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Senate committee backs memorial urging protection of Mount Taylor from uranium mining
Summary
A Senate memorial urging state and federal agencies to block uranium mining within the Mount Taylor traditional cultural property received broad tribal support and a committee 'do pass' recommendation after witnesses cited cultural significance and water‑resource risks.
The Senate Conservation Committee voted to recommend a memorial that calls on state and federal agencies to safeguard Mount Taylor and to oppose uranium mining projects that could harm cultural sites and local aquifers.
Senator Charlie, sponsor of the memorial, said Mount Taylor is a traditional cultural property known by tribal names and central to ceremonies across multiple Indigenous nations. "This memorial calls on state and federal agencies ... to safeguard Mount Taylor, a traditional cultural property and oppose uranium mining projects that threaten its ecological and sacred integrity," Charlie said.
Aaron Sims, counsel for the Pueblo of Acoma, explained the mountain’s cultural and historical importance and the 2009 TCP designation now listed on the New Mexico Register of Cultural Properties. Tribal representatives and Pueblo governors’ offices—including the Pueblos of Jemez, Acoma, Zuni and others—testified in support, describing the legacy of uranium contamination and concern over proposed mining applications and impacts to aquifers that supply drinking and irrigation water.
An attorney representing uranium‑interests acknowledged past harms and said modern standards and technology differ, and that the New Mexico Supreme Court’s TCP designation carries weight. Committee members asked whether the memorial would affect private property rights; witnesses clarified the memorial is nonbinding and TCP designation does not change private ownership, but they said pending mining applications raise environmental and cultural concerns.
After questions about scope and unintended consequences, the committee voted to give the memorial a 'do pass' recommendation.
