New Mexico Tribal, Federal and Local Leaders Support Bill to Protect Caja del Rio Plateau

June 12th, 2026 in Action Alerts / Events / Weekly News Updates
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On Monday, May 8th, 2026, at a press conference in front of La Cieneguilla Petroglyphs, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and co-founder of the U.S. Senate Stewardship Caucus, and U.S. Representative Teresa Leger Fernández, Ranking Member of the U.S. House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs, unveiled their Caja del Rio Protection Act legislation to permanently protect the Caja del Rio Plateau.

Senate Bill 4458 is cosponsored by U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján, a member of the U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee, U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury, a member of the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee, and U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez, founder and co-chair of the U.S. House Public Lands Caucus.

Pueblo of Tesuque Governor Mark Mitchell celebrated the legislation to protect the Caja del Rio. He explained, “It’s a living landscape.  It holds the history of our ancestors and our ongoing relationship with the land, water, plants, animals that sustain our ceremonies for our people. This is about protecting the landscape, but also the way of life we continue today.”  https://www.tesuquepueblo.org/

Representative Leger Fernández added, “The Caja del Rio is where the beautifully diverse story of New Mexico lives — in our petroglyphs, our piñon gathering, our Tribal traditions, and our Hispano ranching communities. This land belongs to the people of New Mexico who have cared for it since time immemorial and to future generations who deserve to inherit its tradition and its beauty. As Republicans in Washington push to sell off public lands, we’re making clear that the Caja is not for sale.This legislation not only reflects our diverse heritage — it is also a product of collaboration and diverse communities coming together to protect their shared heritage. That’s how it’s done in New Mexico where we know that diversity is our strength.”  https://fernandez.house.gov/

Key provisions of the legislation are to:

  • Protect public lands from sale or privatization
  • Prohibit new roads, mining and rights-of-way
  • Require consultation with area tribes and coordination with Traditional Historic Communities
  • Preserve traditional uses, such as herb and mineral gathering, hunting and grazing
  • Protect confidential Indigenous knowledge and sacred site locations from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act
  • Reduce unauthorized roads and limits motor vehicle use.

The All Pueblo Council of Governors, the Santa Fe County Commission, the Sandoval County Commission and Santa Fe Mayor Michael Garcia all endorse the Caja del Rio Protection Act.

Sign up to receive alerts about the proposed legislation at https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/4458

  1. You can watch the trailer of the new film, called An Ordinary Insanity, about the renowned whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg and the Nuclear Threat for FREE at https://www.anordinaryinsanity.com/. View the 29-minute film on the Screenings Page at https://www.anordinaryinsanity.com/screenings    The film provides a powerful wakeup call about the global threat posed by nuclear weapons and advocates how we can dramatically reduce the real and present danger of nuclear annihilation. Before he released the top secret Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War, Ellsberg was a nuclear war planner with access to classified information on U.S. nuclear strategy. Filmed one year before his death at age 92, Ellsberg speaks with clarity and urgency about the dangers we face, noting, ”I’ve long said that to my last breath I will be doing what I can to postpone and avert the risk of nuclear war.” With ongoing conflicts heightening global nuclear tensions and with the recent end of the New START treaty potentially triggering a renewed arms race, AN ORDINARY INSANITY is a timely film to help mobilize broad public concern and action for arms control and nuclear disarmament.  PLEASE SHARE ONLINE & SCREEN AT PUBLIC EVENTS.

  1. Friday, June 12th from noon to 1 pm – Join the nuclear disarmament community at the intersection of East Alameda and Sandoval in Santa Fe for the weekly peaceful protest in support of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Join with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners.

 

  1. Monday, June 8th through Thursday, June 18th at 9 am at the NM State Capitol Building – Water Quality Control Commission Public Rulemaking Hearing for the Proposed Surface Water Quality State Permitting Program (WQCC 25-74(R)). To learn more, visit Amigos Bravos at  https://www.amigosbravos.org/upcoming-events/    To connect to the hearing: https://www.env.nm.gov/events-calendar/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D199647881

 

  1. Sunday, June 13th from 10 am to 11 am – Albuquerque Inaugural Women Veterans Celebration at New Mexico Veterans Memorial Park, 1100 Louisiana SE. Albuquerque Concert Band will begin music at 9:45 am. For more information, please call 505 768-4495.

 

  1. Tuesday, June 30th – Public comments are due to the New Mexico Environment Department about its proposal to select a remedy for corrective action at the Technical Area V (TA-V) Groundwater (TAVG) Area of Concern (AOC) at Sandia National Laboratory (SNL). This is an important issue!  If you need more time to review and prepare your comments, ask for an extension of time. Contact Neelam Dhawan at neelam.dhawan@state.nm.us , (505) 476-6042.  Cite the lengthy and detailed LANL SWEIS and draft PEIS for Plutonium Pit Production documents and what a heavy lift it has been recently for the public.

“TA-V was established in 1961 to test radiation effects on weapon components and has hosted multiple generations of research reactors…. Currently, active nuclear facilities include the Annular Core Research Reactor…. “ The TAVG AOC has been under investigation since the 1990s.  A copy of the Public Notice and the proposed remedy are available electronically here:  https://www.env.nm.gov/public-notices/, scroll down and click on Sandia National Laboratory. There you will find the Public Notice in English and Spanish, a Fact Sheet / Statement of Basis, along with the TAVG AOC Current Conceptual Model and Corrective Measures Evaluation Report (May 2024) and a link to the Public Comment Portal.  See the Public Notice about how to request a public hearing and what information is required to do so.

The TAVG AOC is described as follows on p. 9 of the Fact Sheet / Statement of Basis as:

“E. TECHNICAL AREA V GROUNDWATER (TAVG) AREA OF CONCERN (AOC)

“E.1 BACKGROUND AND HISTORY OF THE TAVG AOC

“E.1.1 Location/Unit Description

“The Technical Area V Groundwater (TAVG) Area of Concern (AOC) Technical Area (TA)-V is located in the west-central portion within KAFB on DOE-owned land and KAFB-permitted land (Figure E-1). It occupies approximately 35 acres in the northeast corner of TA-III at SNL/NM. TA-V was established in 1961 to test radiation effects on weapon components and has hosted multiple generations of research reactors, including the Sandia Engineering Reactor Facility (SERF), the Sandia Pulsed Reactor, the High Energy Radiation Megavolt Electron Source, and the PROTO I Facility. Currently, active nuclear facilities include the Annular Core Research Reactor, the Sandia Pulsed Reactor, and the Auxiliary Hot Cell Facility, as well as radiological facilities such as the Gamma Irradiation Facility and the Low Dose Rate Irradiation Facility. Historically, wastewater derived from TA-V facilities was disposed of at the Liquid Waste Disposal System (LWDS) drain field, the two unlined LWDS surface impoundments, and the TA-V seepage pits.”

 

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