II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 1363
To provide for greater cooperation and coordination between the Federal
Government and the governing bodies and community users of land
grant-mercedes in New Mexico relating to historical or traditional uses
of certain land grant-mercedes on Federal public land, and for other
purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
APRIL9, 2025
Mr. L
UJA´Nintroduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
A BILL
To provide for greater cooperation and coordination between
the Federal Government and the governing bodies and
community users of land grant-mercedes in New Mexico
relating to historical or traditional uses of certain land
grant-mercedes on Federal public land, 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 ‘‘New Mexico Land 4
Grant-Mercedes Historical or Traditional Use Cooperation 5
and Coordination Act’’. 6
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SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1
In this Act: 2
(1) C
OMMUNITY USER.—The term ‘‘community 3
user’’ means an heir (as defined under the laws of 4
the State) of a qualified land grant-merced. 5
(2) F
EDERAL LAND.— 6
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Federal 7
land’’ means any land or interest in land owned 8
by the United States. 9
(B) E
XCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘Federal 10
land’’ does not include— 11
(i) land within the boundary of an In-12
dian reservation; 13
(ii) land held in trust or in restricted 14
status by the United States for the benefit 15
of— 16
(I) an Indian Tribe; or 17
(II) an individual Indian; or 18
(iii) land held in fee by an Indian or 19
Indian Tribe that is subject to restrictions 20
on alienation by the United States. 21
(3) G
OVERNING BODY.—The term ‘‘governing 22
body’’ means the board of trustees authorized under 23
State law with the control, care, and management of 24
a qualified land grant-merced. 25
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(4) HISTORICAL OR TRADITIONAL USE .—The 1
term ‘‘historical or traditional use’’ means the fol-2
lowing long-established and habitual uses conducted 3
by a qualified land grant-merced on Federal land for 4
noncommercial benefit and for the benefit of the 5
qualified land grant-merced: 6
(A) The use of water in accordance with 7
all applicable Federal and State laws (including 8
regulations). 9
(B) Gathering herbs in small quantities. 10
(C) Gathering wood products in small 11
quantities. 12
(D) Gathering flora or botanical products 13
in small quantities. 14
(E) Grazing, to the extent that grazing has 15
traditionally been carried out on Federal land, 16
as determined by the Secretary concerned, in 17
coordination with the New Mexico Land Grant 18
Council. 19
(F) Subsistence hunting or fishing that is 20
conducted in accordance with State law. 21
(G) Soil or rock gathering in small quan-22
tities. 23
(H) The use and maintenance of an exist-24
ing monument or shrine. 25
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(I) The use and maintenance of an existing 1
cemetery by a qualified land grant-merced. 2
(J) Any other long-established and habit-3
ual use conducted by a qualified land grant- 4
merced for noncommercial benefit that— 5
(i) has a sustainable use by the quali-6
fied land grant-merced, as determined by 7
the Secretary concerned, in coordination 8
with the New Mexico Land Grant Council; 9
(ii) supports the long-term integrity of 10
the qualified land grant-merced, as deter-11
mined by the Secretary concerned, in co-12
ordination with the New Mexico Land 13
Grant Council; and 14
(iii) is agreed to in writing by the Sec-15
retary concerned and the New Mexico 16
Land Grant Council. 17
(5) I
NDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 18
means the governing body of any individually identi-19
fied and federally recognized Indian or Alaska Na-20
tive tribe, band, nation, pueblo, village, community, 21
affiliated Tribal group, or component reservation in-22
cluded on the most recent list published pursuant to 23
section 104(a) of the Federally Recognized Indian 24
Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131(a)). 25
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(6) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING .—The 1
term ‘‘memorandum of understanding’’ means a 2
memorandum of understanding entered into or ex-3
tended, renewed, or revised under section 3(a)(1). 4
(7) N
ONCOMMERCIAL BENEFIT .—The term 5
‘‘noncommercial benefit’’ means a benefit from a 6
use, the primary purpose of which is not the sale of 7
a good or service. 8
(8) Q
UALIFIED LAND GRANT -MERCED.—The 9
term ‘‘qualified land grant-merced’’ means a com-10
munity land grant issued under the laws or customs 11
of the Government of Spain or Mexico that— 12
(A) is recognized under New Mexico Stat-13
utes Chapter 49, Articles 1 and 4 (or a suc-14
cessor statute); and 15
(B)(i) has a record of historical or tradi-16
tional use on Federal land under the jurisdic-17
tion of the Secretary concerned; or 18
(ii) has a patented exterior boundary that 19
is or was previously located on or adjacent to 20
Federal land under the jurisdiction of the Sec-21
retary concerned. 22
(9) S
ECRETARY CONCERNED .—The term ‘‘Sec-23
retary concerned’’ means the Secretary of Agri-24
culture or the Secretary of the Interior, with respect 25
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to Federal land under the jurisdiction of the Sec-1
retary of Agriculture or the Secretary of the Inte-2
rior, respectively. 3
(10) S
TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the 4
State of New Mexico. 5
SEC. 3. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING ON PERMIT 6
REQUIREMENTS AND OTHER LAND USE AU-7
THORIZATIONS FOR HISTORICAL OR TRADI-8
TIONAL USES OF QUALIFIED LAND GRANT- 9
MERCEDES; REDUCTION OR WAIVER OF CER-10
TAIN FEES. 11
(a) M
EMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.— 12
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary concerned, 13
acting through the appropriate officials of the De-14
partment of Agriculture and the Department of the 15
Interior in the State, in consultation with Indian 16
Tribes, shall— 17
(A) not later than 2 years after the date 18
of enactment of this Act, enter into an initial 19
memorandum of understanding with the New 20
Mexico Land Grant Council; and 21
(B) subject to the requirements of this sec-22
tion, on the expiration of the initial memo-23
randum of understanding entered into under 24
subparagraph (A) or any successor memo-25
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randum of understanding entered into under 1
this subparagraph— 2
(i) enter into a successor memo-3
randum of understanding with the New 4
Mexico Land Grant Council; or 5
(ii) extend or renew, with any revi-6
sions determined to be appropriate by the 7
Secretary concerned and the New Mexico 8
Land Grant Council, the expired memo-9
randum of understanding. 10
(2) A
PPLICABLE REQUIREMENTS AND AUTHOR -11
IZATIONS.— 12
(A) I
N GENERAL.—A memorandum of un-13
derstanding shall— 14
(i) provide for enhanced cooperation 15
and coordination between the Secretary 16
concerned and qualified land grant-mer-17
cedes; 18
(ii) provide for the Secretary con-19
cerned, acting through the appropriate of-20
ficials of the Department of Agriculture 21
and the Department of the Interior, to 22
enter into subsidiary agreements with 23
qualified land grant-mercedes for specific 24
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projects consistent with the memorandum 1
of understanding; and 2
(iii) be consistent with, and subject 3
to— 4
(I) applicable Federal laws (in-5
cluding regulations); 6
(II) applicable land use plans; 7
and 8
(III) valid existing rights. 9
(B) P
ERMITS AND OTHER LAND USE AU -10
THORIZATIONS.—A memorandum of under-11
standing shall include— 12
(i) a description of the types of histor-13
ical or traditional uses that— 14
(I) a community user or a gov-15
erning body of a qualified land grant- 16
merced may conduct for noncommer-17
cial benefit on Federal land under the 18
jurisdiction of the Secretary con-19
cerned; and 20
(II) require a permit or other 21
land use authorization from the Sec-22
retary concerned; 23
(ii) a citation to, and description of, 24
any administrative procedures for obtain-25
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ing the permit or other land use authoriza-1
tion under clause (i); 2
(iii) a description of— 3
(I) the types of fees, including 4
cost recovery fees and land use fees, 5
that may be associated with a permit 6
or other land use authorization under 7
clause (i); and 8
(II) if applicable, the process to 9
request a reduction or waiver of the 10
fees described in subclause (I) under 11
regulations promulgated by the Sec-12
retary concerned; 13
(iv) a description of the process for 14
determining the permissible use of motor-15
ized and nonmotorized vehicles and equip-16
ment by a community user or the gov-17
erning body of a qualified land grant- 18
merced for noncommercial historical or 19
traditional use on Federal land under the 20
jurisdiction of the Secretary concerned; 21
(v) a description of the process for de-22
termining the permissible use of mecha-23
nized vehicles or equipment by a commu-24
nity user or governing body of a qualified 25
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land grant-merced for historical or tradi-1
tional use on Federal land under the juris-2
diction of the Secretary concerned; 3
(vi) a description of the process for 4
determining the permissible use of non-5
native material by a community user or the 6
governing body of a qualified land grant- 7
merced for any of the uses described in 8
subparagraphs (C) and (D) on Federal 9
land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary 10
concerned; 11
(vii) a description of any applicable 12
restrictions and prohibitions on historical 13
or traditional uses conducted by a qualified 14
land grant-merced on Federal land under 15
the jurisdiction of the Secretary concerned; 16
and 17
(viii) a description of the process, in 18
accordance with applicable law, for con-19
sulting with 1 or more Indian Tribes that 20
would be directly affected by a proposed 21
historical or traditional use on Federal 22
land by a qualified land grant-merced. 23
(C) R
OUTINE MAINTENANCE AND MINOR 24
IMPROVEMENTS.—A memorandum of under-25
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standing shall address authorization of routine 1
maintenance and minor improvements of infra-2
structure used by a qualified land grant-merced 3
in connection with a historical or traditional use 4
on Federal land under the jurisdiction of the 5
Secretary concerned, including— 6
(i) cleaning, repair, or replacement-in- 7
kind of infrastructure; 8
(ii) maintenance of a trail, road, cattle 9
guard, culvert, or fence; 10
(iii) maintenance of a monument or 11
shrine; 12
(iv) maintenance of a community cem-13
etery by a qualified land grant-merced; 14
(v) maintenance of a livestock well, 15
water line, water storage container, or 16
water tank; and 17
(vi) any other routine maintenance or 18
minor improvement associated with histor-19
ical or traditional uses identified by the 20
New Mexico Land Grant Council during 21
the development of the memorandum of 22
understanding. 23
(D) M
AJOR IMPROVEMENTS .—A memo-24
randum of understanding may describe the 25
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process for authorizing major improvements of 1
infrastructure of a qualified land grant-merced 2
in connection with a historical or traditional use 3
on Federal land under the jurisdiction of the 4
Secretary concerned, including— 5
(i) construction or expansion of a 6
community water or wastewater system of 7
a qualified land grant-merced; 8
(ii) construction or major repair of a 9
livestock well, water line, water storage 10
container, or water tank of a qualified land 11
grant-merced; 12
(iii) major repair of a monument or 13
shrine of a qualified land grant-merced; 14
(iv) installation of a cattle guard; 15
(v) construction of a trail, road, or 16
fence; 17
(vi) construction or expansion of a 18
community cemetery by a qualified land 19
grant-merced; and 20
(vii) any other major improvement as-21
sociated with historical or traditional uses, 22
as determined by the Secretary concerned. 23
(E) N
OTICE AND COMMENT .—A memo-24
randum of understanding shall describe the 25
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policies and procedures for notice and comment 1
on land management planning decisions and 2
major Federal actions that could affect histor-3
ical or traditional uses of Federal land by a 4
qualified land grant-merced, and methods of 5
providing the notice, including notice— 6
(i) online; 7
(ii) in print; and 8
(iii) by mail or email to the New Mex-9
ico Land Grant Council and Indian Tribes, 10
including through a listserv that would in-11
clude qualified land grant-mercedes, the 12
New Mexico Land Grant Council, and In-13
dian Tribes. 14
(3) D
EVELOPMENT, EXECUTION, AND IMPLE-15
MENTATION OF MEMORANDUM OF UNDER -16
STANDING.— 17
(A) R
OLE OF THE NEW MEXICO LAND 18
GRANT COUNCIL .—The New Mexico Land 19
Grant Council may represent qualified land 20
grant-mercedes in developing, executing, and 21
implementing a memorandum of understanding. 22
(B) R
OLE OF GOVERNING BODIES OF 23
QUALIFIED LAND GRANT -MERCEDES.—The Sec-24
retary concerned may invite representatives of 25
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governing bodies of qualified land grant-mer-1
cedes to participate in meetings and provide 2
input during the development of a memo-3
randum of understanding. 4
(4) L
IMITATION.—A memorandum of under-5
standing— 6
(A) shall describe the process for a quali-7
fied land grant-merced to obtain authorizations 8
for historical or traditional uses through exist-9
ing authorities, subject to existing Federal laws 10
(including regulations) and applicable permit 11
and land use authorization requirements; but 12
(B) shall not directly approve or authorize 13
a historical or traditional use described in sub-14
paragraph (A). 15
(b) F
EES FOR QUALIFIEDLANDGRANT-MER-16
CEDES.—Where the Secretary concerned is authorized to 17
reduce or waive land use fees or consider the fiscal capac-18
ity of the applicant in determining whether to reduce or 19
waive a fee for a land use permit, the Secretary shall con-20
sider— 21
(1) the socioeconomic conditions of community 22
users of a qualified land grant-merced; and 23
(2) the annual operating budget of the gov-24
erning body of the qualified land grant-merced. 25
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SEC. 4. CONSIDERATION AND INCLUSION OF PROVISIONS 1
WITH RESPECT TO HISTORICAL OR TRADI-2
TIONAL USES IN LAND USE PLANNING. 3
In developing, maintaining, and revising land use 4
plans pursuant to section 202 of the Federal Land Policy 5
and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712) and sec-6
tion 6 of the National Forest Management Act (16 U.S.C. 7
1604), as applicable, the Secretary concerned shall, in ac-8
cordance with applicable law, and, as determined to be ap-9
propriate by the Secretary concerned, include a section in 10
the applicable land use plan that considers and evaluates 11
the impact of other uses in the land use plan on historical 12
or traditional uses by qualified land grant-mercedes. 13
SEC. 5. EFFECT. 14
Nothing in this Act— 15
(1) modifies, limits, expands, or otherwise af-16
fects any treaty-reserved right, or any other right of, 17
or obligation to, any Indian Tribe, including treaties 18
or agreements with the United States, Executive or-19
ders, statutes, regulations, or case law, that is recog-20
nized on or after the date of enactment of this Act 21
by any other means; 22
(2) affects the authority of the State to regulate 23
water use in accordance with all Federal and State 24
laws (including regulations); 25
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(3) affects the authority of the State to regulate 1
the management of game and fish, in accordance 2
with all Federal and State laws (including regula-3
tions); 4
(4) affects any valid existing rights, or valid 5
permitted authorized uses of, Federal land; or 6
(5) creates any implicit or explicit right to any 7
type of use of Federal land. 8
Æ
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