The Carson National Forest is developing a new Forest Plan, the guiding document for managing the forest's water, wildlife habitat, and wildlands for the next 15 -20 years. The plan also guides where energy development, mining, and logging will be allowed. Almost 30 years old, the Carson's current management plan is inadequate in terms of addressing today's environmental stresses, like climate change. Amigos Bravos has been working to ensure that the Forest Service hear from people who believe conserving and protecting the Forest water resources is a priority in this planning process. The plan revision process is expected to take a couple of years, and include many steps with the goal of a final plan being released in September 2017. 

A key component of Amigos Bravos' comments focused on the importance of wetlands to downstream ecosystems and communities. Wetlands are the sponges of our watersheds. They soak up flood waters and snow melt and then release these waters over time, providing crucial flow during dry times of the year. They also serve to stabilize water supplies, lessening the extreme effects of floods, drought and fire. Wetlands are critical to the food chain and biodiversity - a significant percentage of terrestrial animals use wetlands for a portion of their lifecycle. 

On December 4th, the New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division will hold a public hearing to hear input about whether Rio Grande Resources' (RGR) Mt. Taylor Uranium Mine can move from "standby" to "active" status. The mine has been closed since 1992 and has had four standby permits. During this time RGR has not been required to reclaim the area or protect our ground water. Now RGR has submitted a request to restart this Zombie Mine. Amigos Bravos and our partners contend that this request is simply a ploy to get around the New Mexico Mining Law that doesn't require reclamation until the mine closes. 

The Public Hearing will be held on Friday December 4th at 10am at the Cibola County Offices, 515 West High Street, Grants, New Mexico. Please attend if you are able! If you are not able to attend, but would like to send a written comment, please click here: http://amigosbravos.org/take_action/letter/27 

Amigos Bravos and the Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment (MASE) will present testimony at the hearing on the impacts from pollution to our communities from the Mt. Taylor Mine and the fact that the price of uranium is currently insufficient (by RGR's own admission) to sustain operations. There will be an opportunity for public testimony as well.