More Voices in Support of Designating the Caja del Rio as a National Monument

On Friday, November 1st, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) adopted Resolution LV-24-061 opposing the proposed Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade Project “bisecting the Caja del Rio, highlighting the adverse impacts on Tribal cultural resources and sacred sites” to construct and operate a 115 kilovolt- transmission line to operate Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) supercomputers.  LV-24-061 FINAL SIGNED

On Thursday, November 21st, the All Pueblo Council of Governors unanimously passed Resolution No. APCG 2024-14 Supporting a Request for National Monument Status to Permanently Protect the Caja del Rio Living Cultural Landscape.  It states the Council “supports Tesuque Pueblo’s request for a national monument designation to permanently protect the Caja del Rio, its cultural resources, sacred sites, wildlife , and traditional use by Pueblo communities,” and “encourages collaborative efforts with the Pueblo of Tesuque and the Pueblo de Cochiti to advance this monument designation and ensure the protection and preservation of this culturally significant landscape,” among other protective measures.  https://www.heinrich.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/apcg_caja_del_rio_national_monument_resolution_2024.pdf

Building on this momentum, this week began with Senator Martin Heinrich requesting that U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland listen to the voices of New Mexicans calling on the Biden Adminstration to protect the 106,000-acre sacred Caja del Rio Plateau by designating it as a National Monument. Heinrich

On Tuesday, the Santa Fe County Board of County Commissioners wrote to President Biden, Secretary Haaland and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, to request that they use their power under the Antiquities Act to designate the Caja del Rio as a National Monument.   Letter Requesting Caja Del Rio as a National Monument

On Wednesday, New Mexico State Land Commissioner of Public Lands, Stephanie Garcia Richard, issued Executive Order 2024-001 to protect the Caja del Rio Plateau by banning mining, major thoroughfares on state lands, and the construction of large transmission lines of 115 kilovolts or above as proposed by LANL to run its supercomputers.  https://www.nmstatelands.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/EO-Caja-Del-Rio-Plateau.pdf

In further support, the Reverend Andrew Black, public lands field director for the National Wildlife Federation and founder of EarthKeepers 360, stated, “The time is always right to do right.  Indeed, the time is right for Secretary Haaland and President Biden to use the power they have to do right by New Mexico’s tribes and local communities, by permanently protecting and promoting the long-term stewardship of the Caja del Rio, through the designation as a national monument.”

To take action in support of the designation of the Caja del Rio as a National Monument, please sign the New Mexico Wild petition at https://www.nmwild.org/2024/06/19/sign-the-petition-protect-caja-del-rio/

1. Friday, December 13^th at noon at the intersection of West Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly one-hour peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament. Join the weekly peaceful protest with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners!

2. ACTION ALERT: Stop Tritium Venting and Protect the Most Vulnerable – TWO ACTIONS TO DO NO LATER THAN THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2024  https://tewawomenunited.org/2024/11/action-alert-stop-tritium-venting-and-protect-the-most-vulnerable

In collaboration with New Mexico Environmental Law Center, Tewa Women United issued a press release on November 19: “New Report Reveals Los Alamos National Laboratory Tritium Venting Could Have Triple the Radiation Exposure to Infants Compared to Adults”

TWU commissioned two independent technical reports by respected scientists to study impacts of the venting of radioactive tritium. The finding: LANL omitted dose calculations to infants and children in their compliance application.

We are requesting that TWU supporters and everyone concerned about protecting the most vulnerable take these two actions no later than Thursday, December 19, 2024:

1) CALL/EMAIL EPA REGION 6:

Earthea Nance, PhD, PE
Regional Administrator, Region 6
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(214) 665-2200

Call Script Earthea Nance

Email Earthea Nance (script to copy and paste)

2) CALL/EMAIL THE NATIONAL NUCLEAR SAFETY ADMINISTRATION (NNSA):

Theodore ‘Ted’ Wyka, Environmental Manager
National Nuclear Security Administration
Los Alamos Field Office
505-667-5105

Call Script Ted Wyka

Email Ted Wyka (script to copy and paste)

Tags: All Pueblo Council of Governors, Antiquities Act, APCG, EarthKeepers 360, Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade Project, EPCU, Executive Order 2024-001, LANL, Los Alamos National Laboratory, National Congress of the American Indians, National Wildlife Federation public lands field director, NCAI, New Mexico State Land Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard, proposed Caja del Rio National Monument, Resolution LV-24-061, Resolution No. APCG 2024-14, Reverend Andrew Black, Santa Fe County Board of County Commissioners, Senator Martin Heinrich, supercomputers, Supporting a Request for National Monument Status to Permanently Protect the Caja del Rio Living Cultural Landscape, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland