal agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service. Its mission is to make sure that people have the resources, tools and information they need to explore public lands, Aryn LaBrake, PLIA’s executive director, said.
The organization helps staff BLM and Forest Service sites and visitor centers. PLIA also provides, sells, and creates maps of public lands, memorabilia and educational publications, on topics such as hunting, camping, hiking and rockhounding.
LaBrake said PLIA is a “good first stop,” for anyone looking for opportunities to support BLM and the forest service, volunteer at one of those sites or simply explore public lands.
More than 45% of New Mexican land is under public ownership, with about 31.7% of the state under federal ownership as of 2018, making it one of the states with the highest rates of federal land ownership.
PLIA also runs educational programs for community members and a program for middle schoolers — The Whiptail Trails Club — that teaches children about public lands and facilitates field trips.
The Albuquerque center will be opening its doors on Wednesday, Oct. 1, and holding a grand opening celebration on Friday, Oct. 3. LaBrake said the celebration will be a chance to engage with the community and learn more from them about what public land resources they’d like to be available.
“We’re going to be asking a lot of questions. We’re going to have stations set up with our staff, and opportunities to jot down, ‘what are the resources I wish we had about public lands?’” LaBrake said.
Recently, Americans celebrated National Public Lands Day on Saturday, Sept. 27, in the wake of federal threats to public lands by the Trump administration.
On Sept. 10, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum proposed canceling a public land management rule that made conservation an official use of public lands in an effort to boost drilling, logging, mining and grazing, according to The Associated Press.
In June, during the national budget reconciliation process, federal legislation was proposed to make more than 250 million acres — including more than 14 million in New Mexico — of public lands eligible to be sold to “any interested party,” according to The Wilderness Society.
The public land sale proposal did not go in effect and was removed from the budget reconciliation bill, according to The Wilderness Society.
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“(Public lands are) something that I think our community and our state are really keen on preserving,” LaBrake said. “I think we hold a unique role in being able to be that conduit between community and public lands and to make sure that people have a voice in terms of the stories that are told on those lands.”
Some of the public lands close to Albuquerque that LaBrake highlighted are the Sandia mountain range, the Paseo del Bosque Trail and the San Lorenzo Canyon.
Public lands can help grant a respite from the chaos of the world, whether you’re hunting or fishing, or something simpler such as hiking or watching a bird, LaBrake said.
“Taking a moment to step away from your phone, step away from the craziness of the world. It literally slows down your heartbeat, slows down your body, slows down your mind to have that experience. And I think that, in itself, is something that our community could use, a respite from the world. And I think that the public lands really, really provides that opportunity,” LaBrake said.
Jaden McKelvey-Francis is the editor-in-chief of the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at editorinchief@dailylobo.com or on X @jadenmckelvey
