Proposed land swap being discussed between Mescalero Tribe and New Mexico Land Office

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) -- A proposed land swap between the Mescalero Apache Tribe and the State Land Office of New Mexico is being discussed.

According to county officials, the tribe plans to build a new 10,000 seat amphitheater. Residents near the proposal told ABC-7 they do not want the amphitheater near residential areas.

"We paid a little bit extra to get out here away from people," said Jacob Livingston, a resident in the neighborhood underneath the land swap. "The things that you're willing to pay a little extra, for something like this land exchange and the rumor of an amphitheater going in would eliminate all of that."

Another resident, April Arzate, said that they have concerns about the area being able to sustain a project like the amphitheater. She believes the city and community would benefit from something like that, just not next to the neighborhood.

"Everybody, for the most part, moved out this way for the peace and quiet and the dark skies... And we treasure and value that way of life and the peace and quiet and tranquility that we have."

Arzate said that if that land is being sold off no matter what, she would like it to go to the Tribe. She believes that they would take the best care of the land and hopes that the tribe would take input from the neighbors.

"At the same time, I think there's a concern we need to consider maybe something that would be even less pleasant than a venue that could go in there. I think we just need to be able to have a bigger picture of what possibly could happen with that parcel."

ABC-7 also spoke with Doña Ana County Commissioner for District 3 Shannon Reynolds. The proposal is in his district and he also believes that the area needs major renovations to be able to host an amphitheater of that size.

"Normally, if we're going to have a road back to doing something like an entertainment center, maybe a casino or something like that, it would need to be like a four lane highway," said Reynolds. "There are also no utilities up there. There is a gas line. So they have no water, no sewer, no electric. All that would have to be put there. So now we've got a road that doesn't meet the needs. We've got utilities that don't meet the needs."

ABC-7 reached out to the Mescalero Tribe, but have not received a response at this time. We also reached out to the State Land Office for comment, and they sent us this statement.

“The Mescalero Apache Tribe proposed a land exchange with New Mexico State Land Office that would return certain ancestral lands to the Tribe. As with any proposed land exchange, Commissioner Garcia Richard will be holding public meetings to hear from the community. The State Land Office is still in the early stages of evaluating the parcel proposed for the exchange and gathering more information. No final decisions have been made yet on this proposal. We look forward to meaningful engagement with the public.”

There are public meetings being scheduled at this time for community input on the land exchange. ABC-7 will update this story as we continue to learn more.