Atrisco Natural Resource Management (ANRM) exists to preserve, explore and responsibly commercialize the heritage mineral assets of the Atrisco Land Grant.

ANRM is a member of The Atrisco Companies. The Atrisco Companies is a social enterprise that provides support to New Mexico communities through various nonprofit and community-focused organizations.

The Atrisco Companies evolved from the historic Atrisco Land Grant, one of the most storied Spanish land grants common to our southwestern states. This 17th Century land grant system established settlement in North America, and early Spanish communities in New Mexico gained their livelihoods from the land. Today, the Atrisco Companies continue the rich traditions of their ancestors by providing community-based business services in each of their entities. The Atrisco Companies have bridged their past with their future. To learn more about the Atrisco Companies, visit www.atriscocompanies.com.

ANRM Executive Team

  • Peter Sanchez—Chief Executive Officer
  • Brian O’Connell—Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operations Officer
  • Rosa Del Cid—Executive Director, Finance

ANRM Board of Directors

  • Randolph M. Sanchez
  • Charles V. Pena
  • Ray Mares Jr.
  • Thaddeus Lucero
  • Roberta Ricci
  • Kim Herrera
  • Matthew Montanes
  • Elizabeth Silva
  • Marc Esquivel
  • Melanie Martinez

HISTORY

The Atrisco Land Grant, from its beginning in 1703, used its lands for grazing. The first commercial development at Atrisco began on March 20, 1920, when David J. Metzgar, president of the Atrisco Board of Trustees, signed the first lease to an outside interest for the exploration and development of oil and gas.

In 1972, Westland Development Corp. (having been created from the land grant in 1967), leased land to Shell Oil Co. for oil and gas exploration and renewed that lease for five years in 1975.

Interest in exploration re-emerged in 2006, when Tecton Energy LLC of Houston took assignment of two leased parcels held by Westland with Sun Valley Energy and Great Northern Energy. Later the same year, SunCal Companies of Irvine, California, acquired Westland. In this transaction, the buyers agreed to terms related to the mineral rights whereby 100% of the mineral interest rights to previous established leases would remain with Atrisco Oil & Gas and subsequent oil and gas contracts related to the remaining unleased acreage at the time of the real estate sale would be shared equally at 50% between Atrisco and SunCal. The Westland board decided to create a for-profit corporation for oil and gas proceeds; income would be paid to the new unitholders of Atrisco Oil and Gas.

Subsequently, Westland formed a separate company, Atrisco Oil & Gas LLC, to own and manage the two leases with Tecton and any future leases on former Atrisco lands. Atrisco Oil and Gas also has certain rights to drill.

Westland shareholders received a share of Atrisco Oil & Gas for each share of their Westland stock. The company is governed by a board of directors.

On August 27, 2007, in order to determine if the lands hold commercial quantities of natural gas, Atrisco Oil & Gas leased 50,000 acres to Tecton Energy. This lease expired in 2009.

Since the previous lease expired in 2009, the lands have been leased on and off to Thrust Energy of Roswell, New Mexico. As of 2022, no current leases are active on the Atrisco Land Grant.

In 2023, Atrisco Oil and Gas changed its name to Atrisco Natural Resource Management to better reflect the breadth of its aspirations to preserve, explore and responsibly commercialize the natural assets of the Atrisco Land Grant.