On December 12, 2024, the US Department of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced the 2-year withdrawal of 165,000 acres in the Pecos watershed, a biodiverse landscape in New Mexico that was the target for exploratory mining. Support for this effort came from a wide range of groups, including local landowners, local Hispanic communities engaged in acequia-based agriculture, county commissioners, recreationists, and New Mexico’s entire congressional delegation.
This landscape is largely defined by national forest land in Santa Fe and San Miguel counties and is a popular spot for the state’s outdoor-based tourism and recreation opportunities. The Pecos is one of the state’s most popular trout fisheries and the watershed is a gateway to the 223,000-acre Pecos Wilderness, the state’s most visited wilderness area. The region is also a hub for Indigenous culture and traditional practices, holding archaeological and historic resources for the Tesuque and Jemez-Pecos Pueblos of New Mexico and the Jicarilla Apache Nation, amongst others.
The two-year segregation period impacts new mining claims and new federal mining leases, but will not impact existing and valid mining claims. The announcement will kick off a 90-day comment period, after which the Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service will be able to evaluate the potential for a 20-year withdrawal.
Update: In April 2025, the US Department of Agriculture halted the administrative withdrawal proposal to protect 165,000 acres in the Upper Pecos watershed. In early April, 2026, the US Forest Service and BLM officially withdrew their application for the 20-year ban, opening this landscape up to potential new mining development.
