SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 7

51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2014

INTRODUCED BY

Richard C. Martinez

FOR THE LAND GRANT COMMITTEE

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THAT THE NEW MEXICO CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION WORK CLOSELY WITH THE UNITED STATES BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT TO RETURN LANDS UNDER THE CURRENT CONTROL OF THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT TO NEW MEXICO'S HISTORIC LAND GRANTS.

     WHEREAS, from the seventeenth century, grants of land were made throughout what is now the state of New Mexico, first by the king of Spain, then by the Republic of Mexico; and

     WHEREAS, the lands that now constitute New Mexico were incorporated from Mexico into the territory of the United States under the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits and Settlement of 1848, more commonly known as the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo; and

     WHEREAS, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo promised to recognize the ownership of property of every kind in the areas ceded by Mexico to the United States; and

     WHEREAS, in the intervening one hundred sixty-five years, land grants have lost millions of acres of their original common lands, not least through fraud, chicanery, faulty surveying and punitive taxation; and

     WHEREAS, the vast majority of land that once belonged to land grants is now in control of the United States forest service and the United States bureau of land management; and

     WHEREAS, the state of New Mexico has recognized the importance of land grants not only to its history and heritage, but to rural economic development; and

     WHEREAS, the state manifested its recognition of the land grants' importance through legislation that provided for the creation of the land grant council and the ability of land grants to become political subdivisions of the state and other legislation designed to empower land grant communities and give them a measure of self-government; and

     WHEREAS, many land grants are hemmed in by bureau of land management and United States forest service land and cannot expand as they would have done traditionally, by building new homes for the new generation on dry land not suitable for farming, and thus have to build new homes on invaluable riparian lands or agricultural plots; and

     WHEREAS, many land grant communities are effectively "land-locked", cut off from regular access by bureau of land management or United States forest service lands; and

     WHEREAS, the bureau of land management cannot properly manage or monitor the lands under its control, resulting in erosion, trash dumping and other abuses to the land, with consequent deleterious effects on neighboring land grants; and

     WHEREAS, House Bill 490 has been introduced in the United States congress, a bill that would transfer over eight hundred acres of land that once belonged to the Tome land grant to the United States forest service, to be designated a wilderness area; and

     WHEREAS, the bureau of land management in New Mexico has shown a willingness to work with land grant communities to develop creative solutions to problems that have accumulated among the land grants over the decades; and

     WHEREAS, there is a limit to what actions the bureau of land management can take administratively, particularly with regard to the transfer of land; and

     WHEREAS, in accordance with requests made over the years by the New Mexico congressional delegation, the state has created the legal structures, particularly granting of political subdivision status, in order that land grant communities might receive land transfers; and

     WHEREAS, the general accounting office's report of June 2004, "Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo: Findings and Possible Options Regarding Longstanding Community Land Grant Claims in New Mexico", recognized the long-standing nature of land grant claims in New Mexico and included among its recommendations that congress consider that former common lands be returned to land grants;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico congressional delegation be requested to work assiduously with the bureau of land management to develop strategies to assist New Mexico's traditional land grants; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Mexico congressional delegation be requested to introduce legislation in the United States congress to return lands currently in possession of the bureau of land management that were once part of land grant common lands to the land grants; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Mexico congressional delegation be requested not to support legislation that would transfer lands currently under bureau of land management control that were once part of land grant common lands to the United States forest service; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to all members of New Mexico's congressional delegation.

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