Environmentalists say they turned in 33,000 protests to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management on Wednesday, the last day of the protest period.
It will be up to the federal agency to review the information ahead of the March 28 sale. The agency earlier this month deferred nine parcels that were within 10 miles of Chaco Culture National Historical Park.
Aside from ongoing criticism about development in the Chaco region, environmentalists also voiced concerns about parcels up for bid near Carlsbad Caverns National Monument in southeastern New Mexico.