U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, a Democrat representing New Mexico, joined Placitas-area residents in celebrating the withdrawal of more than 4,000 acres of land from mineral leasing, including gravel mining.
The Secretary of the Interior officially withdrew the area, which includes the Buffalo Tract and the Crest of Montezuma, in mid-April following decades of advocacy work.
The mineral withdrawal protects four tracts of land and isn’t quite contiguous.
Heinrich’s involvement in the effort began in 2009 after he first took federal office. He said protecting Buffalo Tract was among the top issues that Placitas residents asked him to address. At the same time, he acknowledged that the work isn’t done yet. The mineral withdrawal only lasts for 50 years.
Heinrich expressed renewed commitment to passing legislation that would permanently protect the area from future gravel mining or other mineral development.
That protection is important because the area represents one of the few wildlife migration corridors connecting the Sandia Mountains to the Jemez Mountains and is also a sacred site for several Pueblos.
Both Heinrich and U.S. Bureau of Land Management State Director Melanie Barnes noted how much support the community has for protecting the Buffalo Tract and Crest of Montezuma.
“Often it’s difficult to make everyone happy, really difficult,” Barnes said. “So this is one of the few times that I’ve seen almost unanimous support.”
Heinrich said the mineral withdrawal is a reminder of the “timescale that meaningful change happens at” and said that type of change never happens as fast as people would like.
He said the entire community came together to seek protections for Buffalo Tract, especially when there was a “real credible threat” that an industrial scale gravel mine could open on the Buffalo Tract.
“It was impressive to me. I’ve never seen such a diverse community unite so quickly,” he said.
That group included members of the land grant and the Pueblos as well as residents and business owners in Placitas.
Heinrich said the withdrawal may make it easier for him and other members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation to push through legislation making the protections permanent.
“We will turn this reprieve into permanent law,” he said.
New Mexico Rep. Matthew McQueen, D-Galisteo, represents the Placitas area which became part of his district following the redistricting process. He noted that he has not been involved in the efforts to protect the Buffalo Tract area for long.
“I’ve only represented Placitas for about a year and a half,” he said, adding that in his very first meeting with constituents from the Placitas area, they brought up the Buffalo Tract as one of their priorities.
McQueen has a background in conservation and said he knows how hard it can be to bring protections like mineral withdrawal to an area.
“When they get across the finish line it’s usually because of a group of dedicated individuals and pressure over time, and not giving up and not taking no for an answer,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pueblo of San Felipe Gov. Anthony Ortiz praised the protections that Buffalo Tract received and asked Heinrich to help with efforts to protect other sacred lands in Sandoval County, particularly the Ball Ranch Area of Critical Environmental Concern.
Ortiz noted that a lot of cultural objects have been removed from sacred lands including in the Buffalo Tract area and the Ball Ranch ACEC.
“It really means a lot for us as Native people to protect those areas because whatever is on the ground of our native lands, that is very meaningful to us,” he said.
