Luján Presses Chief of the Forest Service on Uranium Mining in Carson National Forest

Full video of the exchange is available here.

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, questioned Tom Schultz, Chief of the Forest Service, regarding the proposal to conduct uranium mining within the Carson National Forest by the Canadian-based uranium company, Gamma Resources Ltd. During the exchange, Senator Luján pressed Chief Tom Schultz on Gamma Resources Ltd. and emphasized his commitment to protect communities in Northern New Mexico and the Chama Watershed from uranium mining and mineral development in the region.

Senator Luján pressed Chief Tom Schultz on mining applications made by Gamma Resources, to which Chief Tom Schultz stated no application has been approved:

Senator Luján: If what you can confirm, is there a mining company from Canada whose name is Gamma Resources, who has made applications and is going to start mining uranium in New Mexico in the second quarter of 2027? Have you approved such a thing?

Chief Schultz: No. We have not approved anything like that.

Senator Luján: Sounds like to me like they're lying then. If you've not approved it, I don't know how a president of a Canadian company who has changed their name three times, that is in the financial hole, which is why they're hiding their name, is telling shareholders, hey, give me some money because we're going to go mine. And they haven't even gotten approval yet.

Senator Luján also expressed his commitment to protect communities in Northern New Mexico and the Chama Watershed:

Senator Luján: Mr. Chairman, I just wanted to take this opportunity today to make it clear to everyone that's listening, including everyone in this room, this mine is not welcome in New Mexico. This mine and company from Canada, who again has changed their name three times to hide their name and they're in a financial hole, are coming in and making false statements. Where I come from, it's called a lie. It's either true or it's not true.

Senator Luján continued: And he's trying to convince people to give him money so he could come to the United States and go mine uranium in a place where the United States should care. Not just because of this community, but the water that flows from this is going to have impacts with compacts with New Mexico and Texas and agreements between the United States and Mexico with water flow. That could all be jeopardized by what's going on in this place.

Senator Luján continued: So I just want to be abundantly clear after coming from a town hall that I had out in the community where they've been organizing, Democrats, Republicans, Libertarian, ranchers that are in this area, very conservative constituents of mine, they're saying hell no, this is not going to happen.

Senator Luján concluded: Something that my constituents that live in these communities was offended by is the way that this company characterized this, I don't even know what to call it, bamboozle. They called it low hanging fruit for uranium mining. That's what they think of these people and that's what they think of this land.

Senator Luján has been leading the fight to protect communities in Northern New Mexico and the Chama Watershed from uranium mining and mineral development in the region. Senator Luján plans to introduce legislation to withdraw the Chama watershed from all forms of mineral entry.

In May, Senator Luján convened local, state, and Tribal officials, community members, ranchers, farmers, acequia members and Land Grant Members to hear their concerns regarding the uranium drilling and mineral development proposal in the region. Senator Luján also toured the area that is being proposed for uranium drilling and mineral development in the region.

In April, Senator Luján led a letter to Carson National Forest Supervisor James Duran expressing strong opposition to a proposal to conduct uranium drilling within the Carson National Forest. Additionally, a large coalition of leaders, advocates, and lawmakers backed Senator Luján's push to protect the Chama Watershed and surrounding communities in Northern New Mexico.

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