Officials Eye Reopening of Mescalero Tribal Forest Products Sawmill in New Mexico

The long-shuttered Mescalero Tribal Forest Products sawmill may soon reopen in New Mexico, local officials said, raising hopes for renewed job growth, improved forest health, and wildfire prevention efforts in the region, Ruidoso News reported (6-19-25).

“I think we are preparing to get funding to open up that plant,” said Otero County Commissioner Mark Fischer, referring to the sawmill on Mescalero tribal land that has been closed since 2012. Fischer said he and state Rep. Harlan Vincent have lined up support from key state lawmakers and agency heads and expect to meet soon with Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham to discuss the project.

“I am definitely psyched about this,” said Mescalero Tribal President Thora Padilla at a regional task force meeting last week. The group is focused on projects that would reduce wildfire and flood risks while also supporting economic development.

The sawmill, which opened in 1987, once employed more than 50 workers, with another 150 jobs tied to logging and administrative support. When the facility closed due to poor market conditions, the tribe also shut down a second mill in Alamogordo, cutting more than 80 additional jobs.

Padilla emphasized the mill’s past importance to the tribe’s forest management programs, developed over decades in partnership with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the US Forest Service. Advocates say reopening the mill could support those efforts while helping restore overcrowded forests, reduce wildfire risk, and ease regional water shortages.