II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 1319
To withdraw certain Federal land in the Pecos Watershed area of the State
of New Mexico from mineral entry, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
APRIL8, 2025
Mr. H
EINRICH(for himself and Mr. LUJA´N) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Nat-
ural Resources
A BILL
To withdraw certain Federal land in the Pecos Watershed
area of the State of New Mexico from mineral entry,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pecos Watershed Pro-4
tection Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. WITHDRAWAL OF FEDERAL LAND IN PECOS WATER-6
SHED AREA, NEW MEXICO. 7
(a) D
EFINITION OFFEDERALLAND.—In this sec-8
tion, the term ‘‘Federal land’’ means the Federal land de-9
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•S 1319 IS
picted as ‘‘Pecos Withdrawal’’ on the map entitled ‘‘Pro-1
posed Mineral Withdrawal Legislative Map’’ and dated 2
September 11, 2023. 3
(b) W
ITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid rights in exist-4
ence on the date of enactment of this Act, the Federal 5
land is withdrawn from all forms of— 6
(1) entry, appropriation, or disposal under the 7
public land laws; 8
(2) location, entry, and patent under the mining 9
laws; and 10
(3) disposition under all laws pertaining to min-11
eral and geothermal leasing or mineral materials. 12
SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF THOMPSON PEAK WILDERNESS 13
AREA, NEW MEXICO. 14
(a) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 15
(1) S
ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 16
the Secretary of Agriculture. 17
(2) S
TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 18
of New Mexico. 19
(3) W
ILDERNESS AREA.—The term ‘‘wilderness 20
area’’ means the Thompson Peak Wilderness Area 21
designated by subsection (b). 22
(b) D
ESIGNATION.—In accordance with the Wilder-23
ness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), the approximately 24
11,599 acres of land managed by the Forest Service in 25
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•S 1319 IS
the State, as generally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Pro-1
posed Mineral Withdrawal Legislative Map’’ and dated 2
September 11, 2023, is designated as a wilderness area 3
and as a component of the National Wilderness Preserva-4
tion System, to be known as the ‘‘Thompson Peak Wilder-5
ness Area’’. 6
(c) M
AP ANDLEGALDESCRIPTION.— 7
(1) I
N GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 8
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 9
shall file a map and legal description of the wilder-10
ness area with— 11
(A) the Committee on Energy and Natural 12
Resources of the Senate; and 13
(B) the Committee on Natural Resources 14
of the House of Representatives. 15
(2) E
FFECT.—The map and legal description 16
filed under paragraph (1) shall have the same force 17
and effect as if included in this Act, except that the 18
Secretary may correct clerical and typographical er-19
rors in the map and legal description. 20
(3) A
VAILABILITY.—The map and legal descrip-21
tion filed under paragraph (1) shall be on file and 22
available for public inspection in the Office of the 23
Chief of the Forest Service. 24
(d) A
DMINISTRATION.— 25
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to valid existing 1
rights, the wilderness area shall be administered by 2
the Secretary in accordance with the Wilderness Act 3
(16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), except that any reference 4
in that Act to the effective date of that Act shall be 5
considered to be a reference to the date of enact-6
ment of this Act. 7
(2) A
DJACENT MANAGEMENT .— 8
(A) N
O PROTECTIVE PERIMETERS OR 9
BUFFER ZONES.—Congress does not intend for 10
the designation of the wilderness area to create 11
a protective perimeter or buffer zone around 12
the wilderness area. 13
(B) N
ONWILDERNESS ACTIVITIES .—The 14
fact that nonwilderness activities or uses out-15
side of the wilderness area can be seen or heard 16
from an area within the wilderness area shall 17
not preclude the conduct of the nonwilderness 18
activities or uses outside the boundaries of the 19
wilderness area. 20
(3) F
ISH AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT .—In ac-21
cordance with section 4(d)(7) of the Wilderness Act 22
(16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(7)), nothing in this section af-23
fects the jurisdiction or responsibilities of the State 24
with respect to fish and wildlife management in the 25
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wilderness area (including the regulation of hunting, 1
fishing, and trapping). 2
(4) G
RAZING.—The Secretary shall allow the 3
continuation of the grazing of livestock in the wilder-4
ness area, if established before the date of enact-5
ment of this Act, in accordance with— 6
(A) section 4(d)(4) of the Wilderness Act 7
(16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(4)); and 8
(B) the guidelines set forth in Appendix A 9
of the report of the Committee on Interior and 10
Insular Affairs of the House of Representatives 11
accompanying H.R. 2570 of the 101st Congress 12
(H. Rept. 101–405). 13
(5) W
ILDFIRE, INSECT, AND DISEASE CON -14
TROL.—The Secretary may carry out measures in 15
the wilderness area that the Secretary determines to 16
be necessary to control fire, insects, or diseases, in 17
accordance with section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness 18
Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(1)). 19
(e) I
NCORPORATION OF ACQUIREDLAND ANDINTER-20
ESTS INLAND.—Any land or interest in land within the 21
boundaries of the wilderness area that is acquired by the 22
United States after the date of enactment of this Act shall 23
be added to and administered as part of the wilderness 24
area. 25
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(f) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, 1
the wilderness area is withdrawn from— 2
(1) entry, appropriation, or disposal under the 3
public land laws; 4
(2) location, entry, and patent under the mining 5
laws; and 6
(3) disposition under all laws relating to min-7
eral and geothermal leasing or mineral materials. 8
Æ
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