A proposed effort to restore a wide swath of national forest land in southern New Mexico over the next decade or two is drawing fire from environmentalists who say the U.S. government needs to do more to determine the effects on endangered species and the land. The project would cover more than 218 square miles (600 square kilometers) in the Sacramento Mountains. With a combination of prescribed fire, thinning and herbicides, forest officials want to create healthier stands of trees and reduce the threat of wildfire. Federal land managers have been working on similar projects across the Southwest with varied success in hopes of confronting changes in the climate and slowing the pace of wildfires across the region, which has seen its share of record-setting blazes over the last decade.