Latest news with #PatrickLohmann
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NM uranium mine proposals receive Trump priority designation
An anti-uranium advocate stands during a protest in Window Rock, Ariz. in April, part of a protest against new uranium mines proposed around the Navajo Nation, including the sacred Mount Taylor area. The federal Permitting Council recently listed three uranium projects in New Mexico as projects it is seeking to streamline. (Photo by Patrick Lohmann / Source NM) A federal council recently placed two proposed uranium mines in New Mexico on a select list of mining projects nationwide to receive streamlined federal permitting consideration, a designation the project's owner says results from President Donald Trump's push to accelerate nuclear energy production. The Jara Mesa and Crownpoint-Churchrock mine projects are now two of six mining projects nationwide to get what's known as the 'FAST-41' designation, established under the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act. The designation means the projects will receive 'focused, hands-on permitting support' that aims to improve coordination and efficiency among federal agencies, according to the federal Permitting Council. The council notes, however, the designation doesn't change any law or regulation, environmental or otherwise, required for federal permitting. Long-stalled NM uranium mines now 'priority projects' at Cibola Forest, leader tells employees As a result of the change, three of six mining projects nationwide to receive the designation are in New Mexico, as the Grants Precision project was added in early May. The other three projects on the list are in Arizona, California and Colorado. The permitting website shows both projects were added to the list May 30, and, last week, Laramide Resources, the company trying to build the mine in McKinley County, touted the mines' inclusion as part of Trump's domestic energy agenda. 'As momentum builds around a new era for nuclear power, it is important to recognize that uranium is the fundamental starting point of the entire fuel cycle,' Laramide CEO Marc Henderson said in a June 2 news release. The statement cited a May 23 Trump executive order supporting the acceleration of nuclear development in the United States. In addition to the FAST-41 designation, the Jara Mesa is one of two proposed uranium in the Mount Taylor Ranger District of the Cibola National Forest that forest leaders have deemed 'priority projects,' as Source New Mexico reported in March. The Jara Mesa mine's proximity to Mount Taylor, a sacred mountain to the Navajo Nation and several pueblos in New Mexico, is one reason anti-nuclear opponents have forcefully pushed back against the mine for more than a decade. They also cite the legacy of the uranium mining industry in New Mexico, which has left decades of radioactive and cancer-causing waste in its wake. New Mexico delegation, radiation victims renew call for compensation In addition to the Jara Mesa Mine, the Crownpoint-Church Rock mine was also added to the FAST-41 list in late May. Laramide Resources touted the project as 'one of the largest undeveloped uranium deposits in the U.S.,' which 'has the potential to play a central role in securing a domestic supply of this critical mineral.' A regulator with the state's Mining and Minerals Division recently told Source New Mexico that, even though the federal government is seeking to streamline its approval of the uranium projects, the state will take its time for a review. He also said no project can legally move forward without a state permit, even though the mines lie largely on federal land. An environmental lawyer in New Mexico also told Source that the Trump administration's efforts to gut federal environmental impact reviews is likely illegal and would be subject to litigation if he tried to cut them in New Mexico. The Laramide statement says while the FAST-41 designation helps its goal of breaking ground in what would be the first new uranium mine in New Mexico in more than 50 years, 'continued policy support will be essential to overcome the longstanding regulatory and permitting challenges that have constrained U.S. uranium production.' Trump's push for Southwest uranium will face stiff state review The other uranium mine proposal near Mount Taylor, known as Roca Honda, does not appear on the FAST-41 list. But it is on a list of 'transparency' projects, one of about 20 selected by the federal Permitting Council to improve the public's understanding of how the projects are progressing. Because of the designations, the public gleans a clearer sense of when the federal permits might be granted: For La Jara Mesa, permitting is expected to be approved in March 2028; for Roca Honda, it's November of 2027. The permitting website does not provide an estimate of when Crownpoint-Churchrock mine might receive a federal permit. The United States Forest Service oversees the La Jara Mesa project, whilehe Nuclear Regulatory Commission is listed as the agency overseeing the Crownpoint-Churchrock and Grants Precision project.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Homeland Security accelerates border wall construction in New Mexico and Arizona
A stretch of the border wall near Columbus, New Mexico along State Road 9. (Photo by Patrick Lohmann / Source NM) The U.S. government this week set aside environmental protection laws in order to speed up border wall construction along approximately 20 miles of New Mexico's border with Mexico. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday signed a waiver of various federal laws to expedite border wall construction in southwestern New Mexico. She also signed two similar waivers for areas in neighboring Arizona on Tuesday and Thursday. Taken together, the waivers allow the federal government to speed up construction of physical barriers and roads along approximately 36 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, the agency said in a news release on Thursday. The waivers 'ensure the expeditious construction of physical barriers and roads, by minimizing the risk of administrative delays,' DHS said. The New Mexico waiver lifts the legal requirements of 24 separate federal statutes, including the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, just to name a few. 'Trump is recklessly casting aside the foundational laws that protect endangered species and clean air and water to build a wildlife-killing wall through pristine wilderness,' Laiken Jordahl, Southwest conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, told Source NM on Friday. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham told Source NM on Friday in a statement that she has serious concerns about the waivers, saying they bypass protections for endangered species, cultural heritage sites and Native American artifacts. 'New Mexico's archaeological resources and sensitive ecosystems could face permanent damage without proper environmental review,' Lujan Grisham said. 'While we understand border security concerns, the federal government should engage with state officials before waiving decades of established environmental protections.' The New Mexico waiver designates an area in southwestern New Mexico as 'an area of high illegal entry,' divided into three sections. The DHS news release states that the sections of the border where the laws have been waived total approximately 8.5 miles, but that figure is inaccurate, according to Jordahl, who has traveled to every part of the U.S.-Mexico border as part of his work. 'It is extremely frustrating how difficult they make these waivers to track,' he said. 'Instead of using simple [latitude and longitude] coordinates, they pick landmarks that are almost impossible for the public to map. I believe they may have made an error in their locations in the waiver.' One section starts at a point on the border just south of Antelope Wells in Hidalgo County and extends one-tenth of a mile east, according to International Boundary and Water Commission data. Jordahl told Source NM he found the same measurements using his own map of the border. This section is already walled off, and so DHS is likely adding another layer of wall, he said. Another section begins at a point on the border just south of Wamels Draw, a valley in Luna County, and extends approximately 7.5 miles east. This section of the border already has vehicle barriers, but is not walled off yet, Jordahl said. Building a border wall along this particular stretch would be the most environmentally damaging by far, Jordahl said, because it would threaten the movement and migration of Mexican gray wolves. 'We've seen Mexican gray wolves in this area; we've seen them cross the border,' he said. 'We've also seen them push up against the border wall in New Mexico, wander along it for days and then ultimately have to turn around, being unable to cross.' Jordahl said his organization's focus lies on Arizona's two waivers and potential wall construction, which would also threaten wildlife. 'Throwing taxpayer money away to wall off the Santa Cruz River and San Rafael Valley would be a death sentence for jaguars, ocelots and other wildlife in the Arizona-Sonora borderlands,' he said. 'This is happening while border crossings are at the lowest level in decades. We'll fight this disastrous project with everything we've got.' The third section starts at a point on the border west of Santa Teresa and extends approximately 12.4 miles, over Mount Cristo Rey, to the Rio Grande near El Paso. This section already has older mesh border walls, and DHS may be installing newer walls there, Jordahl said. The sections of the border described in the waiver lie in the same general area as the New Mexico National Defense Area, a newly created military buffer zone which the U.S. government is trying to use — along with novel criminal charges — to discourage people from crossing the border. Gov. Lujan Grisham, in the statement provided to Source, urged meaningful consultation with state and local officials before the federal government begins construction that 'could cause lasting harm to our communities and environment.' 'New Mexico's natural and cultural resources deserve consideration in this process,' she said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
By the #s: Federal prosecutors slow down on charges for unauthorized entry into NM's military base
The border wall seen from the northern edge of the New Mexico National Defense Area east of Columbus, N.M. in late May. (Photo by Patrick Lohmann / Source NM) Federal prosecutors this month charged fewer people for allegedly trespassing on the newly established military base along New Mexico's border with Mexico, according to a Source New Mexico review of federal court records. Over the last two months or so, 570 people have been charged for 'unauthorized entry' into what is now effectively a military base along the border, Source's review shows. On April 15, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced the transfer of land from the Bureau of Land Management to the military, effectively making the 180-mile border New Mexico shares with Mexico into an extended military base tied to Fort Huachuca in Arizona. Along with empowering the United States Army to patrol the border and temporarily detain people they found, the transfer exposed people arrested to a new criminal charge of unauthorized entry, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. The area transferred to the military is a little more than 400 square miles, minus state and private land, running roughly along the New Mexico Panhandle and south of Highway 9 before Hachita. Prosecutors announced the new type of criminal charge in late April and began filing charging documents soon after, with as many as 58 people facing the new misdemeanors in a single day in early May. But the charges quickly proved vulnerable to legal challenges based, partly, on whether people knew they were illegally entering a military base. The military has posted small warning signs in English and Spanish along the northern and southern borders of the so-called National Defense Area that entry is prohibited. On May 14, a federal judge dismissed more than 100 of the charges, after federal public defenders raised the issue on behalf of their clients. The dismissals coincided with a one-day dip in the number of unauthorized entry charges being brought, according to Source's review. The number of daily charges picked up again before beginning to decline early this month. Since May 30, just 11 people have been charged with unauthorized entry, according to federal filings. The reason for the decrease is unclear, including whether it's because fewer people are crossing or whether federal prosecutors have changed their strategy. Tessa Duberry, a spokesperson for the office, did not respond to a request for comment on the decrease. In addition to the judge's dismissals, the U.S. Attorney's Office dismissed at least three of its own unauthorized entry charges due to confusion about where the boundaries of the NDA lie. Confusion reigns in New Mexico's militarized border zone Meanwhile, the Army has warned hunters and hikers that they could be prosecuted if they enter the area, but per an informal agreement, ranchers can drive past the signs without issue as they tend to cattle they graze on former BLM land they lease in the NDA. Public defenders are also challenging the charge in a couple of individual cases, including one instance in which the charging documents suggest the arrestee was picked up in Arizona, and another involving a citizen of Uzbekistan who, her attorneys argue, didn't read or speak English or Spanish and therefore couldn't have known she was entering a restricted area. U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM) this week questioned Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll in a Congressional committee hearing, saying widespread confusion exists about who can enter the area and 'where the boundaries of this military zone actually start and where they end.' Driscoll said the Army would work on improving signage and communication with people in the area and members of Congress. 'The army is working incredibly hard with our soldiers to put out signage. We have taken it over recently,' he responded.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Confusion reigns in New Mexico's militarized border zone
A cattleguard leading into the new military base along the New Mexico border with Mexico. On the right is a sign warning in English and Spanish: 'Restricted Area: This Department of Defense Property has been declared a restricted area by authority of the commander.' (Photo by Patrick Lohmann / Source NM) Late last week, acting United States Attorney for New Mexico Ryan Ellison dismissed misdemeanor charges his office had previously brought against at least three people accused of illegally entering a newly created military zone across New Mexico's southern border. Ellison explained the turnabout in a filing in which he said the arrested people had been found in an area his office thought was part of the new National Defense Area. It wasn't. As a result, three people arrested in recent weeks won't face newly created criminal charges for trespassing on a military base, punishable by up to a year in jail. The dropped charges point to the ongoing confusion the new 400-square-mile military zone has created across branches of government and the courts since the U.S. Interior Department transferred the land to the Army in April. 'It is concerning that even the Acting United States Attorney is confused by the boundaries of this new National Defense Area,' a spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) said in an emailed statement Thursday after Source New Mexico alerted his office to the dismissals. Heinrich has criticized the new NDA and called on the Defense Department to explain what it means for recreators and others. On April 15, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced the transfer of land from the Bureau of Land Management to the military, effectively making the 180-mile border New Mexico shares with Mexico into an extended military base tied to Fort Huachuca in Arizona. Along with increasing Army patrols and empowering the 'military [to] take a more direct role in securing our southern border,' as President Donald Trump said, creating the zone also enabled federal prosecutors to impose misdemeanor charges on those caught in the new National Defense Area. Confusion about where that area falls exists not just among federal agencies tasked with enforcing the NDA, but also among residents who live, work and attend school along the border, including ranchers with BLM cattle leases and dual citizens who cross the border daily. Source NM spent the weekend in the area and talked with residents who described whiplash from a transfer, seemingly overnight, of federal public lands into an extended military base. The land includes parcels of private property surrounded by federal lands; the Diocese of El Paso, which owns nearby pilgrimage site Mount Cristo Rey; and the State of New Mexico, which has miles of trust land. The land also traverses the Continental Divide Trail, and hosts both hikers on multi-state sojourns and hunters hoping to nab a rare Mearns quail, among heartier fare that hide among the creosote dotting the borderlands separating New Mexico from Mexico. Recently, the Defense Department issued a statement telling hikers and hunters they were prohibited from entering the NDA. That incensed Angel Peña, director of Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project, a Las Cruces-based nonprofit that tries to help marginalized communities experience and conserve public lands. 'You're really now affecting livelihoods,' Peña told Source New Mexico during a drive Memorial Day Weekend along the northern edge of the NDA. 'You're affecting dinner on the table. You're affecting recreation. You're affecting the traditional uses of this land that help families make memories and tell stories and grow ever closer.' Between April 15 and May 29, the federal government charged more than 550 people with unauthorized entry into the new National Defense Area, according to a review of federal records. Federal prosecutors dropped charges for three of them based on the errant arrests dropped May 22, per Ellison's filings. According to court records, Ellison's office learned 'on or about May 15' that portions of the border area 'previously understood as encompassed' by the newly created New Mexico National Defense Area 'were not, in fact, transferred to the jurisdiction of the Army.' The dismissed cases come amid ongoing legal challenges, with federal public defenders contesting the charges on a variety of fronts. Two weeks ago, a federal judge dismissed more than 100 charges against the defendants, largely because he was not convinced those arrested knew they were entering a restricted area. The circumstances of the recent dismissals regarding errant arrests are not clear. AUSA spokesperson Tessa Duberry declined to comment on where the defendants were arrested, saying the office can't comment beyond what was filed publicly. She also declined to say how many total cases the office has dismissed on those grounds or would dismiss, saying compiling that information would impose a 'significant burden' on staff. Duberry referred comment about arrests to the Army, which told Source in a statement Friday morning that it would not speculate on charges that are awaiting adjudication,' said Joint Task Force Southern Border spokesperson Jordan Beagle. Beagle also noted that only the Border Patrol makes arrests, though the Army will temporarily detain people to hand over to the Border Patrol. 'The Joint Task Force Southern Border remains laser focused on our mission to achieve 100% operational control of the border, in this case maintaining security within the National Defense Areas,' he said, 'which includes detection, temporary detainment, and apprehension of those who trespass within the National Defense Areas.' The Border Patrol did not respond to a request for comment from Source on Thursday. According to court filings, two of the three people feds dropped charges againt were arrested April 26 about 'four miles east of the Santa Teresa Port of Entry.' Outside of the 60-foot buffer zone along the border, that's roughly a mile from Mount Cristo Rey and other privately owned land. Source's calls to the Diocese this week were not returned. The third arrest occurred April 27, according to court filings, 'about eight miles west of the Santa Teresa Port of Entry.' Federal judge dismisses trespass charges against migrants caught in NM military zone All three criminal complaints note, as part of the justification for charges, that signs were posted in English and Spanish that 'this is a restricted area and that unauthorized entry is prohibited.' The impact of those dismissals on prosecutors' cases remains unclear. Even though prosecutors dismissed the trio's charges for unauthorized NDA entry, each appears to still be held in detention on related misdemeanors, including charges like 'illegal entry by an alien' into the United States, 'illegal entry without inspection' or entering military property, according to court records. Amanda Skinner, assistant federal public defender, declined to comment on how many of her office's clients might have been affected by the dismissals, or whether she is expecting there to be any more. Heinrich, through his spokesperson, said he remains concerned about what the military takeover of the New Mexico border will mean for due process, for citizens and non-citizens alike. 'The Trump Administration is bypassing due process for individuals who either intentionally or unintentionally enter this newly restricted area, including U.S. citizens who may be stopped and detained by U.S. Army soldiers for trespassing on an unmarked military base,' his spokesperson said. One group affected by the NDA — ranchers — has apparently reached a slightly uneasy, informal arrangement with the Army, according to ranchers along the border and the New Mexico Cattlegrowers Association. In the last two weeks, Army and Border Patrol officials have collected the names, photographs, phone numbers, license plates and other details of ranchers who enter the NDA to round up their livestock or check on water tanks, ranchers told Source New Mexico. The collection is an effort, they said, to make sure the Army does not mistake ranchers, who often carry firearms, for those who might be trespassing on a military base. 'Everybody around here in this part of the country is armed,' said Nancy Clopton, a longtime Hachita rancher with 80 square miles of leased pasture in and around the NDA. 'I don't want to be drug out of my pickup and then, you know, 'Oh, she's armed.'' The agreement allows ranchers to drive along access roads and county roads criss-crossing the NDA. Each time, they drive over cattleguards with new signs on either side that begin with, in English and Spanish: 'Restricted Area: This Department of Defense Property has been declared a restricted area by authority of the commander.' About a dozen such signs are posted on cattleguards off Highway 9 between Sunland Park and Hachita, according to Source's count Sunday. Those are the same signs prosecutors use to justify criminal charges against the 550 defendants facing the unauthorized entry charges so far. In response to questions from Source, Luis Soriano, Heinrich's spokesperson, noted that Ellison and Hegseth have both publicly said there will be 'no exceptions' for criminal trespassing in the area, and so Heinrich doesn't consider an 'informal, handshake deal sufficient to ensure the safety' of ranchers, sportsmen, hikers or others. 'For decades, ranchers and hunters alike have been accustomed to carrying firearms on what were their public lands until the transfer to the Department of Defense on April 15th,' Soriano said in a statement. 'That history, combined with the complete lack of clarity from the Administration, is a recipe for a very dangerous situation for our local residents, Army soldiers and Border Patrol agents.' Beagle, with the Army, told Source in a statement to Friday that the army is continuing to work on a formal 'memorandum of understanding' with various groups to 'support the interests of the local community and the military mission within the New Mexico National Defense Area (NDA).' 'The MOU process for commercial and recreational activities, such as hunting, mining, and ranching, is complex,' he said 'and necessitates careful coordination with multiple organizations to ensure that proposed activities do not compromise public safety and border security operations.' Beagle also said the Army would release more information to the community as it becomes available. He also noted the land order that enabled the transfer was 'subject to valid existing rights,' so he said the private 'property owners' with land adjacent to the NDA would not be affected. But he did not immediately respond to a request for comment about how that applies to ranchers who lease, not own, land in the area. Bronson Corn, president of the NM Cattlegrowers Association, defended the arrangement in an interview with Source on Thursday. He disagrees with the idea that ranchers might be skirting the law, saying, albeit informal, the agreement allows ranchers to keep their cattle alive and maintain their leases with the BLM, while also allowing the Army to harden the border. 'They have not had any conflicts with the military when it comes to being able to continue on with their day-to-day operations,' he said. 'There is some concern, there's no doubt about it, that they can't get to certain areas of their ranch due to the fact of that militarized zone.' In addition to concerns about firearms, Clopton said she is concerned an influx of army personnel, potentially from out-of-state, won't be careful to close cattle gates behind them, which is a long-standing gripe she and other ranchers have with the Border Patrol. But she is withholding judgment, for now. 'We'll see how it works out,' she said. 'It depends on the individuals on the ground, those individual soldiers, how they treat us, how we see them. It's an experiment.' Did border patrol or military officials detain or question you inside or outside of the new National Defense area? Reach out to reporter Patrick Lohmann at PLohmann@ or securely via Signal at PLohmann.61.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New state study suggests homelessness far undercounted in New Mexico
A homeless encampment in Española pictured in April 2024. A new Department of Health study released Wednesday determined a vast undercount of the state's homeless population by examining nearly 10 million anonymized patient records. (Photo by Patrick Lohmann / Source NM) The number of people experiencing homelessness recently in New Mexico is two to four times higher than previous estimates, according to a new research paper from the state health department. In findings researchers announced Wednesday, nearly 31,000 unhoused people, including 869 children under age 5, sought care at non-federal hospitals in New Mexico between 2019 and 2013. Researchers arrived at that number by analyzing certain fields within 10 million patient visit records, searching for patient addresses being listed as known homeless shelters or simply 'homeless,' among other indicators. Quantifying the number of people who live on the streets in New Mexico is a 'pervasive' problem, the study notes. The annual 'point-in-time' count, which the federal Housing and Urban Development department requires for certain federal grants, is an undercount and can vary based on numerous factors. But it's still considered an official count, and can be useful to detect trends, including huge increases in homelessness observed in Albuquerque and throughout the rest of the state in the most recent report. Read the study here. In what they described as a novel approach to counting the state's unhoused population, New Mexico Department of Health researchers Hayley Peterson and Dylan Pell determined that 30,882 patients experiencing homelessness visit hospitals nearly 183,000 times between 2019 and 2023, or nearly six visits each. The number of unhoused patients was about 8,000 in 2019 and hit a peak of a little more than 10,500 in 2022. 'Public health approaches that address infectious disease, environmental health, drug overdose, suicide and injury should include strategies to support [people experiencing homelessness] and promote stable housing,' said Miranda Durham, Chief Medical Officer for the Department of Health, in a news release. 'Health system interventions like screening for housing needs and linking people to housing services can have positive health impacts.' The new report's numbers are far higher than the 'point-in-time' counts for those years. In 2022, for example, volunteers counted about 2,600 people in homeless shelters and on the streets. In 2019, they counted 3,241. The counties with the highest numbers of unhoused patients were Bernalillo, Santa Fe, Doña Ana and San Juan, according to the report. Amid funding cut threats and homeless camp sweeps, a volunteer loses hope but keeps counting Two-thirds of the patients were male, according to the report. Nearly 40% were Hispanic, another 40% were white, and 15% were American Indian or Alaska Native in a state where about 12% of the total population is Native American. A little over 2,100 of the people counted, comprising 7% of the people the researchers counted, were under age 18. The researchers also examined medical diagnoses the patients received, finding the top 'comorbidity' along with homelessness, was alcohol-related disorders, with 17% of patients having that diagnosis. About 8% had a stimulant-related disorders, 7.1% had schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders and 4.8% were suicidal, among other common diagnoses, according to the report. About 455 people were treated related to their pregnancy, a finding that indicates 'additional supportive housing needs for families during a vulnerable life stage,' researchers wrote. The researchers determined that their method of counting and analyzing homelessness could help present a clearer picture of an issue that has long plagued the state. 'These findings bolster understanding of homelessness in New Mexico and demonstrate that statewide healthcare system data can be used to report homelessness and its comorbidities,' the authors write.
