Latest news with #PecosWatershedProtectionAct
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawmakers look to protect the Pecos Watershed from new mining operations
PECOS, N.M. (KRQE) – The Trump Administration's move to reopen northern New Mexico forest land for mining has the state's federal delegation pushing back. The state leaders worry that mining will threaten the pristine Pecos Watershed. 'We need to remember the headwaters of the Pecos provides life-giving water all the way through the Pecos, down through the village of Villanueva where my family is from, all the way to Texas. These are pristine waters,' said Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-Santa Fe, Congressional Dist. 3). The latest fight from New Mexico's congressional delegation aims to protect the Pecos as they reintroduce the Pecos Watershed Protection Act. The federal legislation looks to stop mining around the northern New Mexico river. Middle schoolers invited to hands-on outdoor adventure exploring Bosque wildlife 'They would prevent any destructive activity and not just in the area but also the flow downstream from any damage,' said Rep. Anita Gonzales (D-San Miguel, Torrance Counties). The legislation comes after the Trump Administration's recent decision to reverse the Bureau of Land Management's and the U.S. Forest Service's protections of the Upper Pecos Watershed from new mining operations. The reversal reopens mining opportunities on federal lands. Opponents on Monday said rural communities want to protect the river because farmers, recreationists, and others rely on it. 'The water is important because it is both the source of their drinking water and it is the source of the water that floods their fields in the springtime,' said Rep. Leger Fernandez. Travel + Leisure rates New Mexico spot as most beautiful Lawmakers have been trying to get the act passed since 2020 in each Congress, recalling the 1991 toxic waste spill from a closed mine, which caused a massive fish kill. 'We do not want that contamination again. We have lived through what mining can do to the waters of the Pecos, and we want to prevent that,' added Rep. Leger Fernandez. The Trump Administration hasn't said yet if the feds are working on any new mining agreements near the Pecos. However, a company has shown interest in years past for an exploratory mining project in the area. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Officials, residents plan next moves to protect Upper Pecos watershed
From left, Pueblo of Jemez 2nd Lt. Gov. Matthew Gachupin Jr., New Mexico Rep. Anita Gonzales (D-Las Vegas) and U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) said they would keep fighting to ban further mining in the Upper Pecos watershed. (Danielle Prokop / Source NM) A highway closure Monday morning postponed a scheduled trip to the Pecos for members of New Mexico's federal delegation, state and tribal officials, who instead gathered at Harry's Roadhouse to discuss next moves in protecting the fragile Upper Pecos watershed from mining and logging. Last week, all five members of the all-Democratic federal delegation reintroduced a bill to ban new mining activity in the Upper Pecos watershed, citing Source NM reporting that the new federal administration has reversed its plans to pursue such a ban. In recent weeks, the Trump administration issued executive orders to increase logging and mining projects across the country. Martin Heinrich and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, both of whom had announced plans to be in the Pecos area Monday, condemned the reversal in interviews with media Monday and noted that local and tribal governments, farming, ranching, acequias, conservation, hunting and fishing groups have called for added federal protections. 'When you have a process like this temporary mineral withdrawal just upended because somebody made a decision in Washington without speaking to anyone on the ground, I think that that should make us concerned for more decisions coming down the line,' Heinrich said. Pueblo of Jemez 2nd Lt. Gov. Matthew Gachupin Jr., joined the delegation on Monday, as his pueblo has cultural ties to the area. 'The Pecos Watershed Protection Act is a tool we need now, it's the weapon we need to fight this battle,' he said Monday. 'We are in full support of this legislation and pray it will be successful.' That being said, the Republican Party holds majorities in both chambers of Congress and will slow the bill's progress, Leger Fernández said. 'We can't tell you exactly when it will get heard,' she said. 'What we are telling you is that if there is an opportunity to move it, to bring attention to the legislation, we will.' Ralph Vigil, an organizer in Pecos for the nonprofit New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, as well as a member of the Stop Terrero Mine Coalition, said the group will continue to host meetings and river cleanups to keep the issue at the front of people's minds. 'We have to keep getting people more involved in the community so we can really make a stand, if things go backwards,' Vigil said. Much of the community opposition dates to the 1991 Terrero mining spill, when floodwaters breached a defunct mine and sent tailing sludge downriver, killing thousands of fish and buried Willow Creek. Cleanup remains ongoing and has cost tens of millions of dollars, including state environment officials' request for $5.7 million from the Legislature this year. Heinrich praised state efforts including a ban from the New Mexico State Land Commissioner and designating the Upper Pecos watershed a New Mexico 'outstanding natural resource water,' which requires the state's strictest water quality protections and offers some guardrails for the 200-some mining claims already existing in the region. 'When those designations went in place at the state level, they made it so that those mining claims — even if they are developed — do not have a right to put pollution in any of those tributaries,' Heinrich said. 'So it really hems in how much damage could be done.' Claresse Romero, the president of the San Miguel del Bado Land Grant, said the community will fight back harder, and will seek lawyers to fight new claims by Australian company New World Cobalt to do some exploratory drilling in the old Terrero mine and nearby deposits. 'I feel that our very lives are at stake,' Romero said in a phone call with Source NM. 'Our health, the health of our community, the health of our ecosystem, the health of the farming communities, the health of our culture; because it ultimately is all under attack by these corporate means.' Rep. Anita Gonzales (D-Las Vegas) who attended the impromptu gathering at Harry's Roadhouse, told Source NM the state will work quickly to adopt a state program to take over regulating pollution in New Mexico's surface waters — including from future mining — which was made possible by a law governor signed last week. In the meantime, Gonzales said the local groups will lobby for the legislation to pass through Congress. 'We've done a good job of getting the support in place from the tribal governments, acequias, land grant governments, city, county and state. The next step is this federal protection,' Gonzales said. 'We just have to hold the line long enough to where we're able to pick up the momentum again, federally.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New Mexico delegation re-introduces bill to protect Pecos watershed
Members of New Mexico's federal delegation on April 8, 2025 announced the reintroduction of a bill to protect the Pecos watershed from mining (photo courtesy Ralph Vigil) Four Democratic members of New Mexico's congressional delegation on Tuesday announced they have reintroduced the Pecos Watershed Protect Act. A news release from U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, who represents the state's 3rd Congressional District, cited Source New Mexico's reporting on Monday that the Trump administration is reversing the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service's decision to protect the Upper Pecos Watershed from new mining operations. The move came several weeks after the agency canceled a Feb. 17 public hearing on the administrative process to remove that area from new mining for 20 years, which the Biden Administration had pursued in the final weeks in office. A temporary pause on mining had been in place since December. A statement from Leger Fernández, U.S. Melanie Stansbury from the 1st Congressional District and U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján called the Trump administrations decision to reverse the withdrawal 'disturbing and insulting, especially after they canceled the only public meeting on the proposal. This is a rural community that overwhelmingly supports protecting the Pecos River. The Trump administration just blatantly disregarded that, and the value of the Pecos River with it.' The Pecos Watershed Protection Act would permanently withdraw all federally managed minerals in the watershed from development. — preventing the leasing, patent, or sale of all publicly owned minerals. The bill has been introduced in every Congress since 2020. The area is home to the Terrero Mining disaster from 1991, during which floodwaters breached a defunct mine and sent mining tailing sludge downriver. The spill killed tens of thousands of fish and cleanup continues to this day. New Mexico Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard in March signed an executive order banning mineral mining on approximately 2,500 acres of state trust land in the Upper Pecos Watershed that will remain in place through 2045. The Village of Pecos, Santa Fe County and San Miguel County have passed resolutions in support of the federal legislation protecting the area. 'The Trump administration won't have the last word,' the federal delegations' statement continued. 'We will continue to push for permanent protection of the watershed through our Pecos Watershed Protection Act. New Mexicans deserve clean water free from harmful mining pollution. The Trump administration does not stand with the people of New Mexico, but we always will,'
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Advocates for protecting the Pecos watershed from mining worried after public meeting is postponed
Mar. 3—PECOS — Advocates are worried about a federal proposal to protect the Upper Pecos Watershed from mining for the next 20 years after the Bureau of Land Management postponed a public meeting meant to collect feedback on the proposal. More than 50 people gathered in the Pecos Village Hall on Wednesday night. They were supposed to attend a meeting hosted by the Bureau of Land Management about potentially withdrawing mineral rights from 164,000 National Forest lands and 1,330 acres of BLM-managed lands near the Pecos River headwaters. When the BLM meeting was postponed, advocacy group New Mexico Wild held a community meeting instead to gather letters in support of the mineral withdrawal. "We want our future generations to continue to thrive here. Pecos is very special, not just for us, but for Jemez Pueblo, Tesuque Pueblo, who have been doing their own work behind the scenes to say that this place is special to them as well," said Ralph Vigil, a northern organizer for NM Wild and a Pecos farmer. BLM postponed the meeting a week before it was set to take place and has not set a new date yet. The agency is still encouraging the public to submit comments on the proposal until March 17. The two-year process for deciding if mining should not be allowed on the land was started by former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and former President Joe Biden in December. The people in Pecos Village know how a mine can leave a legacy of contamination long after closing. The Tererro Mine operated from 1926 to 1939, mining lead and zinc north of Pecos Village. After the mine closed, mine and mill waste was used to fill campgrounds, trailheads and at the Lisboa Springs Fish Hatchery. The mine waste led to water contamination, which in 1991 killed off more than 90,000 trout at the hatchery. A different mining company, Comexico LLC, applied for exploratory drilling permits in 2019 to look for gold, copper, zinc, lead and silver, and has acquired mining claims throughout the Pecos headwaters. Pecos Mayor Ted Benavidez said he is concerned about the long-term health and economic impacts of mining near the Pecos River. Camping and fishing near the river are significant economic drivers for the village. "I believe that we all need to work together to keep the Pecos River," he said. "It's one of the best fishing areas around. People love it." Representatives from both of the state's U.S. senators and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández attended the community meeting. The three sponsored legislation in the last session of Congress, the Pecos Watershed Protection Act, to grant permanent protection for the watershed. The entire delegation advocated for the mineral withdrawal. "New Mexicans who have been united for years in calling for protections for this cherished watershed deserve to have their voices heard. The withdrawal process would protect clean water and safeguard this region from harmful mining pollution," Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., said in a statement. Cathy Cook is a news reporter for the Albuquerque Journal. Reach her via email at ccook@
