We protected the Buffalo Tract

Dear Friend,

For over a decade, I’ve fought alongside New Mexicans to protect the Buffalo Tract from mining. Our hard work has officially paid off. The Biden administration listened to our calls and recognized that the Buffalo Tract is clearly the wrong place for a gravel mine.

The U.S. Department of Interior just announced that it has finalized a proposal to withdraw 4,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands in southern Sandoval County, including the Buffalo Tract and the Crest of Montezuma, from mineral development for 50 years.

PHOTO: (From left) Sandoval County Commissioner Joshua Jones, Santa Ana Pueblo Governor Nathan K. Garcia, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich, U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury, and Placitas resident Mary Rose de Valladares at community event to protect the Buffalo Tract, March 17, 2023.  

The Buffalo Tract is a landscape that New Mexicans treasure. The environmental impact of mining would be irreparable — to the Pueblo of Santa Ana, the Pueblo of San Felipe, the people of Placitas, and the Merced De Comunidad De San Antonio De Las Huertas land grant, and the wildlife that depend on the Crest of Montezuma corridor between the Sandia Mountains to the south and the Jemez Mountains to the north.

This finalized proposal by the administration will provide key protections for the Buffalo Tract for 50 years. Next, it’s time for Congress to pass my Buffalo Tract Protection Act to make these protections permanent.

Sincerely,