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GARFIELD - Amid the homes and few businesses that line N.M. Highway 187 and make up the bulk of this small community sits a quaint, white hut with a not-too-visible placard above the door.
"U.S. Post Office, Garfield, N.M., 87936," reads the sign.
Other than an occasional passing car and the rush of late-winter wind, an American flag flapping atop a pole in front is one of the few noises to be heard on a recent day.
Customers trickle in throughout the afternoon. They park their vehicles on the gravel lot in front and make their way inside.
The post office, though housed in different buildings over the years, was established in 1896, according to the U.S. Postal Service website.
And though the Garfield Post Office has decades of history in its wake, its future - along with that of hundreds of post offices across the country - is uncertain. The U.S. Postal Service in recent weeks put forward a proposal to close some 2,000 offices as part of an attempt to stem a bleeding budget. Increased use of e-mail and the economic recession have taken their toll.
No list of proposed closures has been released, but some people have speculated that rural post offices, those with small mail volume that operate on a deficit, are most at risk.
Nga Brewster, who first moved to Garfield in 1973, lives across the street from the post office and works
"It's convenient to us here," she said.
On average, the water utility mails out between 870 and 900 bills to customers each month, said Brewster, secretary-treasurer for the association.
In Do-a Ana County, 17 post offices are registered, a figure that doesn't include the branch locations and postal stations that can operate under an individual post office. The bulk of them are in small communities, including Rincon, Organ and San Miguel.
While post offices, of course, are places to pick up mail, send off letters and buy stamps, some residents said the role is even expanded in small communities. Often the post offices are one of the few, if any, faces of government at any level in a town. And they take on an informal role as social hot-spots.
"It's a bit of a community center," said Barbara Bartlett, who lives on a farm north of Garfield. "It's where you find out what's going on."
The Garfield post office is just three miles south of another, smaller, post office in Derry, located in Sierra County, and some residents questioned whether that might heighten the odds either of the two will be placed on the list of proposed closures. In addition, about five miles to the south, also along Highway 187, is the Salem Post Office.
Area postmasters declined to comment, saying they're not authorized to talk on the record.
Not simple
In spite of the proposal, closing a post office isn't easy, experts said.
"Current law prohibits closing a post office solely because expenses exceed revenue, primarily because that would put in harm's way rural post offices," said Bob Levi, director of government relations for the National Association of Postmasters of the United States.
Instead, the USPS must follow a lengthy procedure that includes hosting public meetings and gathering feedback about a proposed closure.
Legislation was introduced into Congress last year that proposed easing the restrictions on post office closures. However, that law change isn't likely to gain traction, said Al Provencio of Albuquerque, a retired postmaster whose position in
NAPUS entails keeping up to speed on proposed post office closures.
More probable, Provencio said, is that the USPS will consolidate post office branches and stations, service locales that are organized under one post office. For instance, he said, in Las Cruces, the agency operates a main post office, a station on Commerce Drive and a branch on the campus of New Mexico State University.
A consolidation would be easier for postal officials than seeking a law change or closing a full-fledged post office under existing rules, said Provencio, who had a 38-year career in the agency. He said he thinks postal locations in metro areas are more likely for closure.
"Mesilla Park is a post office by itself; San Miguel is a post office by itself," he said. "The
rural-type post offices are not going to go away."
Barbara Wood, postal service spokeswoman in Albuquerque, said the agency is currently examining its New Mexico post offices, based on several factors, including retail sales, customer traffic, box use, cost savings and the "long-term needs of the service."
"Throughout 2011, we will be evaluating the offices to see if we're interested in closing any," she said.
Concerns remain
Last week, U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., in a letter to the USPS, requested information about the plan to evaluate post offices for possible closure.
"We are concerned that multiple closures, much less any closures at all, may drastically reduce the quality of service and have a significant impact on the daily lives of our constituents," they wrote.
Bartlett said she actually lives closer to the Derry Post Office, though when she first moved to the area, she signed up for a box at Garfield before realizing that fact. She said she kept the box and has become familiar with Garfield staff.
Even so, Bartlett said a closure of the Garfield Office wouldn't be a big inconvenience, because she could switch to Derry.
Brewster, however, said she's opposed to her community losing its post office.
"You can close Derry," she said.
Diana M. Alba can be reached at (575) 541-5443.
Post offices in Do-a Ana County
1. Anthony
2. Chamberino
3. Do-a Ana
4. Fairacres
5. Garfield
6. Hatch
7. La Mesa
8. Las Cruces
9. Mesilla
10. Mesilla Park
11. Mesquite
12. Organ
13. Radium Springs
14. Rincon
15. Salem
16. San Miguel
17. Sunland Park
Source: U.S. Postal
Service website
