U.S. SENATE News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — During a U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Public Lands, Forests, and Mining Subcommittee hearing, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Committee, secured a commitment from U.S. Forest Service Acting Associate Chief Christopher French to host a public forum meeting in the Pecos Valley on mining developments.

View the video here.

Below is a transcript of Heinrich securing a commitment from U.S. Forest Service Acting Associate Chief French to host a public forum in the Pecos Valley:

HEINRICH: “Mr. French, the Administration recently reversed a very popular administrative withdrawal in the upper Pecos watershed, despite overwhelming public support in that community for the withdrawal. Your agency even canceled a public forum that would have allowed for discussion with the, of the withdrawal and given the community a chance to share their views with the Forest Service. Would you commit to coming out to the Pecos Valley and meeting with that community and having a public meeting?”

FRENCH: “Yeah, thank you very much for the question, Senator. Of course, and we’ll have a conversation around any of those issues. We know that the comments that we received on the withdrawal itself, overwhelmingly supported the withdrawal, but across the agency, the Administration’s policy is to preserve the spaces we have right now for future development until such time that we understand what our current mineral development is across the Agency. So, it’s, it is about more about a broader administrative, administration policy around the use of public lands and…”

HEINRICH: “Well, why not meet with the local community before making a decision? I mean, that’s kind of the way we typically do planning in these public land agencies is first you listen to the community, just like Senator Barrasso, the Chairman, articulated his issues with BLM planning. We want these decisions to be rooted in local communities, and yet they seem to have been cut out of this process.”

FRENCH: “Yeah. Senator, as you’re aware, when this was first put, proposed, more than two years ago, there was broad comment period on that so that we could understand what the feelings the community were. I’m not aware of any comments that oppose that withdrawal, but that that is that is in conflict with the broader administration’s policy right now on the use of public lands and supporting mineral and energy development.”