Feds to seize land in Santa Teresa for border wall - Algernon D’Ammassa, Albuquerque Journal
Federal authorities are eyeing a 7-acre parcel of New Mexico trust land near the Santa Teresa Port of Entry for border wall construction.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection offered in March to purchase the land for nearly $798,500 in a letter that threatened to use eminent domain to obtain the land. After the State Land Office declined to agree by an April 1 deadline, CBP informed Public Lands Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard it would proceed with a court filing Friday to condemn the land.
“We intend to reject CBP’s offer because we do not agree that this would be a good use of state trust land,” Joey Keefe, the State Land Office spokesperson, said.
Garcia Richard, a Democrat nearing the end of her second and final term as commissioner, called the move a land grab that followed years of trespassing and apparent confusion over where the federal government has access.
“This land was granted to us by the federal government, so we have very little recourse in this situation,” Garcia Richard told the Journal in an interview. “It is a condemnation for a public use — that’s the necessary criteria — and that should be terrifying to every single New Mexican.”
The office said it would review legal options in the matter. Garcia Richard’s successor will be elected in November and take office at the start of 2027.
Garcia Richard is not the first commissioner to push back against federal encroachments on state land near the border. Her predecessor, Commissioner Aubrey Dunn, famously put up a “no trespassing” sign in 2018 after border authorities built a road and installed fencing without acquiring a right-of-way. The dispute occurred during President Donald Trump’s first term.
At the time, Dunn said, “Border security is important, but so are our kids; and they have a right to collect the money earned from the lands they own.”
Dunn and Garcia Richard both repeatedly complained to the Department of Homeland Security about encroachments on trust land in Luna and Doña Ana counties by steel bollard wall, fencing, roads and staging areas for equipment and supplies.
Both commissioners also called the federal government out for placing lighting and staging areas on a narrow strip of land near the border known as the Roosevelt Reservation, established as a buffer against international smuggling by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1907. Last year, Trump issued an order commandeering that land for use by the Army and federal agents after declaring a national emergency at the border.
Dunn, a Republican who switched his affiliation to Libertarian while in office, focused on earning compensation for the land use, negotiating rights-of-way and even discussing a sale of the parcel now at issue, which sits near the cattle crossing.
Garcia Richard additionally has been opposed to the wall and other aspects of the administration’s border policies under the Trump administration.
In a 2021 letter to DHS and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, she wrote: “The harms that the federal government has inflicted through its dangerous wall-building program are extensive and well-documented. Federal agencies’ ongoing violations continue to damage the United States’ integrity in the eyes of our own people and abroad; hurt untold numbers of families coming to this country to escape persecution and violence; and have desecrated wild lands along the border, including lands recognized as sacred by tribal nations.”
The State Land Office manages over 13 million acres of state land, earning revenue through land leases to benefit New Mexico schools, higher education institutions, hospitals and other public institutions. The land was granted to the New Mexico territory in 1898 and held as a land trust. Since Garcia Richard took office in 2019, the office has drawn in about $14 billion, negotiated ancestral land exchanges and enacted conservation measures.
CBP told the State Land Office that $798,500 was the assessed fair market value, as reported by an independent appraiser from California.
“CBP has determined it is necessary to acquire 7.259 acres of this property … to construct new border infrastructure along the United States/Mexico border, namely, steel bollard border barrier, the installation of detection technology, and roads,” CBP stated in a March 17 letter to Garcia Richard penned by an attorney from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The letter and appraisal indicated that required surveys of the land were complete. The formal offer was the next step in the eminent domain process, which allows the property owner — in this case, the State Land Office — to negotiate, although the government is not required to bargain. If there is no agreement, the government may then file a “declaration of taking” in federal court to condemn the land. It would still be required to present the owner with compensation at the fair market value.
CBP did not immediately comment on the transaction when reached by the Journal Thursday.
“They can buy or seize it. It’s the same either way,” Garcia Richard said, “but I don’t want to entertain anything from this administration.” She added that once the government purchases the land, state trust beneficiaries will be deprived of potential revenue from the land.
“This trespass goes back before me,” she said. “We’ve been trying to require compliance, bring people to the table, ask people to acknowledge they have been trespassing on state land.”
New Mexico solidifies classification of PFAS-containing firefighting foam as a hazardous waste - John Miller, Albuquerque Journal
A type of firefighting foam still kept on hand at some airports and known to contain high levels of PFAS — known as “forever chemicals” — has become the target of a mandated cleanup effort in New Mexico, the first state to classify aqueous film-forming foam as hazardous waste.
The state’s Environmental Improvement Board on Monday ratified the classification of the substance in a unanimous vote, granting the New Mexico Environment Department direct authority to require cleanup from polluters and “strictly limit” the firefighting foam’s use in the state.
The vote comes a year after state Environment Secretary James Kenney supported the passage of House Bill 140, which first added PFAS-containing firefighting foam to the state’s definition of “hazardous waste” when Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed it into law last year.
NMED General Counsel Zachary Ogaz told the Journal on Wednesday that Monday’s action clarifies HB 140’s legal framework, defining the chemical makeup of aqueous film-forming foam and solidifying the agency’s legal authority to regulate it, which Kenney echoed in a statement this week.
“Designating discarded PFAS-laden firefighting foams as a hazardous waste means the Environment Department can require cleanup,” Kenney said. “This week’s decision puts to rest any argument to the contrary and will help expedite cleanup efforts around military installations.”
While the substance has in some cases been replaced by less harmful types of firefighting foam in recent decades, the PFAS-containing foam subject to Monday’s vote was in wide use for more than 60 years, according to the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.
PFAS, or the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances the foam contains, persist for decades in air, water and soil. These forever chemicals have been linked to developmental delays, increased cancer risk, reduced immune responses and higher cholesterol levels, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Aqueous film-forming foam is most commonly used to fight liquid-fuel fires at airports, industrial plants or military installations.
“AFFF, or aqueous film-forming foam, was very widely used for our airport rescue firefighting for many, many years and was found to be a very heavy carcinogen and caused cancer in just so many firefighters,” said Erik Oiesen-Vreeke, fire marshal at Taos Fire Department.
Oiesen-Vreeke said Taos Regional Airport, for example, keeps the firefighting foam on hand, but Taos Fire has been planning for its safe disposal.
Several other sites around the state, including Holloman and Cannon Air Force bases, store the PFAS-containing firefighting foam, according to a 2023 complaint by the Environment Department, which claims the state’s military installations have rendered New Mexico “host to some of the nation and world’s most extensive PFAS contamination.”
An NMED blood-testing study conducted last year near Cannon Air Force Base found that 99.7% of participants living or working around the military installation had traces of the specific form of PFAS, known as perfluorooctane sulfonate, which is commonly found in aqueous film-forming foam.
“But what you need to remember is that AFFF isn’t the only thing in our world containing PFAS, right?” Oiesen-Vreeke said. “Our bunker gear contains PFAS, and while there’s been a lot of noise about, ‘Hey, we’re literally giving guys cancer with the gear that protects them,’ there isn’t a great replacement yet.”
In a news release, the Environment Department emphasized that Monday’s vote is part of a “broader regulatory push on PFAS,” including the board’s approval of new consumer product rules that phase out and require warning labels on many products containing forever chemicals, such as certain nonstick cookware and cosmetics.
Coalition grows in opposition to northern NM uranium mine proposal - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
A wide range of New Mexico elected officials issued a statement Thursday reiterating their opposition to an exploratory uranium mining operation in northern New Mexico, as well as detailing their next steps to halt a Canadian company’s efforts to break ground in Rio Arriba County.
Gamma Resources, Ltd., a Vancouver-based uranium company, issued a notice of intent to the Carson National Forest in late February to dig up to 12, 500-feet-deep boreholes near Canjilon, N.M. to explore uranium potential along a 4-mile-strip of forestland.
In a pitch to investors about the potential for the operation, the company cited President Donald Trump’s push to expand domestic energy production, as well as evidence suggesting 2.9 million pounds of uranium exists within the 4,625-acre area the company has identified for exploration.
Local community organizations expressed outrage about the proposal after Source NM first reported on it last month. Since then, members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation have announced they intend to legislatively prohibit uranium mining in the Carson National Forest, and, on Thursday, additional state, local and community leaders expressed opposition.
Six New Mexico state lawmakers voiced opposition in the statement Thursday, which came from U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján’s office. They called on the United States Forest Service to halt any review of the company’s proposal until Congress acts to prohibit uranium mining in the Carson National Forest.
“I strongly oppose any uranium drilling in the Chama watershed, especially by a foreign-owned company seeking to exploit our public lands. This proposal puts the health of our acequias, the safety of our drinking water, and the survival of Tribal and rural communities at unacceptable risk for short-term profit,” Sen. Leo Jaramillo (D-Española), whose Senate District 5 contains the proposed uranium site, said in the statement.
Gamma Resources officials did not immediately respond to Source NM’s emailed request for comment Thursday about the coalition’s statement of opposition.
Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez (D-Albuquerque) told Source NM on Thursday that she and fellow lawmakers are still evaluating what, if anything, the Legislature could do to prevent the uranium operation from going forward.
But she is putting the matter at the top of the list of the agenda for the Legislature’s Environmental Caucus, which formed in December, and she expects one or more interim legislative committees to take up the issue in the coming months. She said she hopes to at least ensure a full environmental review occurs.
“I just think people always dive into these projects without adequate study, research and regulation to ensure the air, water and soil are not contaminated, not to mention the safety of people,” she told Source NM.
In addition to the state lawmakers, other officials who expressed opposition include chairs of both the state Land Grant Council and Acequia Commission, as well as the CEO of Ghost Ranch, which is south of the proposed uranium operation.
Rio Arriba County Chairman Moises Morales also said in the statement he intends to bring the matter before the county commission “to determine what official actions we can take to oppose uranium mining in our county and protect our communities for generations to come.”
NM House Republicans urge litigation over governor’s disaster spending ‘overreach’ - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
Republicans in the New Mexico House of Representatives are calling on an interim legislative committee to consider suing Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham over her continued emergency spending, according to a letter House GOP leaders released Thursday.
The Republicans are urging the Legislative Council Service committee, which meets Friday, to add an item to its agenda related to “possible litigation” prohibiting Lujan Grisham from funding the state’s disaster response from a certain state fund without legislative approval.
Lujan Grisham’s disaster spending from the state’s Appropriation Contingency Fund, which is effectively the state’s savings account, has caused friction with the Legislature, including with members of her own party.
In total, the governor has spent roughly $380 million via emergency orders from the fund since July 1, 2024, even though the Legislature put just $150 million into the fund in that period. Funding has gone for wildfires, floods, National Guard deployments and, recently, to pay for food assistance amid a federal government shutdown.
Lawmakers unanimously approved a bipartisan bill, House Bill 180, during the legislative session earlier this year that would have required the governor to secure legislative approval, via a special legislative session, if she wished to spend more than lawmakers allocated to newly created disaster response funds. The governor vetoed the bill March 10, however, saying the bill “introduces structural delays at precisely the moment when speed and flexibility matter most.”
In a letter Tuesday to the LCS committee Co-Chairs House Speaker Rep. Javier Martínez (D-Albuquerque) and Senate Pro Tem Sen. Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque), Republican Reps. Gail Armstrong (R-Magdalena), Alan Martinez (R-Rio Rancho) and Rebecca Dow (R-Elephant Butte) said the governor’s veto means she will continue her illegal spending, a matter that “can only be settled in a court of law.”
Martinez and Stewart did not immediately respond to Source NM’s request for comment Thursday afternoon. Neither did a governor’s office spokesperson.
The Legislative Council meeting Friday morning is the first of several months of interim legislative committee hearings on a number of topics, including health care, criminal justice, the environment and more. As of Thursday afternoon, its agenda did not include the disaster spending issue.
The letter asks the committee to also consider whether a lawsuit is warranted for nearly $7 million in spending the governor line-item vetoed from the state’s roughly $11 billion spending bill, vetoes the Republicans say left the budget bill with “nonsensical or unimplementable” spending provisions.
“These two items need serious review by the Legislative Council, including the consideration of possible litigation, to protect the Legislature’s power of appropriations from the illegal usurpation of legislative power due to executive branch overreach,” the Republican lawmakers wrote.
Santa Fean Arthur Sze reappointed as U.S. poet laureate - André Salkin, Santa Fe New Mexican
Arthur Sze has been reappointed to his position as United States Poet Laureate.
Sze is the first Asian American Poet Laureate. He is known for his large poetry collections, and for translating ancient Chinese works into English.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports during his first term, Sze produced a collection of 23 poems across 13 languages, which will serve as a foundation for his new project this year.
Sze currently lives in Santa Fe but was raised in New York City by Chinese immigrant parents.
He studied Chinese, poetry, and philosophy at the University of California-Berkeley and later moved to Santa Fe.
In 2006, he became Santa Fe’s Poet Laureate. He later won the Jackson Poetry and Ruth Lily Poetry Prize and was awarded the National Prize for Lifetime Achievement by the Library of Congress.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that Sze was relieved his position was not selected by the executive branch but rather the Library of Congress.
Suspect enters new guilty plea in the case of missing Navajo grandmother Ella Mae Begay - By Savannah Peters and Jacques Billeaud, Associated Press
A man charged in the disappearance of a Navajo grandmother whose case has highlighted the crisis of violence against Native Americans pleaded guilty Thursday to robbery as part of a second agreement reached with prosecutors.
Preston Henry Tolth, 26, could be sentenced to a maximum of five years in federal prison, with credit for three years already served, under the conditions of the proposed agreement.
U.S. District Judge Douglas Rayes asked Tolth during a hearing in Phoenix if he was entering the plea because he was, in fact, guilty.
"Yes, your honor," Tolth said.
Ella Mae Begay was 62 when she vanished in 2021 from Sweetwater, Arizona, a community in the northern part of the Navajo Nation where she spent her days visiting with relatives and weaving rugs that she sold to nearby trading posts.
In 2022, Begay's niece Seraphine Warren walked from the Navajo Nation to Washington, D.C., to raise awareness about her aunt's disappearance and the high rate of homicides and missing persons cases in Indian Country. Begay's case has drawn national media attention and provided fuel for tribal leaders and victim advocates as they push for more law enforcement resources and cooperation between tribal and federal investigators.
Navajo Nation police identified Tolth, whose father was dating Begay's sister, as a suspect within days of her disappearance.
Under the conditions of the agreement, Tolth acknowledged using force to take Ella Mae Begay's pickup truck, striking her in the face several times and leaving her on the side of the road before driving away and eventually selling the truck for money and methamphetamine.
Rayes is scheduled in May to review the latest plea agreement, which also protects Tolth from future murder or manslaughter charges in relation to Begay's case.
Members of Begay's family say prosecutors negotiated the agreement against their wishes and without their input.
Begay's son, Gerald Begay, took a break from his construction job in Denver to listen to Thursday's hearing by phone. He told The Associated Press that he plans to attend the next court hearing and ask the judge to reject the plea agreement in hopes that Tolth can be put on trial.
"The prosecutors aren't thinking about our rights or what we need as a family," he said.
In an emailed statement, Lennea Montandon, a spokesperson with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the district of Arizona, said the office has complied with federal victims' rights law while prosecuting Tolth and will continue to do so. Tolth's public defender declined to comment on the new agreement.
In a 2021 FBI interrogation, Tolth confessed to attacking Begay in a fit of anger and leaving her for dead. But Rayes dealt prosecutors a major blow by ruling that confession inadmissible in court, saying the FBI agent had unlawfully coerced Tolth into waiving his right to remain silent. In court filings, prosecutors acknowledged that weakened the government's case significantly.
At a hearing earlier this month, Rayes rejected an earlier agreement that would have released Tolth from federal custody on a sentence of three years of time served in exchange for a guilty plea. The judge's rare move came after Begay's grieving family members testified that Tolth should not walk free without leading investigators to her remains.
"Accountability is not time served," Begay's niece Seraphine Warren had told the judge. "It's about truth, and we still don't have the truth."
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Peters reported from Edgewood, New Mexico.