Senator Heinrich on the Trek to Preserve Buffalo Tract

A community celebration was held in honor of the Bureau of Land Management’s mid-April decision to protect the Buffalo Tract, an area of ​​more than 4,000 acres stretching across Placitas.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland signed Public Land Order 7940, preventing new mining claims, mineral sales, and oil and gas leases for the next 50 years.

U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich attended the event.

He said he has been working since 2009 to reach this agreement with community members and the Pueblos of Santa Ana and San Felipe.

He said this achievement sets an example for communities trying to conserve the areas.

“This sets a great example because it sends a message to communities that it is possible to come together and make your voice heard. It also creates some really good anchor points within the wildlife corridor that Governor Armijo de Santa Ana was talking about, because given the fractional land ownership of that area, you’re not going to do that all at once.

The senator recently passed legislation banning Russian uranium and mentioned mining the ore in New Mexico; He was asked how to choose which areas we exploit versus which areas we protect.

“I think one of the things that would allow us to better balance these issues would be to update the mining law of 1872, because at the moment it is a very permissive law and there is no structure for create the kind of royalties that would buy more communities. acceptance of well-conducted mining. So I think updating this law is an important part of how you get there.