April 10, 2025
Mr. Heinrich (for himself and Mr. Luján) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
To withdraw certain Bureau of Land Management land from mineral development.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Buffalo Tract Protection Act
.
Sec. 2. Withdrawal
(a) In general
Subject to valid existing rights, the Federal land described in subsection (b) is withdrawn from all forms of—
(1)
location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and
(2)
disposition under the mineral leasing, mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws.
(b) Description
The Federal land referred to in subsections (a) and (c) is the approximately 4,288 acres of land administered by the Director of the Bureau of Land Management and generally depicted as Tract A
, Tract B
, Tract C
, and Tract D
on the map entitled Placitas, New Mexico Area Map
and dated November 13, 2019.
(c) Surface estate
(1) In general
Subject to the reservation of the mineral estate under paragraph (2), nothing in this Act prohibits the Secretary of the Interior from conveying the surface estate of the Federal land described in subsection (b) in accordance with—
(A)
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); or
(B)
the Act of June 14, 1926 (commonly known as the Recreation and Public Purposes Act
) (43 U.S.C. 869 et seq.).
(2) Mineral estate
Any conveyance of the surface estate of the Federal land described in subsection (b) shall require a reservation of the mineral estate to the United States.