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Stansbury warns public-lands selloff effort could return; delegation and tribes mobilizing over Buffalo tract
Summary
At a Sandoval County town hall U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury said a recent federal package contained a provision to sell federal public lands that was defeated but that the effort will recur; she and the New Mexico delegation and tribes are preparing to oppose administrative moves that could affect lands such as the Buffalo tract in Chaco Canyon.
Rio Rancho, Sandoval County Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury said a proposal to sell federal public lands was included in the federal package she criticized and that she and other New Mexico elected officials helped defeat that provision; she warned the threat to public lands will return and described ongoing coordination with tribal governments to push back.
"They wanted to sell off 3,000,000 acres of public lands," Stansbury said, describing the provision as an attempt to privatize large tracts of federal lands. "Most of the lands that they were seeking to privatize ... had big mining companies that were after those lands. This was not about housing."
Stansbury said the provision provoked broad opposition and that the delegation prevailed this time: "Part of why we were able to kill that provision is because it was so universally distasteful to take away our public lands." She added that the White House and Department of the Interior may return with administrative measures and that tribes are evaluating legal options.
Buffalo tract and Chaco Canyon During questions, attendees raised the "Buffalo tract," a parcel of public land near Chaco Canyon that some residents and tribes regard as sacred and ecologically sensitive. Stansbury said the administration's Department of the Interior has shown an approach that makes administrative reversal possible and that New Mexico's congressional delegation and tribal governments are "fighting back and trying to help educate the secretary about why this is a bad idea."
What leaders said and next steps Stansbury said members of the delegation (Senators and other representatives) and tribal governments are strategizing about litigation and administrative channels to stop any unilateral transfer or sale. She urged continued constituent engagement: "Stay in the fight," she told attendees, and encouraged people to call congressional and state offices.
Ending Stansbury said the public-lands selloff language was politically unpopular across constituencies and that she expects opponents will again press for land transfers; she urged local activism and legal readiness as the principal tools to defend public lands.
