![](http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2005/TECH/science/01/25/nm.grasslandd.ap/story.otero.mesa.ap.jpg)
New Mexico's desert grasslands may not be around for much longer, now that the Bush administration and energy corporations have decided to open federal lands in the Otero Mesa (roughly 2 million-acres) to oil and natural gas drilling. The state's Governor Bill Richardson (D) and environmental groups have pledged to fight this latest gift to energy companies in the courts.