Sponsors (6)
The bill secures watershed, habitat, and recreational values by withdrawing lands and adding wilderness protections, trading off the loss of some mineral, geothermal, and renewable development opportunities (and associated local revenue/jobs) and adding long-term federal management responsibilities.
Residents (including nearby rural and Indigenous communities) and local ecosystems will have reduced new mineral and geothermal development and added wilderness protection for about 11,599 acres and the Pecos Watershed area, preserving water quality, habitat, and scenic lands.
Hikers, hunters, anglers, families and local communities retain non-motorized recreational access and the area's scenic and recreational character because the bill limits surface-disturbing activities and preserves recreation values.
Local governments, taxpayers, and state wildlife managers gain clearer management boundaries and preserved state authority over fish and wildlife (keeping state-managed hunting/fishing/trapping rules), reducing legal ambiguity for land management.
Small businesses, mining claimants, energy companies, local governments, and taxpayers lose opportunities for new mining and geothermal projects on the withdrawn/wilderness lands, reducing potential jobs, local revenue, and future tax or royalty income.
Renewable-energy developers and some rural communities face reduced options to site wind or geothermal projects within the boundaries, which can increase project costs or delays and limit local renewable development opportunities.
Local governments and small businesses are restricted from future public land disposals and certain land uses in the designated area, limiting opportunities for infrastructure, development, or local land-use changes.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Introduced April 8, 2025 by Teresa Leger Fernandez · Last progress April 8, 2025
Withdrawing specified federal lands in the Pecos Watershed from mineral entry, leasing, and other forms of development, and designating about 11,599 acres of Forest Service land as a new wilderness area. The law requires the Forest Service to file maps and legal descriptions, preserves existing valid rights (including preexisting grazing), and directs management under the Wilderness Act while preserving State authority for fish and wildlife management.