The Biden administration has moved to temporarily protect thousands of acres of public land along the Pecos River in New Mexico.
Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland has initiated a two-year withdrawal of approximately 165,000 acres in the Upper Pecos watershed in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This move halts new mining claims and the issuance of new federal mineral leases, subject to valid existing rights.
“The Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service will now initiate a process to propose that the Secretary of the Interior implement a 20-year withdrawal to help secure the region’s water and air quality, cultural resources, critical fish and wildlife habitat, and recreational values,” the Department of the Interior stated in a press release.
For several years, members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation have pushed for legislation to permanently withdraw the Pecos watershed from mineral development.
Earlier this month, US senator Martin Heinrich and other Democrats from New Mexico urged the Forest Service to complete the initial steps of the mineral withdrawal process.
They warned that the area remains vulnerable to mining and pollution, referencing a 1991 incident when toxic waste from a closed mine spilled into the Pecos River. The spill killed fish along an 11-mile stretch and required an extensive and costly cleanup.
Since Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, the Biden administration has acted to limit oil drilling and block mining. Meanwhile, the president-elect has pledged to expedite permits.
The federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently finalized restrictions on an oil and gas lease sale in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the largest wildlife refuge in the country. The decision limits lease sales to 400,000 acres, one-quarter of the refuge’s coastal plain section.
