Correction of Public Land Order No. 7963: National Defense Operating Area Withdrawal in Doña Ana, Luna, and Hidalgo Counties, New Mexico
AI-generated summary for informational purposes only. Not legal advice. See the original source for the authoritative text.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) published Public Land Order (PLO) No. 7963 on April 21, 2025, authorizing the emergency withdrawal of approximately 109,651 acres of federal land in Doña Ana, Luna, and Hidalgo Counties, New Mexico. The land was transferred to the administrative jurisdiction of the Department of the Army (Army) for border security and national defense purposes along the U.S.-Mexico border. This March 2026 notice serves as a technical correction to PLO No. 7963, revising the legal descriptions and acreage figures originally published. The correction ensures the official record accurately reflects the specific parcels included in the withdrawal, providing a more complete and legally precise boundary description of the affected federal land. The underlying purpose of the original order remains unchanged: the Army retains administrative control over the withdrawn land for use as a National Defense Operating Area. This type of emergency withdrawal removes the land from general public use and standard BLM land management, placing it under military authority for operational and security activities near the southern border.
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Key Changes
- Corrects the legal land descriptions originally published in PLO No. 7963 (April 21, 2025) to more accurately define the withdrawn area
- Updates the official acreage figure for the withdrawal affecting Doña Ana, Luna, and Hidalgo Counties, NM
- Provides a more complete boundary description of the ~109,651 acres transferred to Army jurisdiction
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