U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM 3) gathered with pueblo leaders and environmentalists on Friday to announce new federal legislation to protect the Caja Del Rio plateau west of Santa Fe. The Caja Del Rio Protection act aims to designate the 106,000 acre area as either a Special Management Area within the Santa Fe National Forest or a National Conservation Area on Bureau of Land Management lands. The leaders stood in front of a dramatic rock face at La Cieneguilla Petroglyphs as they touted the new legislation.
"We're here today to say something very loud—the Caja is not for sale, not now, not ever," Leger Fernandez said. "This land belongs to the people of New Mexico who have known how to care for it for generations."
Both lawmakers spoke of the ways that places like the Caja Del Rio unite New Mexico's diverse cultural groups. Heinrich called the land "our common ground."
"We want our children and our grandchildren to experience the Caja Del Rio for what it is—a living landscape of our history, culture and religion," Heinrich said. "We want our sons and daughters to hike Diablo Canyon and feel the same sense of awe that we have felt. And we want future Pueblo generations to worship and pray here, as their ancestors have done since time immemorial."
Tesuque Governor Mark Mitchell thanked Heinrich and Leger Fernandez for ensuring that tribal voices are heard at the national level. He agreed with Heinrich that preservation connects the past to present peoples and future generations.
"It's a living landscape and it holds the history of our ancestors—our ongoing relationship with the land, water, plants, animals that sustain our ceremonies for our people. "Out there on the landscape there are puebloan footprints, and we are direct descendants of those people."
Heinrich said that although both chambers of the U.S. Congress are controlled by Republicans right now, it’s important to have legislation prepared for when the opportunity arises. Leger Fernandez also noted the overwhelming local support for the bill.
"There isn't local opposition but there is local support from diverse communities," Leger Fernandez said. "And that is a powerful message when you request a hearing in D.C."
The legislation is also supported by the remaining members of New Mexico’s Democratic coalition: Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury, Congressman Gabe Vasquez and Senator Ben Ray Lujan. The Santa Fe County Commission and the All Pueblo Council of Governors have passed resolutions supporting federal protection of the Caja Del Rio and the legislation is supported by more than a dozen conservation groups.
