Congress protects New Mexico land from mining, keeps mineral rights federal.
S. 1464 — Buffalo Tract Protection Act · Filed by Martin Heinrich (D-NM) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Apr 10, 2025 · Hearing held
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What it does
This bill withdraws approximately 4,288 acres of federal land near Placitas, New Mexico from mineral development—blocking new mining claims, mineral leases, and geothermal leasing on the tract. The federal government retains ownership of the mineral rights even if the surface land is later conveyed to states, tribes, or nonprofits for recreation or public purposes.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is a withdrawal of federal land from mineral development, a standard conservation tool. It serves no private interest and imposes no hidden obligations—it is straightforward environmental protection.
What the text implies
- Mineral estate remains federally owned even if surface is conveyed, creating a split-estate scenario that may complicate future land management or conveyance negotiations.
- The bill does not address existing valid mineral claims or leases; those rights are preserved and may still be exercised on the withdrawn land.
- Withdrawal is permanent absent future legislative action, removing the land from future mineral revenue streams that might otherwise accrue to the federal government or states.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill protects public land from mineral extraction, preserving it for conservation, recreation, or other public purposes. Citizens gain environmental protection and public access to the land; no private party is barred from existing rights, only future mineral development is blocked.
Named in the bill
Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Secretary of the Interior, Placitas, New Mexico, Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, Recreation and Public Purposes Act (1926)
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Apr 10, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Apr 10, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources”
- Feb 12, 2026 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. Hearings held”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Mar 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $26,409 in lobbying spend. A filing names 26 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Martin Heinrich, the sponsor, reported $455,777 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Backcountry Hunters & Anglers — $26,409 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 10, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,276 characters) on Aug 31, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Mar 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 10, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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