A mountain biker on the White Ridge Mountain Bike Trail System west of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

New Mexico Travel and Transportation

Travel and transportation are an integral part of virtually every activity that occurs on public lands. The BLM conducts comprehensive travel and transportation planning to determine why and how to manage roads, trail systems and associated areas on public land to best meet transportation needs.  All forms of transportation including foot, horseback and other pack-animal use, mechanized vehicles such as bikes, and motorized vehicle use, are addressed through creation of comprehensive travel and transportation management plans.

Public lands may be open, limited or closed to motorized vehicles to best protect the land's important resources.

Open: All vehicle use is unrestricted at all times, anywhere in the area.
Limited: Vehicle use is restricted in certain areas, at certain times, or to certain types of vehicles.
Closed: All vehicle use is prohibited.

Taos Field Office Travel Management
Additional Field Offices Coming Soon

 

 

Contact Us

New Mexico State Office
505-954-2000
blm_nm_comments@blm.gov

The Process

There are three main components of travel and transportation management: travel route inventory, land use planning decisions and implementation decisions.

Travel Route Inventory

A travel route inventory provides baseline data about all routes on BLM lands, including their existing conditions. Inventories result in detailed maps, photos and attributes of each travel route on public lands within the field office. The objective of the process is to accurately portray the existing transportation system, not to make decisions on its management.

Land Use Planning Decisions

Resource Management Plans provide direction for subsequent site-specific implementation decisions. This results in the designation of all BLM lands within a field office as open, limited or closed. These are area decisions, not travel route decisions.

Implementation Decisions

Final decisions on routes are made through travel management plans. When these plans are completed, they are implemented on-the-ground with signage, route reclamation, and route construction or reconstruction as well as with monitoring, enforcement and education.