H.R. 2893: Buffalo Tract Protection Act

This bill, known as the Buffalo Tract Protection Act, proposes to withdraw specific federal lands from mineral development to protect them from any mining activities. Here are the main points of the bill:

Withdrawal of Land

The bill aims to withdraw approximately 4,288 acres of federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from all forms of:

• Mining laws, which means no new mining claims can be made.
• Mineral leasing and geothermal leasing laws, which prevents leasing of the land for these purposes.

Land Description

The land to be protected includes four specific tracts, referred to as Tract A, Tract B, Tract C, and Tract D. This land is located in the Placitas area of New Mexico, as indicated on a designated map dated November 13, 2019.

Surface and Mineral Estate

The bill includes provisions about the management of the surface estate (the land itself) and the mineral estate (the rights to extract minerals from underneath the land):

• The Secretary of the Interior is allowed to convey (transfer) the surface estate of the land under certain laws, but any transfer must keep the mineral rights reserved for the United States. This means that while the surface of the land can be sold or leased for other purposes, the government retains ownership of the minerals beneath the surface.

Existing Rights

Any actions taken under this bill are subject to "valid existing rights." This indicates that if there are pre-existing rights to access or extract minerals in that area, those rights will still be honored even after the land is withdrawn from mineral development.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Buffalo Tract Protection Act is to protect these specific lands in New Mexico from potential mineral extraction activities, ensuring they remain undeveloped for other uses, such as recreation or preservation of the natural environment.

Relevant Companies

None found