Recreation Activities in New Mexico? Consult the New Mexico Public Lands Information Center
Offbeat New Mexico
“Howdy,” says the voice on the phone. “This is Ol’ Wilberforce over in Muleshoe. I want to know where I kin go fish-shootin’ over there in New Mexico.”
Not all the calls taken at the New Mexico Public Lands Information Center (PLIC) in Santa Fe are quite that loopy, says Manager Richard Atkinson, but the range of outdoor info sought by visitors and callers alike does sometimes extend “from bird-watching to bird-shooting.”
The PLIC is a partnership between the federal Bureau of Land Management and the non-profit Public Lands Interpretive Association and is located in the BLM State Offices at 1474 Rodeo Road in The City Different (also known as Santa Fe). Currently co-located in the same building is the Supervisor’s Office for Santa Fe National Forest, which makes for greater convenience for would-be outdoor recreationists.
“The PLIC’s most unique feature, however, is that we have information about outdoor activities on all of New Mexico’s public lands – not just the BLM and Forest Service parts,” Atkinson points out. Taking a hike or camping in the woods, horseback riding, driving a rugged byway or four-wheeling across the open desert, boating on lakes like Elephant Butte, Abiquiu and Cochiti or whitewater rafting on the Chama River or Rio Grande, mountain-biking or cross-country skiing, just watching the wildlife come and go or exploring cultural and historic sites anywhere in the state – all of these are activities to which PLIC customers can be directed.
“Fishermen and hunters are a big part of our visitor base,” says the Manager of his walk-in, telephone, e-mail and internet contacts. Over 10,000 people enter the Santa Fe store alone each year while the highly interactive PLIC website found at PublicLands.org receives millions of visitors annually. The website covers not just The Land of Enchantment, but “every state from New Mexico to Alaska.”
“On-line, we have individual pages of detailed information about every Forest Service campground, State Park, National Monument, Wildlife Refuge or Wilderness Area, US Army Corps of Engineers lake, BLM recreation site, Wild and Scenic River, National Historic Trail, Backcountry or Scenic Byway in every western state,” Atkinson says proudly.
“In addition, we offer for sale all of the BLM or Forest Service maps as well as guidebooks, histories, campground directories and books on geology, flora and fauna, archeology – you name it – in both the physical and digital PLICs.” State fishing and hunting licenses, National Interagency Recreation passes and local area permits are also available at the Santa Fe center, as is lots of tourism information about local attractions state-wide.
“In a nutshell, if it’s outdoors in New Mexico,” summarizes the PLIC manager, “if it’s legal and it’s anywhere near any kind of public land, we can help you find it and enjoy it.”
Article courtesy of New Mexico Public Lands Information Center
