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.
