Occidental Petroleum funds new fishing dock at Brantley Lake State Park

Anglers in southeast New Mexico will soon be able to cast their lines at Brantley Lake State Park as a partnership with one of the Permian Basin’s largest oil companies would restore a fishing dock at the park.

Occidental Petroleum and the Great Outdoors Fund collaborated on the $92,000 project to rebuild the dock after it was removed due to damage about five years ago. The dock will be installed at Brantley’s Seven Rivers Boat Ramp about 16 miles north of Carlsbad off U.S. Highway 285.

Great Outdoors Fund Founder Lori McCullough said her organization approached New Mexico State Parks Division to devise the project while Occidental put up most of the funds. A build day was planned for April 24 when Occidental employees and other volunteers will construct the dock. McCullough said it would be capable of retraction on high-wind days at the park.

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The project will also include an information kiosk, McCullough said, and is park of a larger effort to boost outdoor recreation options throughout the U.S.

“There’s a huge push nationally to increase recreation’s value to America. From the economic value to the environment,” McCullough said. “I love that we’re giving fishing back.”

President of Occidental’s Delaware Basin Unit Babatunde Cole said the project was a means of giving back to the communities around the prolific Permian Basin oilfields.

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“We always look for ways to give back to the communities where we operate in and live,” Cole said in a statement. “The goal of our contribution is to invest in public good and enhance the overall experience for visitors of the lake.”

Brantley Lake State Park Superintendent James Chapler said fishing was a popular activity at the park and that visitors called for restoring the dock at Seven Rivers for years after it was removed.

“Public comments often mentioned the loss of the fishing dock and demonstrated an interest in its replacement,” Chapler said. “By funding a fishing dock and informational kiosk, opportunities for outdoor recreation will be increased at the park.”

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He said the park usually gets about 75,000 to 100,000 visitors each year, and “a majority” of them list fishing as the activity that brought them to Brantley Lake. Using the dock will improve access to fishing, Chapler said, with less restrictions than casting off from the shore or from a boat. Fishing is prohibited within 150 feet of the dock.

“A new fishing dock will provide these visitors with an opportunity to fish on the water without the need of a boat,” Chapler said. “Fishing from the shore is restrictive due to the terrain and vegetation. This fishing dock will provide park users the opportunity to fish without these obstacles.”

McCullough said the national movement came from the administration of President Joe Biden who in 2021 and 2022 signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, respectively into law. Buoyed by the Great American Outdoors Act signed by former-President Donald Trump in 2020, the laws unleashed billions of dollars in federal funding for environmental and conservation projects including support of outdoor recreation initiatives.

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In New Mexico, the latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) showed outdoor recreation added about $2.4 billion to the state’s economy or about 1.9 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). Outdoor recreation accounted for about $1.1 billion wages in 2022 or 1.8 percent of total wages in New Mexico, read the report.

Fishing and boating added about $64.4 million in value to the state in 2022, the BEA reported, following about $213 million added by RVing.

“There’s a lot of advocacy going on,” McCullough said. “There’s a lot of push for more public dollars at federal, state and local levels. It’s a push coming from Washington (D.C.).”

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Brantley Lake State Park's fishing dock being rebuilt by oil company