Heinrich, Stansbury Call on Interior Department to Withdraw Buffalo Tract from Mineral Development During Community Event
Senator Heinrich, Representative Stansbury bring together Tribal, local leaders to showcase community-driven legislation to protect Buffalo Tract
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) brought together Tribal and local leaders to showcase the growing momentum behind community-driven legislation to protect the Buffalo Tract. During the event, Senator Heinrich and Representative Stansbury called on the U.S. Department of Interior to withdraw the area from mineral development. An administrative withdrawal would prevent mineral development for 20 years. Senator Heinrich and Representative Stansbury’s legislation would make that permanent.
“For more than a decade now, New Mexicans have stood united in defense of the Buffalo Tract. This is clearly the wrong place for a gravel mine. These parcels of Bureau of Land Management land are intermixed with residential communities. The airborne particulate matter from open air gravel mining could cause respiratory problems and other harmful health conditions for local residents. The Buffalo Tract also serves as a critical wildlife corridor between the Sandia Mountains to the south and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the north. It is time we put an end to this years-long debate and withdraw these parcels from future mineral development,” said Heinrich.
“Today, our communities are demanding that Congress pass the Buffalo Tract Protection Act to protect these sacred, ancestral, and ecologically important lands in Sandoval County,” said Stansbury. “For decades, our communities have been fighting to protect these ancestral lands of Santa Ana and San Felipe and these ecosystems from gravel mining and development that would put the health and safety of our communities and these sacred lands at risk. I am proud to re-introduce the Buffalo Tract Protection Act to continue Secretary Haaland’s legacy, who carried this bill during her time in Congress. I am grateful to our partners in this fight, including the Pueblos, Senator Heinrich and members of our Delegation, and local community leaders who are committed to getting this legislation across the finish line so we can protect these precious lands for generations to come.”
Senator Heinrich, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Representative Stansbury, a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, introduced the Buffalo Tract Protection Act to withdraw four parcels of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands in southern Sandoval County, including the Buffalo Tract and the Crest of Montezuma, from any mineral development, including gravel mining.
Last year, Representative Stansbury led a letter with Senator Heinrich requesting that the U.S. Department of Interior administratively withdraw over 4,200 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land near Las Placitas, New Mexico from mineral development.
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