Luján, Heinrich, Leger Fernández Call on Forest Service Opposing Carson National Forest Uranium Drilling Proposal and Demanding Full Environmental Review to Protect Chama Watershed

New Mexico - Today, U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and U.S. Representative Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, wrote to Carson National Forest Supervisor James Duran expressing strong opposition to a proposal to conduct uranium drilling within the Carson National Forest. The lawmakers also urged the Forest Service to require a full Environmental Impact Statement and requested that the Forest Service suspend its review pending congressional action to protect the Chama watershed from mineral development.

"We strongly oppose approval of this action and urge the Forest Service to require a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) before taking any further action on this proposal," wrote the lawmakers.

"We plan to introduce legislation to withdraw the Chama watershed from all forms of mineral entry. We urge the Forest Service to take that legislative effort into account as it evaluates this proposal," continued the lawmakers.

"The communities of the Chama Valley - acequia farmers, tribal members, ranchers, and rural families - have tended this watershed for generations. The Forest Service has both the authority and the responsibility to ensure that decisions affecting their water, their land, and their future are made with the care, science, and respect those communities deserve," concluded the lawmakers.

Also copied on the letter were leaders of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), including the Secretary of Agriculture, the Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment, the Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, the Associate Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, and the Regional Forester for the Southwestern Region of the USDA Forest Service.

The full letter can be found here or below:

Attention Carson National Forest Supervisor Duran:

We write on behalf of the communities of northern New Mexico to express serious concerns regarding efforts filed by Gamma Resources Ltd. earlier this year seeking authorization to conduct exploratory uranium drilling within the Carson National Forest near Canjilon, New Mexico. We strongly oppose approval of this action and urge the Forest Service to require a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) before taking any further action on this proposal. We also request that the Forest Service suspend its review pending congressional action to protect the Chama watershed from mineral development.

It has come to our attention that Gamma Resources Ltd. - a Vancouver-based company traded on the TSX Venture Exchange - has proposed drilling up to twelve exploratory boreholes up to 500 feet deep within the Carson National Forest as part of what the company calls its "Mesa Arc Project." The company has identified a four-mile stretch of the Chama Basin as a target for uranium extraction, and has stated publicly its intent to ultimately extract uranium from this area, not merely explore it. The exploratory phase, if approved, would involve construction of temporary drill pads, approximately 800 feet of new road cuts, and heavy equipment staging - all within one of the most water-sensitive landscapes in New Mexico.

We plan to introduce legislation to withdraw the Chama watershed from all forms of mineral entry. We urge the Forest Service to take that legislative effort into account as it evaluates this proposal.

The Carson National Forest rises above the villages of the Chama Valley and serves as the headwaters for the water systems that feed acequia ditches, community wells, and agricultural operations throughout the region. The Chama River is a principal tributary of the Rio Grande and a critical source of water for communities across northern New Mexico. What occurs on Carson National Forest lands directly determines the quality and quantity of water available downstream to acequia parciantes (water rights holders), ranchers, tribal communities, and families who depend on shallow wells with no alternative water source.

This watershed is not simply an environmental amenity. It is critical water infrastructure - as essential to the communities of northern New Mexico as any road, pipe, or reservoir. Acequia irrigation systems in the Chama Valley have continuously sustained agricultural production and community identity for more than 400 years. Tribal nations have exercised cultural, ceremonial, and subsistence ties to this landscape since time immemorial. The integrity of this watershed is inseparable from the economic survival and cultural continuity of the people who live here.

Uranium is not an ordinary hard-rock mineral. Once uranium or associated contaminants enter an aquifer or stream system, remediation is technically complex, extraordinarily expensive, and may require decades of work - or may not be achievable at all. New Mexico bears a disproportionate and well-documented legacy of harm from uranium mining. Hundreds of abandoned uranium mines on and near tribal lands, particularly within the Navajo Nation, have contaminated water sources and resulted in elevated rates of kidney disease and cancer among affected communities. The federal government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars attempting to remediate legacy uranium contamination sites in New Mexico, and significant contamination remains unaddressed decades after mining operations ceased.

Even at the exploratory stage, this proposal carries real risk. New road cuts and drill pad construction increase erosion and sedimentation in a watershed that feeds gravity-fed acequia systems where even small changes in sediment load can mean a lost agricultural season. Monsoon rains - increasingly intense under drought conditions - can mobilize surface disturbance rapidly. For families on shallow wells, a single contamination event can permanently alter daily life.

We understand you are currently determining whether Gamma's proposal would cause "significant surface disturbance" requiring a full NEPA review. We urge the Forest Service to make that determination affirmatively and promptly. The factors present here - uranium exploration in a sensitive watershed, proximity to acequia-dependent agricultural communities, adjacency to tribal cultural resources, and a company whose stated ultimate goal is extraction, not merely exploration - collectively demand the most rigorous level of environmental review available under federal law.

Specifically, we request that any NEPA review address the following questions before approving any plans:

1. What is the baseline water quality in the affected watershed, including groundwater, prior to any surface disturbance, and who will be responsible for ongoing monitoring?
2. What are the specific pathways by which uranium or associated contaminants could reach acequia headgates, surface streams, and shallow aquifers relied upon by nearby communities?
3. What financial assurance mechanisms will ensure that Gamma Resources Ltd. - a junior mining company with no current production revenue - can cover full remediation costs in the event of contamination?
4. How will the Forest Service ensure meaningful government-to-government consultation with affected tribal nations, including consultation that occurs before, not after, any surface disturbance is authorized?
5. What is the cumulative impact of this proposal considered alongside other uranium exploration and development activity currently proposed or underway in New Mexico?

Gamma Resources Ltd. is a Canadian company, incorporated in Vancouver and traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange Venture Exchange. Its investors and executives are not accountable to New Mexico communities, and its financial interests are not aligned with the long-term health of the Chama watershed. The company's own investor materials describe New Mexico's "historical deposits" as "low-hanging fruit" - language that reflects an extractive calculus, not a commitment to stewardship. Notably, the company has cycled through two name changes in just over a year - operating as Medallion Resources until February 2024, then as Gabo Mining until June 2025 - and its auditors have repeatedly flagged a "going concern" warning, citing an accumulated deficit of nearly $29 million and no revenue from operations, raising serious questions about whether this company has the financial foundation to responsibly develop, and ultimately reclaim, a uranium mine in the headwaters of the Rio Chama.

The administration has framed domestic uranium production as an energy security priority. But energy security built on the contamination of tribal water systems and century-old acequia infrastructure is not security - it is the transfer of risk from a foreign company's shareholders to New Mexico's rural communities. The Chama watershed's clean water is itself a critical resource, one that cannot be replaced if lost.

We urge the Forest Service to require a full Environmental Impact Statement for Gamma Resources Ltd.'s proposed Mesa Arc Project, including a draft EIS with a public comment period; to conduct robust, meaningful government-to-government consultation with all affected tribal nations before any permit decision; to require comprehensive baseline water quality testing throughout the affected watershed before any surface disturbance is authorized; and to suspend further permitting action pending the outcome of congressional consideration of legislation to withdraw the Chama watershed from mineral entry.

The communities of the Chama Valley - acequia farmers, tribal members, ranchers, and rural families - have tended this watershed for generations. The Forest Service has both the authority and the responsibility to ensure that decisions affecting their water, their land, and their future are made with the care, science, and respect those communities deserve.

We welcome the opportunity to discuss these concerns further and request a briefing from Forest Service staff on the current status of the agency's review.

Sincerely,

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