WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is announcing the approval of three landmark New Mexico public lands conservation bills. Each of the bills now head to the Senate Floor for full consideration. 

The M.H. Dutch Salmon Greater Gila Wild and Scenic River Act would designate portions of the Gila River, its watershed and other rivers in the Gila National Forest as Wild and Scenic Rivers. The Greater Gila watershed comprises the largest remaining network of naturally free-flowing river segments in the Southwestern United States. U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) is sponsoring the legislation in the House. U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) and Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) are original cosponsors.

The Buffalo Tract Protection Act withdraws four parcels of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands in southern Sandoval County, including the Buffalo Tract and the Crest of Montezuma, from any mineral development, including gravel mining.

Senator Heinrich and U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) recently brought together Tribal and local leaders in Santa Ana Pueblo to showcase the growing momentum behind community-driven legislation to protect the Buffalo Tract. Representative Stansbury is leading this legislation in the House. U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) and Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) are original cosponsors.

The Committee also advanced legislation to establish Cerro de la Olla Wilderness within the Río Grande del Norte National Monument in northern New Mexico. For generations, people of the Taos area have hunted, gathered herbs, and collected firewood on the flanks of Cerro de la Olla. This proposed wilderness area would preserve traditional uses and provide sanctuary to a wide range of wildlife species, while maintaining current access routes. U.S. Representative Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) is leading the legislation in the House. U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) are original cosponsors.

The language from Senator Heinrich’s bipartisan Simplifying Outdoor Access for Recreation (SOAR) Act was also included in ENR Chair Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) and U.S. Senator John Barrasso’s (R-Wyo.) bipartisan Outdoor Recreation Act that also passed out of the committee. The SOAR Act would improve the permitting process for outfitters, educational organizations, and community groups to access public lands.