Rep. Stansbury Advances Buffalo Tract Protection Act In Committee Hearing
Statement
Today, U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury (N.M.-01) testified in a House Natural Resources Committee hearing in support of her Buffalo Tract Protection Act. The bill protects the ecosystems and communities in Sandoval County and the ancestral lands of the Pueblos of Santa Ana and San Felipe from further mineral development. The committee also heard from Las Placitas resident and Chair of the Land Use Protection Trust, Mary-Rose de Valladares, who testified about the community's public health and environmental concerns presented by additional gravel mining.
Rep. Stansbury led the Buffalo Tract Protection Act alongside Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (N.M.-03), Jerry McNerney (Calif.-09), and Jared Huffman (Calif.-02) last November. The Senate version of the legislation, led by U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (N.M.) was recently heard before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. In May, Rep. Stansbury led a letter to Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland asking for an administrative withdrawal of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land in question while Congress works on a legislative solution.
"Last week, I was fortunate enough to meet with the Governor and leadership of Santa Ana Pueblo, who shared about the historical and cultural importance of these ancestral lands, which are tied to the origins of the Pueblo itself. When I speak to the residents of Placitas, Santa Ana, San Felipe, Bernalillo, and the other communities that are nearby, they are clear and unified in opposition to the development of these lands.," said Congresswoman Stansbury. "It is criminal and unconscionable to put profits and the bottom line of multinational corporations between the cultural, historical, and environmental well-being of our communities. And that is why we have introduced this legislation, because legislative withdrawal is the best way to protect these lands permanently and to do exactly what we were asked to do when we were elected, which is to listen to and act on the will of our communities."
New Mexico's Sandoval County already contains six gravel mines, including four of the state's largest. In 2012, the BLM's Rio Puerco field office released a draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) that would allow additional mineral development, including gravel mining, on tracts of public land in several counties across New Mexico. The draft RMP received an unprecedented number of public comments in opposition to additional gravel mining.
The Buffalo Tract Protection Act aims to address these concerns and protect the public health of local communities, ancestral lands of surrounding Pueblos, and key wildlife corridors by withdrawing four BLM-owned parcels from any mineral development while keeping the BLM's ability to exchange, sell, or lease surface rights.
"The community is in agreement about the extensive harmful impacts of existing mining. Migration to Placitas has suffered. Property values have suffered, not only of adjacent properties, but throughout Placitas," said de Valladeres. "Sandoval County's tax base has suffered. Residents of the larger Albuquerque area have suffered loss of land for potential low-impact recreation and we're also now at risk of losing sacred spaces."
The Buffalo Tract Protection Act is reflective of the long-term needs of the communities in New Mexico, and will serve and benefit the land, the people, and the wildlife who have resided and continue to live around Las Placitas, New Mexico including the Pueblo of San Felipe and the Pueblo of Santa Ana.
The Buffalo Tract Protection Act has been endorsed by Santa Ana Pueblo, San Felipe Pueblo, the Town of Bernalillo, Sandoval County, San Antonio De Las Huertas Land Grant, Las Placitas Association, the Eastern Sandoval County Citizens Association, Pathways, the Placitas Chamber of Commerce and the Land Use Protection Trust. Statements of support for the legislation can be found here.
Rep. Stansbury's remarks as delivered can be found below.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and also to the Ranking Member. And thank you so much for the opportunity this morning to discuss this legislation. And thank you, Mr. Nedd for your service and also for being here with your testimony today. The Buffalo Tract legislation is named for the shape of one of four parcels of land that communities in New Mexico's First Congressional District have been fighting for decades to protect and have withdrawn from further mineral development.
Sandoval County, New Mexico has six gravel mines, including four of the state's largest already in the area. These communities have been fighting for decades to protect these tracks from multinational companies who are seeking to come in and build a deeply unpopular gravel mine that will further pollute these communities and the surrounding landscape. Let me be clear, these lands are sacred. They are ancestral to the surrounding Pueblo tribes whose stories and history are tied directly to these lands. These lands are a vital wildlife corridor between two mountain ranges and the Rio Grande River. These lands are adjacent to the community of Placitas. And last word does land grant and will be heavily impacted.
Over the last year I have criss-crossed my district and held town halls in the community of Placitas. And I have heard from hundreds of New Mexicans that are deeply concerned about this and other similar issues. In fact, last week, I was fortunate enough to meet with the Governor and leadership of Santa Ana Pueblo, who shared about the historical and cultural importance of these ancestral lands, which are tied to the origins of the Pueblo itself. When I speak to the residents of Placitas, Santa Ana, San Felipe, Bernalillo, and the other communities that are nearby, they are clear and unified in opposition to the development of these lands.
In fact, when BLM released their draft Resource Management Plan in 2012, the community mounted an unprecedented response, submitting more than 17,000 public comments in opposition to mining on these tracks. This number represents thousands more than actually even submitted comments.
17,000 public comments in opposition to the development of these lands. Our local leaders, our Tribal leaders, our residents are gravely concerned about the cultural, environmental and public health impacts of this development. The location is especially dangerous as its intermixed with residential areas and the cumulative impacts of existing mines. It is aextremely beautiful landscape that has significant cultural importance, and has doubled its population size since 1992. It provides a wildlife corridor for deer, elk, wild turkey and pronghorn antelope that connects the Sandia and Sangre de Cristo Mountains. And these lands are Pueblo lands that have ancestral and important histories also tied to our land grants, sand and gravel mining in the area has already stripped the surrounding landscape.
It is clear this is not the right area for new development. And the Bureau in fact has already identified that there are ample supplies of gravel in surrounding and other sites in order to meet the needs of the Albuquerque area and other surrounding areas in New Mexico. We do not need to be mining in culturally and environmentally sensitive areas.
The community has said it loud and clear - they do not want these mines and the false economic promises that come with them. It is criminal and unconscionable to put profits and the bottom line of multinational corporations between the cultural, historical and environmental well being of our communities. And that is why we have introduced this legislation because legislative withdrawal is the best way to protect these lands permanently, and to do exactly what we were asked to do when we were elected, which is to listen to and act on the will of our communities.
Mr. Nedd, I deeply appreciate your testimony and the BLM and Department of Interior's testimony in support of this legislation. Madam Secretary Deb Haaland championed this bill and carried this bill when she sat in this seat, herself a descendant of a Pueblo in New Mexico. I know that the Department is committed to listening to our Tribes and our Pueblos. But I would like to ask you here today to reaffirm that commitment that you will listen to our communities and do everything in your power administratively and legislatively to protect these lands. And with that Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
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