New Mexico Land Grant-Mercedes Historical or Traditional Use Cooperation and Coordination Act
U.S. Congress · S1363 ·
What the bill says
Introduced 2025-04-09. Latest action: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 476.
Summary (plain-language)
New Mexico Land Grant-Mercedes Historical or Traditional Use Cooperation and Coordination Act This bill directs the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Forest Service to enter a memorandum of understanding with the New Mexico Land Grant Council to describe existing processes that land grants-mercedes may use to obtain authorization for historical, traditional, or other uses of federal lands. Land grants-mercedes were created when Spain and Mexico issued grants of land to communities or individuals. When the United States acquired the land, including New Mexico, a process was created for adjudicating and recognizing these property rights. During that process, most land grants-mercedes lands became federal lands. Today, New Mexico recognizes 27 community land grants-mercedes as political subdivisions. When entering into the memorandum of understanding, the BLM and the Forest Service must consult with Indian tribes. The memorandum of understanding must provide for (1) enhanced cooperation and coordination between the BLM, the Forest Service, and qualified land grants-mercedes; and (2) subsidiary agreements with certain land grants-mercedes for specific projects. Additionally, the bill outlines what the memorandum of understanding must describe, such as the procedures for notice and comments on land management planning decisions. Finally, the BLM and the Forest Service must include in land use plans a section that evaluates the impact of other uses in the plan on historical or traditional uses by land grants-mercedes.
Sponsors
- Ben Ray Luján (primary)
Text versions
What analysts say
CBO cost estimates
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S. 1363, New Mexico Land Grant-Mercedes Historical or Traditional Use Cooperation and Coordination Act
— 2026-05-21
As ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on December 17, 2025
Full estimate published at cbo.gov; it will appear here once an archived or committee-report copy is available.
What politicians say
No linked claims or utterances yet — no one on record has cited this measure to justify a public argument.
Action History
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| 2026-07-23 | Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Lee with an amendment. Without written report. |
| 2026-07-23 | Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 476. |
| 2025-12-17 | Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with an amendment favorably. |
| 2025-12-02 | Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. Hearings held. |
| 2025-04-09 | Introduced in Senate |
| 2025-04-09 | Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. |
Lobbying on this bill
Showing 1 of 1 bill mention.
Honesty note: each filer below disclosed lobbying on this bill — that much the filing tells us. But the dollar figure is their total lobbying spend for the whole quarter across all their issues, not the amount spent on this bill, and the filing never says whether they supported or opposed it.
| Registrant (lobbying firm) | Client | Period | Reported quarterly amount | Extraction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JENNER & BLOCK LLP | SANTO DOMINGO PUEBLO | Q1 2026 | $20,000 |
Source: Senate LDA filings.