0001|                          HOUSE MEMORIAL 29
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0002|     43RD LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - SECOND SESSION, 1998
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0003|                            INTRODUCED BY
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0004|                         JIMMIE GARNENEZ SR.
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0005|     
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0006|                                   
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0007|     
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0008|     
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0009|     
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0010|                              A MEMORIAL
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0011|     REQUESTING THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR TO
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0012|     INVESTIGATE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT CONFISCATION OF CATTLE
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0013|     FROM THE RANCHO LARGO GRAZING ALLOTMENT IN SAN JUAN, RIO
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0014|     ARRIBA AND SANDOVAL COUNTIES.
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0015|     
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0016|          WHEREAS, the Rancho Largo grazing allotment number 05119
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0017|     was leased to the Crow Mesa and Largo Ranches cattle
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0018|     operations; and
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0019|          WHEREAS, the Rancho Largo grazing allotment was located
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0020|     in San Juan, Rio Arriba and Sandoval counties and consisted of
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0021|     land leased from the bureau of land management of the United
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0022|     States department of the interior, the state of New Mexico and
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0023|     the Navajo Nation; and
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0024|          WHEREAS, the Rancho Largo grazing allotment consists of
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0025|     seventy-three thousand seven hundred eighty-eight acres,
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0001|     sixty-one thousand two hundred twenty-four of which were
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0002|     leased from the bureau of land management; and
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0003|          WHEREAS, there are several owners of the Rancho Largo
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0004|     grazing allotment, all of whom are Navajo; and 
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0005|          WHEREAS, in 1996, disputes among the owners of Rancho
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0006|     Largo caused the lease of the two hundred fifty-eight and
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0007|     twenty-one hundredths acres of Navajo Nation fee land to come
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0008|     into question; and 
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0009|          WHEREAS, the Navajo Nation lease was temporarily
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0010|     discontinued and then reinstated in April 1996; and
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0011|          WHEREAS, in late May 1996, the bureau of land management
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0012|     terminated its lease to the Rancho Largo grazing allotment,
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0013|     claiming that the Navajo Nation lease had been withdrawn and
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0014|     failing to acknowledge that the Navajo Nation lease had been
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0015|     reinstated; and
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0016|          WHEREAS, in August 1996, one hundred ninety-eight head of
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0017|     cattle were confiscated by the bureau of land management at
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0018|     gunpoint, according to the Rancho Largo grazing allotment
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0019|     owners; and
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0020|          WHEREAS, the bureau of land management lease was
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0021|     terminated in error and the confiscation of the cattle was a
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0022|     serious mistake; and 
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0023|          WHEREAS, no payment has been received by the Rancho Largo
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0024|     principals for the cattle that were confiscated; and 
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0025|          WHEREAS, all efforts by the Rancho Largo grazing
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0001|     allotment owners to enter into negotiations with the bureau of
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0002|     land management were ignored or rebuffed, according to the
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0003|     Rancho Largo grazing allotment owners; 
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0004|          NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF
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0005|     REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that it request the
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0006|     United States department of the interior to investigate the
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0007|     handling of the Rancho Largo grazing allotment by the bureau
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0008|     of land management and determine if appropriate procedure was
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0009|     followed, if the grazing lease was properly terminated, if it
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0010|     was necessary to use armed force to remove the cattle from the
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0011|     allotment, if compensation is due the cattle owners and if
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0012|     fees charged the allotment holders for the cattle confiscation
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0013|     were appropriate; and
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0014|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
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0015|     distributed to the secretary of the interior and the members
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0016|     of the New Mexico congressional delegation and the president
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0017|     of the Navajo Nation.
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0018|                              
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