Bill would boost rights of land grant communities
Luján hopes his final piece of legislation in U.S. House will smooth out conflicts
For decades, small traditional communities in New Mexico have subsisted by farming, hunting and gathering plants on lands they were granted as far back as the mid-19th century, with acequias supplying their irrigation water.
But these communities have at times butted against the modern world when they’ve sought to improve an acequia or road on federal land. A community often must go through a lengthy process to obtain a permit, even for simple repairs on a ditch for which it has a longstanding easement.
Rep. Ben Ray Luján hopes a bill he has
“Improving the consultation between federal agencies and these communities ensures they will continue to thrive.” Rep. Ben Ray Luján
sponsored to smooth out conflicts between small communities and federal agencies over land grant rights will become law.
The bill, which passed the U.S. House on Thursday, is his final piece of legislation as the representative from New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District. He said it’s a legacy he would like to leave, especially as someone who grew up in Nambé, a farming community tied to acequias.
“This legislation will act as a bridge to eliminate the disconnect that federal agencies have with traditional communities,” said Luján, who will fill the U.S. Senate seat Tom Udall is vacating in January.
Without better cooperation between the parties, these communities could be denied access to the resources they need to survive, Luján said.
The bill centers around land grants, the first of which were created under the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which marked the end of the Mexican-American War.
With the land grants came easements to build acequias, roads and pathways. Over time, many land grants were lost or reduced due to flawed or corrupt surveying, or because the government took over land to create forest preserves.
Even on U.S. Forest Service land, the historic easements remained. Yet agents will stop a crew from a village that is upgrading an acequia on Forest Service land and order it to obtain a permit that requires a full review, said Paula Garcia, executive director of the New Mexico Acequia Association.
“At times there has been frustration around the bureaucracy and having to get these special-use permits,” Garcia said, calling it burdensome and unnecessary.
Garcia said Luján’s bill would be an important step toward reducing red tape. It’s also important to establish a standardized system, so policies don’t change with each Forest Service manager, she added.
“We’ve seen a range of responses,” Garcia said. “That’s why we need consistency.”
If the bill became law, it would require federal agencies to draft guidelines for these hamlets to obtain permits, so they aren’t taken by surprise when they seek to improve infrastructure.
It also calls for reducing or waiving fees on traditional uses such as grazing, farming and gathering firewood, whenever appropriate.
The U.S. secretary of agriculture would begin negotiated rule-making with the communities’ governing bodies on acequias’ upkeep. Special-use permits would not be required to improve or maintain acequias within historic easements.
Agencies would be more careful about taking actions, such as cutting trees, that could affect sites important to the communities. Adequate notice on pending federal actions also would be given to the communities so residents would have a chance to comment.
Luján said there’s still much work left to get the bill through the Senate and signed by the president. But this is the first time in 20 years that a standalone piece of legislation for land grants or acequias has passed a congressional chamber, he said.
“Improving the consultation between federal agencies and these communities ensures they will continue to thrive,” Luján said.