0001|                       SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 42
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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|                           MANNY M. ARAGON
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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 JOINT MEMORIAL
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0011|     REQUESTING THAT THE CULTURAL PROPERTIES REVIEW COMMITTEE
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0012|     PROTECT AND PRESERVE THE KNEELING NUN AND KNEELING NUN
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0013|     MOUNTAIN AS A TREASURED CULTURAL RESOURCE, THAT CONGRESS
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0014|     DECLARE THE KNEELING NUN AND KNEELING NUN MOUNTAIN AS A
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0015|     NATIONAL MONUMENT AND THAT MINING THAT DISTURBS THAT STRUCTURE
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0016|     BE PROHIBITED.
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0017|     
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0018|          WHEREAS, the Kneeling Nun and Kneeling Nun mountain have
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0019|     been sacred to the Native American populations of southwestern
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0020|     New Mexico for many centuries; and 
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0021|          WHEREAS, the Kneeling Nun and Kneeling Nun mountain have
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0022|     been a sacred shrine and landmark for Hispanics and Anglos
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0023|     since their arrival in southwestern New Mexico, the shrine and
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0024|     landmark being visible from atop the Black range and remaining
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0025|     through the centuries to welcome all to the home of the
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0001|     ancient Mimbres and Mogollon Indians and to the homeland of
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0002|     the great Apache warriors, Geronimo and Mangas Coloradas; and
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0003|          WHEREAS, the land around the Kneeling Nun and Kneeling
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0004|     Nun mountain has been mined for centuries for copper,
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0005|     turquoise and other minerals, leaving only the Kneeling Nun
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0006|     and her mountain to remind us of the terrain that used to
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0007|     exist in the area; and
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0008|          WHEREAS, the Kneeling Nun and her mountain have not been
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0009|     mined while under the care of the bureau of land management;
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0010|     and
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0011|          WHEREAS, the Phelps Dodge mining corporation now would
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0012|     like to include Kneeling Nun mountain in an expansion of what
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0013|     has been claimed to be the largest open pit copper mine in the
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0014|     world; and
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0015|          WHEREAS, mining operations are already dangerously close
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0016|     to undermining the ninety-foot-high monolith that is the
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0017|     Kneeling Nun; and
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0018|          WHEREAS, Phelps Dodge, in its effort to obtain the
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0019|     Kneeling Nun and her mountain for mining, has offered to move
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0020|     the Kneeling Nun from its visible and historic location or to
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0021|     trade land in the Las Cruces area to the bureau of land
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0022|     management in exchange for the mountain, while at the same
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0023|     time continuing its blasting and mining operations closer and
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0024|     closer to the revered nun; and 
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0025|          WHEREAS, destruction of Kneeling Nun mountain will not
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0001|     add to the ore reserves of Phelps Dodge, nor increase profit
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0002|     or provide new jobs, and the destruction and desecration of
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0003|     this site would increase the life of the mining operation by
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0004|     only four years; and
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0005|          WHEREAS, the community of Santa Rita and surrounding
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0006|     communities have joined together to oppose the sacrilegious
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0007|     destruction and transfer of this site to Phelps Dodge and have
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0008|     joined to have the Kneeling Nun and Kneeling Nun mountain
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0009|     declared a national monument;
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0010|          NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE
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0011|     STATE OF NEW MEXICO that it request the cultural properties
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0012|     review committee and other state officials, including the
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0013|     governor; the commissioner of public lands; the New Mexico
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0014|     secretaries of environment and energy, minerals and natural
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0015|     resources; the executive director of the office of cultural
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0016|     affairs; the director of the department of game and fish; the
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0017|     director of the bureau of mines and mineral resources of the
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0018|     New Mexico institute of mining and technology; the chairman of
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0019|     the soil and water conservation commission; and the director
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0020|     of the agricultural experiment station of New Mexico state
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0021|     university, to make all efforts to permanently protect and
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0022|     preserve the Kneeling Nun and Kneeling Nun mountain as the
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0023|     unique cultural resource that it is and to prohibit mining of
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0024|     the mountain or activity that will disturb the Kneeling Nun;
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0025|     and
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0001|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the president of the United
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0002|     States, the New Mexico congressional delegation and the
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0003|     secretary of the interior be requested to prohibit the
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0004|     transfer of the Kneeling Nun and any of Kneeling Nun mountain
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0005|     to any company that intends to mine the mountain or in any way
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0006|     destroy or move the Kneeling Nun and that the Kneeling Nun and
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0007|     Kneeling Nun mountain be added to the national register of
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0008|     historic places and the national registry of natural
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0009|     landmarks; and
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0010|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that congress be requested to
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0011|     declare the Kneeling Nun and Kneeling Nun mountain to be a
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0012|     national monument dedicated to preserving the history and
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0013|     cultural heritage of the ancient and great Mimbres and
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0014|     Mogollon cultures; and
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0015|          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
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0016|     transmitted to the cultural properties review committee and
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0017|     other state officials, including the governor; the
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0018|     commissioner of public lands; the New Mexico secretaries of
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0019|     environment and energy, minerals and natural resources; the
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0020|     executive director of the office of cultural affairs; the
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0021|     director of the department of game and fish; the director of
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0022|     the bureau of mines and mineral resources of the New Mexico
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0023|     institute of mining and technology; the chairman of the soil
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0024|     and water conservation commission; the director of the
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0025|     agricultural experiment station of New Mexico state
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0001|     university; the New Mexico congressional delegation; the
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0002|     secretary of the interior; the assistant secretary of Indian
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0003|     affairs; the president of the United States; and the governor
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0004|     of the pueblo of Zuni.
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0005|                                  
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