Press Releases

June 21st, 2024

READOUT: Heinrich, Luján Visit Ruidoso, Meet with Firefighters, First Responders, Local and Tribal Leaders, & Families Impacted by South Fork and Salt Fires

PHOTOS & VIDEOS RUIDOSO, N.M. – Today, U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) met with families, local and Tribal leaders, firefighters, first responders, and emergency operation commanders in Roswell, Ruidoso, and the Mescalero Apache Reservation, discussing the response to and impacts of the South Fork and Salt...

June 21st, 2024

TO THE PRESIDENT’S DESK: Heinrich Bill to Extend Federal Programs to Support Local Fire Departments Passes Senate

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) applauded Senate passage of his bipartisan Fire Grants and Safety Act, legislation to extend federal programs that help support local fire departments in New Mexico and across the country. The bill would reauthorize the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Staffing for Adequate Fire and...

June 20th, 2024

N.M. Delegation Announces President's Approval Of Major Disaster Declaration For New Mexico Fires

RUIDOSO, N.M. – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) released the following joint statement, announcing that President Joe Biden has approved a Major Disaster Declaration for Lincoln County and the Mescalero...

June 19th, 2024

N.M. Congressional Delegation Calls on President Biden to Grant State's Major Disaster Declaration Request in Response to Severe Wildfires

RUIDOSO, N.M. — With thousands of New Mexicans displaced due to devastating wildfires, U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) are calling on President Joe Biden to approve a Major Disaster Declaration request...

May 16th, 2024

Heinrich Presses Forest Service Chief on Wildland Firefighter Housing, Fencing to Keep Trespass Cattle out of Valles Caldera National Preserve, Re-opening of Sitting Bull Falls Recreation Area

WASHINGTON – Today, during a hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to review the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Budget Request for the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) pressed U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore on the inadequacy of housing for wildland firefighters, the need to complete fencing in...

May 15th, 2024

VIDEO: Heinrich Highlights Drought Mitigation Investment in the Rio Grande, Presses Bureau of Reclamation on Completion of Eastern New Mexico Rural Water Project, Questions U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Plans to Improve Public Safety & Wildfire Response Along the Bosque

Today, during a hearing to review the Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Budget Request for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees funding for both agencies, urged Commissioner Camille Touton of the Bureau of Reclamation to expand...

April 22nd, 2024

N.M. Delegation Welcomes Over $9 Million for New Mexico’s Schools, Roads, County Services, Wildfire Mitigation from Infrastructure Law

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) are welcoming $9,309,362 to invest in New Mexico’s public schools, roads, wildfire mitigation, and county services. The funds will be allocated from the U.S....

April 4th, 2024

Two years later, we still have a long way to go to recover from the worst fire in our state’s history

— by U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich

This month, we mark two years since the worst fire in our state’s history. The Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses. The fire, and the flooding that followed, displaced thousands of New Mexicans for weeks and months on end. In a matter of months, this catastrophe wiped away generations of history and uprooted...

March 4th, 2024

N.M. Delegation Welcomes Nearly $2 Million to Restore Watersheds Damaged by Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) are welcoming nearly $2 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to fund the development of a comprehensive Watershed Restoration Plan for...

August 31st, 2023

Heinrich, Luján, Leger Fernández Welcome $6 Million for Wildfire Recovery

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representative Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) announced over $6,618,321 in federal funding to San Miguel County for reimbursement for county road repairs as a result of the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire. The grant now awaits distribution by the New Mexico’s...

August 11th, 2023

Heinrich Welcomes White House Supplemental Request to Invest in Securing Southern Border, Repairing Broken Immigration System, Fighting Opioid Epidemic, Bolstering Wildland Firefighter Pay, & Supporting Ukraine

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) welcomed President Joe Biden’s FY24 supplemental funding request that includes substantial investments in New Mexicans’ health and safety by strengthening border security, repairing and expediting the nation’s immigration process, and combatting the flow of...

May 8th, 2023

Heinrich Joins Effort to Improve Wildfire, Disaster Response in New Mexico

WASHINGTON - As New Mexico continues to rebuild in the aftermath of the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon, Cerro Pelado, McBride, and Black fires, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) cosponsored two bills aimed at improving the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) mitigation of disasters like flooding and wildfires."The wildfires...

March 29th, 2023

Heinrich Calls for Extension of Federal Programs to Support Local Fire Departments, Cosponsors Bipartisan Fire Grants and Safety Act

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) is cosponsoring the bipartisan Fire Grants and Safety Act, legislation to extend federal programs that help support local fire departments in New Mexico and across the country. The bill would reauthorize the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Staffing for Adequate Fire and...

March 21st, 2023

N.M. Delegation Announces Over $11 Million in Infrastructure Law Funding to Bolster Wildfire Resilience in Advance of 2023 Fire Season

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) announced a total of $11,482,174 in Infrastructure Law funding to make New Mexico communities more resilient to wildfires and strengthen the...

January 5th, 2023

N.M. Congressional Delegation Urges FEMA to Update Wildfire Claims Process

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives-Elect Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) filed a public comment letter to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell and...

December 20th, 2022

N.M. Congressional Democrats Announce Additional $1.45 Billion for New Mexicans Impacted by Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) and Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) announced an additional $1.45 billion to fund the Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon Fire Claims Office. The funding is included as part of the...

November 15th, 2022

N.M. Congressional Democrats Announce Beginning Of FEMA Claims Process, Public Comment Period For Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Act

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) and Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) announced that New Mexicans impacted by the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire can now submit a Notice of Loss form to signal interest in beginning the claims process with the...

October 20th, 2022

N.M. Congressional Democrats Announce USDA Will Cover 100% Of Cost Share For Producers Impacted By Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) and Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is waiving cost-share program requirements for agricultural producers and landowners impacted by the Hermit’s...

September 30th, 2022

N.M. Congressional Democrats Secure $2.5 Billion In Aid For New Mexicans Impacted By Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fires

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) and Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) secured $2.5 billion to support New Mexico residents and business owners impacted by this year’s Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon fires. The aid for New Mexico was...

September 27th, 2022

N.M. Congressional Democrats Fight To Include $2.5 Billion For New Mexicans Impacted By Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fires In Government Spending Proposal

WASHINGTON – As Congress finalizes negotiations on a stopgap government funding bill, U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) and Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) are fighting for $2.5 billion to support New Mexico residents and business owners impacted by...