Mining ban OK’d on land near Bernalillo

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Thursday approved a 50-year mining ban on 4,200 acres of federal land in Sandoval County that’s popular for recreation, contains sensitive wildlife habitat and borders two pueblos.

Conservationists, tribal advocates and some New Mexico political leaders hailed the federal order, saying it will protect a scenic area and neighboring San Felipe and Santa Ana pueblos against the adverse impacts of resource extraction.

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, a New Mexico Democrat, said in a statement the new restrictions on Bureau of Land Management lands will cover the Buffalo Tract and Crest of Montezuma, two areas he has worked for a decade to safeguard against gravel mining in particular.

“Today, our hard work has paid off,” Heinrich said. “The environmental impact of mining it would be irreparable. The Biden administration has listened to our calls and recognized that the Buffalo Tract is clearly the wrong place for a gravel mine.”

Although no one has submitted an application to the BLM to mine in the Placitas area near Bernalillo, a resource management plan drafted about a decade ago left open that possibility.

The Interior Department withdrawing the land will block any potential mining there unless a future administration reverses the directive.

In a statement, Haaland, the first Indigenous woman to head Interior, said the tract not only offers outdoor recreation to residents, but has significant cultural ties to nearby pueblos.

“Indigenous communities have called the Placitas area home since time immemorial, with evidence of their presence found from nearly every settlement period of the past 10,000 years,” Haaland said.

Heinrich said he’s looking for Congress to pass the Buffalo Tract Protection Act to create permanent protections in the area.