Portal, AZ - Rodeo, NM

Serving The Communities Of Portal and Rodeo  (www.portal-rodeo.com)

August 2026 Newsletter 

Antelope Pass Preserved. Now What?

As we move beyond the immediate threat posed by the proposed Big Sky gold mine at Antelope Pass CRC remains focused on mining. 

The Bureau of Land Management has indicated that new mining claims have exploded in New Mexico within the past 4 years. Many of these are in the Bootheel and distributed across the Peloncillo region (Read More Here). Click here for a map that puts it into perspective.

Vigilance Moving Forward

Stopping the mine was the result of grassroots organizing—the raised voices from our communities have power. CRC celebrates both the method and the outcome. We’re actively working to build on this success. The communities of Animas-Rodeo-Portal can work together to protect our valuable resources. We’re currently planning to hold another public meeting in the area. Let’s keep the momentum going!

Air Force Decision is Nearly Upon Us

From CRC supported Peaceful Chiricahua Skies:

 

Peloncillo Firescape Project Moves into Objection Phase

The Douglas Ranger District has issued a Decision Notice on this 85,000 acre project affecting a huge swath of the Peloncillo mountains. Their Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) paves the way for the multi-year treatment of the area with machinery and herbicide. CRC has raised questions about the impacts to this important wildlife corridor throughout the comment period as allowed under the National Environment Protection Act. Written objections (if you’ve previously commented) are being accepted from July 24th for 45 days. September 7th by our calculation would be the close of this important phase. See the public notice here 

Border Wall Construction Crosses a Line

The New Mexico Office of the State Engineer has moved to shut down illegally installed wells that threaten the water supply of ranches along the international border with Mexico. State Engineer Elizabeth K Andersen P.E. has given an ultimatum to the contractors responsible for unpermitted well drilling. They face having their licenses revoked. Read an article 

with the details here

Major Gas Line Proposed for Our Area 

A 4 ft diameter gas line capable of transferring 2.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day has been proposed by the Energy Transfer company of Texas to move this carbon-based product from the oil fields in the Permian basin to markets in Arizona and California. The Desert Southwest Pipeline Expansion Project is 520 miles long and will cut through some of the finest intact desert landscapes left in the region. The route for the pipeline will roughly follow the I-10 interstate corridor. Details are thin at this point. Natural gas is currently being used to power data processing centers in other parts of the country and will most certainly be used similarly in Arizona. CRC is dismayed to learn that Governor Katie Hobbs has endorsed the project. Read more on the proposal here

Upheaval at the US Forest Service 

In March 2026, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it is moving Forest Service headquarters from Washington, D.C. to Salt Lake City, eliminating all nine regional offices, and replacing them with 15 state-based director offices. Administrative and technical staff are being funneled into new "operations service centers" in a handful of cities — Fort Collins, Albuquerque, Missoula, and others — while a majority of the agency's research stations are being closed or repurposed; roughly three-quarters of research and development facilities are slated for closure. The agency frames this as "flattening" bureaucracy to put more people and resources on the ground, closer to individual forests and ranger districts.

Whether that promise holds is an open question. The agency itself was already operating well below full staffing before the reorganization began, and the plan arrives on top of a prolonged hiring freeze. Former Forest Service supervisors interviewed about the changes have pointed out that the deeper problem — chronic underfunding — isn't solved just by rearranging the org chart. Wildlife and conservation groups have raised similar concerns, noting the agency's own leadership described the plan internally as part of a broader effort to shrink the workforce, not grow field capacity.

For a place like Cochise County, this restructuring means the Coronado National Forest and the Douglas Ranger District — the district that includes the Chiricahuas — will report through a new Arizona state office rather than the regional structure that has existed for decades. What that will mean in practice for permitting, wildfire response, and day-to-day land management here is still shaking out.

A Mandate to Extract, not just Manage

Running alongside the reorganization is a separate and, in our view, more consequential shift: a presidential directive ordering a 25% increase in timber production from federal lands, paired with instructions to speed up mineral and energy leasing. Implementation guidance issued by the Secretary of Agriculture explicitly directs field leadership to increase timber output, streamline permitting, and reduce the environmental review processes — including certain Endangered Species Act consultations — that have historically slowed extraction projects. The same guidance canceled existing mineral leasing withdrawals on Forest Service land.

Supporters describe this as correcting decades of "mismanagement" and reducing wildfire risk through active management. Critics — including national conservation organizations — argue the order subordinates every other legally mandated use of the forest (watershed protection, wildlife habitat, recreation) to a single priority: resource output. There is also an ongoing, separate proposal to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule, which for 25 years has kept roughly 30% of Forest Service land free of new roads and logging; a decision on that rule is expected later this year.

For the Sky Islands, this isn't an abstract policy fight. The Coronado's ranger districts sit in some of the most biologically unique terrain in the country — habitat that doesn't recover quickly from road-building or heavy extraction, in a landscape that's arid, fire-prone, and already stressed by drought.

Recreation Takes the Hit

While extraction is being fast-tracked, the piece of the Forest Service budget that keeps trails passable, campgrounds open, and bathrooms clean is being cut. The administration's FY2027 budget proposal calls for a 31% cut to the "Recreation, Heritage and Wilderness" account — a reduction that trail advocates estimate would translate into a 64% cut to trail maintenance funding specifically. The Forest Service's own internal analysis, obtained by advocacy groups, warns that without renewed investment, "public access, visitor satisfaction, and recreation-based economic contributions will continue to decline in 2026 and beyond."

There's a modest silver lining: Congress rejected the steepest of last year's proposed cuts, and the agency has resumed hiring seasonal crews after a two-year freeze. But the FY2027 proposal signals where the administration wants to go next, and Congress will be fighting that battle over the coming months.

What this Means for Us Locally 

Put together, the picture is this: fewer regional staff with institutional knowledge of our specific mountains and canyons; a national posture that prioritizes logging, mining, and energy leasing over conservation and recreation; and a shrinking budget for the trail crews, campground hosts, and maintenance work that make the Chiricahuas and the rest of the Coronado usable and safe for the public. None of this happens all at once, and there's genuine uncertainty about how quickly the effects will reach our ranger districts. But the direction is clear, and it's worth our community paying attention.

What You Can Do:

Follow the Coronado National Forest's public notices for Douglas Ranger District project proposals and comment periods.

Contact Arizona's congressional delegation about FY2027 appropriations for Forest Service recreation and trail maintenance.

A Tribute to Dr. Philip Hedrick 

Phil Hedrick has stepped down from the board at the Chiricahua Regional Council. His contributions to the Council reflected the same rigor and care that have defined his distinguished career as a population geneticist. As Ullman Professor of Conservation Biology at Arizona State University, he published over 200 articles on population genetics and conservation biology and went on to serve as president of both the American Society of Naturalists and the American Genetic Association  — work that has shaped conservation genetics and informed the protection of vulnerable species, including his well-known scholarship on the Mexican grey wolf.

As a board member, Phil brought a scientist’s clarity and a conservationist’s heart to the CRC’s mission of safeguarding the Chiricahua, Peloncillo, and Dragoon region. His steady presence and deep commitment to sound, science-based stewardship leave a lasting mark on the organization. We are grateful for his years of service and wish him well in whatever comes next.

September Board Meeting 

CRC will hold its next board meeting in September.