State land commissioner bans mining in Upper Pecos Watershed
Mar. 12—SANTA FE — New Mexico's commissioner of public lands banned mining on state land in the Upper Pecos Watershed, a move meant to pressure the federal government to follow through on similar protections for federal land.
Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard signed an executive order Wednesday morning to withdraw 2,552 acres of state land from mineral leases through 2045. There are no active mining leases on the state land, but a mining company, Comexico LLC, acquired 20 mining leases on federal land in the Upper Pecos Watershed in 2019. The area was once home to the Tererro Mine, which left significant mine waste behind, killing off 90,000 fish in 1991. The subsequent cleanup effort cost New Mexico $28 million.
Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland started the process to withdraw 165,000 acres of federal land from mining in December, but the Trump administration's interest in mining rare earth and precious metals may derail the process.
"The Pecos River is worth more than gold, and we will continue to fight to keep it clean and healthy and thriving," said Pecos farmer Ralph Vigil, who is also a northern advocate for nonprofit New Mexico Wild.
The Pecos River plays a key role in the Village of Pecos' local economy, according to Vigil and Pecos Mayor Telesfor Benavidez, because it is a popular camping and fishing area. The area is also culturally significant as the ancestral home of the Pueblo of Pecos. River water is used by local farmers in the acequia system, a tradition passed down for generations.
"We still do it, because it's part of who we are," Vigil said. "It's part of that connection to the land, because without it, especially for me, I feel empty. I don't feel alive."
The Bureau of Land Management indefinitely postponed a February public meeting, required as one of the first steps in the two-year process, to consider the proposed federal mining ban on 164,000 acres of National Forest land and 1,330 acres of BLM-managed land. BLM is still accepting public comments on the proposal until March 17, and New Mexico Wild has collected an estimated 400 comments to submit, said NM Wild staff attorney Sally Paez.
President Donald Trump wants to increase domestic mining. He referenced increasing U.S. production of rare earth and critical minerals during last week's joint address of Congress. One of his day-one executive orders instructed federal agency heads to identify "agency actions that impose undue burdens on the domestic mining and processing of non-fuel minerals and undertake steps to revise or rescind such actions." Trump specifically directed the Interior and Agriculture secretaries to reassess any public land withdrawals for potential revision.
The state Land Office order is an attempt to "push the powers that be to listen to the voices of the community," Garcia Richard said.
The state Legislature is also throwing its support behind protections for the watershed. A state House joint memorial to support federal protections for the watershed passed 52-9 Tuesday. New Mexico's all-Democratic congressional delegation has vocally supported protections for the Pecos River. Sens. Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich introduced the Pecos Watershed Protection Act in 2024 to protect portions of the watershed from mining. Reps. Teresa Leger Fernández and Melanie Stansbury introduced a companion bill in the House.
The state Land Office order will help, said Benavidez, who has been pushing for protections for the last six years.
"The more we push, I think the better it is for our community," he said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
18 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Netherlands Defence Minister: NATO-wide 5% defence spend would be "historic"
Ruben Brekelmans, Netherlands Minister of Defence said they and their European partners support President Donald Trump's calls to encourage Iran to the negotiation table in order to "come to a sustainable solution". Speaking about the upcoming NATO meeting, he told Bloomberg's Oliver Crook "if we agree to 5% spending on core defence and defence-related matters, that would be a historic step" and said it would be of particular significance "if 32 allies in unity agree on this". (Source: Bloomberg)
Fox News
19 minutes ago
- Fox News
Ted Cruz: Biden's foreign policy 'accelerated' Iran's nuclear program
All times eastern FOX News Radio Live Channel Coverage WATCH LIVE: Trump to huddle with top brass after hammering Iran's nuclear sites
The Hill
20 minutes ago
- The Hill
Leavitt: ‘High degree of confidence' strikes hit Iran's stored enriched uranium
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday the Trump administration has a 'high degree of confidence' that its strikes against Iran hit locations where enriched uranium was being stored amid questions about whether officials in Tehran had relocated the nation's stockpile. 'We are confident, yes, that Iran's nuclear sites were completely and totally obliterated, as the president said in his address to the nation on Saturday night,' Leavitt said on ABC. 'And we have a high degree of confidence that where those strikes took place is where Iran's enriched uranium was stored,' she added. 'The president wouldn't have launched the strikes if we weren't confident in that. So this operation was a resounding success.' The U.S. on Saturday struck three Iranian nuclear facilities: Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. President Trump described them in an address to the nation as 'completely and totally obliterated,' something he reiterated in a social media post late Sunday. But experts have acknowledged it would take time to determine the extent of the damage from U.S. strikes, and some reports raising the possibility that Iran moved some of its enriched uranium away from those sites ahead of the attack. 'Final battle damage will take some time, but initial battle damage assessments indicate that all three sites sustained extremely severe damage and destruction,' Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said Sunday. The New York Times reported that there was evidence Iran had moved equipment and uranium from the Fordow site in recent days, citing two Israeli officials. The Times also cited text messages from the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency indicating Iran had moved its uranium stockpile. Trump administration officials have maintained that the purpose of the strikes was to decimate Iran's nuclear program and severely curtail Tehran's ability to develop a nuclear weapon. 'We're not at war with Iran. We're at war with Iran's nuclear program,' Vice President Vance said Sunday on NBC News's 'Meet the Press.'
