Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today introduced a package of bills that contain several provisions to protect important sites in New Mexico. The package, which falls under the jurisdiction of Bingaman's Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, will be sent to the Senate floor for immediate consideration. A vote is expected as soon as Sunday.

Among the measures included in the package is Bingaman's "Prehistoric Trackways National Monument Establishment Act", which seeks to protect fossilized prehistoric animal tracks in the Robledo Mountains in Dona Ana County.  Specifically, the bill would create a new national monument out of approximately 5,367 acres of Bureau of Land Management land and preserve it for further scientific investigation.  
 
"This bill would ensure that this area of the Robledo Mountains is conserved and protected in a way that will allow for further scientific study and public enjoyment of the resources," said Bingaman, who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

The package also includes Bingaman's Forest Landscape Restoration Act, which authorizes $40 million annually for landscape-scale forest restoration projects that cover 50,000 acres or more. Competitive grants would be awarded to restoration projects that are developed in collaboration with local communities. Eligible projects must be in need of ecosystem restoration, utilize the best-available science, encourage the use of restoration byproducts such as woody biomass, and be located primarily on National Forest System land. 

"Every year we spend millions of dollars and risk many lives battling forest fires. This bill would help reduce wildfires, restore ecosystems and create jobs," Bingaman said.

Additionally, the package includes legislation Bingaman introduced that clears title to several tracks of land and paves the way for the city of Albuquerque to complete its development of a Biological Park along the middle Rio Grande. The Biological Park incorporates the Rio Grande Botanical Garden, Tingley Beach, the Zoo and the Aquarium. 

"This bill will make it possible for the City of Albuquerque to move ahead with its plans to expand the Biological Park," Bingaman said. "It is my hope that this package of bills, which were approved by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee last year, will clear Congress quickly and be sent to the president to be signed into law."

Also in the package is a bill Bingaman supports to provide federal protection to the Snowy River formation within the Fort Stanton Cave in Lincoln County.

The Fort Stanton-Snowy River National Cave Conservation Area Act, which was first introduced in the last Congress by then-Senator Pete Domenici, would provide permanent protection to the Snowy River formation and secure it for future research and educational purposes. The cave is believed to be the longest continuous calcite formation in the world.

Additionally, the package contains the National Landscape Conservation System Act, a measure sponsored by Bingaman, that codify the National Landscape Conservation System, the collection of national monuments, national conservation areas, wilderness areas, wild and scenic rivers and other landscapes on public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). 

Finally, the bill contains two measures that allow for the exchange of land in the Santa Fe National Forest; Pecos National Historical Park Land Exchange; Santa Fe National Forest Land Conveyance.