By Hannah Northey | 12/12/2024
The Interior Department on Thursday moved to bar mining for two years along the Pecos River.
Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland initiated the withdrawal of about 165,000 acres in the Upper Pecos watershed in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from new mining claims and the issuance of new federal mineral leases, subject to valid existing rights
. Rick Scuteri/AP
The Biden administration on Thursday moved to temporarily protect thousands of acres of public land along the Pecos River in New Mexico from a mining boom taking hold across the West.
Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland initiated a two-year withdrawal of about 165,000 acres in the Upper Pecos watershed in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from new mining claims and the issuance of new federal mineral leases, subject to valid existing rights.
The agency’s move responds to a growing push among Democrats in the Land of Enchantment for permanent protection in a part of the state with critical water resources tied to tourism, agriculture and biodiversity.
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Earlier this month, Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and other Democrats in the state — including Sen. Ben Ray Luján and Reps. Teresa Leger Fernandez, Melanie Stansbury and Gabe Vasquez — called on the Forest Service to complete the initial steps of the mineral withdrawal process in the Upper Pecos Watershed, warning that the area was vulnerable to mining and mine pollution.
They pointed to incidents in the past that have damaged the river, including when a closed mine spilled toxic waste into the Pecos in 1991, killing fish along an 11-mile stretch, triggering a costly, time-consuming cleanup that scarred the river.
While the agency’s protects are temporary, Congress can impose permanent protections. Last year, Heinrich, Luján, and Leger Fernandez introduced the Pecos Watershed Protection Act to protect portions of the Pecos Watershed in northern New Mexico from all mineral development.
Heinrich called the temporary protection a “major victory.”
“The Upper Pecos Watershed has an unfortunate history of poorly managed mining and development projects that have put New Mexicans and our ways of life and cultures at risk,” he said. “While we continue pressing our colleagues in Congress to pass our Pecos Watershed Protection Act to ensure permanent protection from harmful mining operations, we urge the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service to move forward with longer-term administrative protections. I urge them to schedule the required public meeting on this administrative protection proposal immediately.”
The agency’s move drew immediate praise from Trout Unlimited, which has long called for protecting the headwaters of the Pecos River. The area has emerged as a focal point for conservation groups in the state since a mining company first showed interest in the area in 2019.
Dan Roper, Trout Unlimited’s New Mexico state lead, said that while mining will continue to play a role in New Mexico’s economy, the administration’s announcement shows that “some places are simply too special to mine.” The area, said Roper, is “one of the state’s most popular fishing destinations, and the watershed is an important water source for downstream communities and irrigators.”
According to the agency’s release, the Departments of Interior and Agriculture will now initiate a process to propose through which the secretary of Interior will implement a 20-year withdrawal for lands in San Miguel and Santa Fe counties, areas that include land encompassing multiple Pecos River tributaries, including Dalton Canyon, Macho Canyon, Wild Horse Creek, Indian Creek and Doctor Creek.
The proposed withdrawal area includes approximately 163,483 acres of National Forest System lands and 1,327 acres of Bureau of Land Management-managed public lands.
The BLM will also publish an announcement in the Federal Register in the coming days, initiating a 90-day public comment period to gather input on the proposal, according to the release. The agencies are also planning to host at least one hybrid public meeting.
The Biden administration on Thursday moved to temporarily protect thousands of acres of public land along the Pecos River in New Mexico from a mining boom taking hold across the West.
Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland initiated a two-year withdrawal of about 165,000 acres in the Upper Pecos watershed in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from new mining claims and the issuance of new federal mineral leases, subject to valid existing rights.
The agency’s move responds to a growing push among Democrats in the Land of Enchantment for permanent protection in a part of the state with critical water resources tied to tourism, agriculture and biodiversity.
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Earlier this month, Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico and other Democrats in the state — including Sen. Ben Ray Luján and Reps. Teresa Leger Fernandez, Melanie Stansbury and Gabe Vasquez — called on the Forest Service to complete the initial steps of the mineral withdrawal process in the Upper Pecos Watershed, warning that the area was vulnerable to mining and mine pollution.
They pointed to incidents in the past that have damaged the river, including when a closed mine spilled toxic waste into the Pecos in 1991, killing fish along an 11-mile stretch, triggering a costly, time-consuming cleanup that scarred the river.
While the agency’s protects are temporary, Congress can impose permanent protections. Last year, Heinrich, Luján, and Leger Fernandez introduced the Pecos Watershed Protection Act to protect portions of the Pecos Watershed in northern New Mexico from all mineral development.
Heinrich called the temporary protection a “major victory.”
“The Upper Pecos Watershed has an unfortunate history of poorly managed mining and development projects that have put New Mexicans and our ways of life and cultures at risk,” he said. “While we continue pressing our colleagues in Congress to pass our Pecos Watershed Protection Act to ensure permanent protection from harmful mining operations, we urge the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service to move forward with longer-term administrative protections. I urge them to schedule the required public meeting on this administrative protection proposal immediately.”
The agency’s move drew immediate praise from Trout Unlimited, which has long called for protecting the headwaters of the Pecos River. The area has emerged as a focal point for conservation groups in the state since a mining company first showed interest in the area in 2019.
Dan Roper, Trout Unlimited’s New Mexico state lead, said that while mining will continue to play a role in New Mexico’s economy, the administration’s announcement shows that “some places are simply too special to mine.” The area, said Roper, is “one of the state’s most popular fishing destinations, and the watershed is an important water source for downstream communities and irrigators.”
According to the agency’s release, the Departments of Interior and Agriculture will now initiate a process to propose through which the secretary of Interior will implement a 20-year withdrawal for lands in San Miguel and Santa Fe counties, areas that include land encompassing multiple Pecos River tributaries, including Dalton Canyon, Macho Canyon, Wild Horse Creek, Indian Creek and Doctor Creek.
The proposed withdrawal area includes approximately 163,483 acres of National Forest System lands and 1,327 acres of Bureau of Land Management-managed public lands.
The BLM will also publish an announcement in the Federal Register in the coming days, initiating a 90-day public comment period to gather input on the proposal, according to the release. The agencies are also planning to host at least one hybrid public meeting.
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