Bingaman & Udall Urge Funding of Galisteo Basin Study, Ask County to Delay Leases

The Santa Fe County Commission will hold its first public hearing on their proposed new oil and gas drilling ordinance on January 22, at 3:00 PM in Santa Fe Community College’s Jemez room. A second public hearing is set for February 12 at 6:00 PM in the County Commission chambers.

In the meantime, two of New Mexico's members of Congress are working on another aspect of protecting New Mexico's unique treasures from potential damage from Tecton's proposed drilling in the Galisteo Basin, and have issued this statement:

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman and Representative Tom Udall are pressing the Bush administration for funding to produce an archaeological management plan for the Galisteo Basin, which is home to the largest ruins of Pueblo Indian settlements in the United States, spectacular examples of Native American rock art, and ruins of Spanish colonial settlements.

Simultaneously, the lawmakers have asked the Santa Fe County Commission to delay the issuance of drilling leases in the area until the management plan is completed.

In a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Jim Nussle, Bingaman and Udall cite the Galisteo Basin Archaeological Sites Protection Act, legislation they sponsored, which became Public Law No: 108-208 on March 19, 2004.  Their legislation requires the Secretary of Interior to undertake a comprehensive study of the archeological assets of the basin and to determine what actions are
needed to protect them. 

In their letter to Nussle, the lawmakers said, "We included this language because we know we have only just begun to take stock of all the prehistoric and historic archeological resources in this area yet they are constantly under threat of ruin by natural causes, urban development, vandalism, and uncontrolled excavations."

Bingaman and Udall expressed their deep concern that nearly four years after their legislation was enacted no funds have been proposed or released to recommend new areas for protection or to develop a management plan. They pressed Nussle to adequately fund the study, as directed by law, in fiscal year 2009.

In a separate letter to Santa Fe County Commissioners, Bingaman and Udall also urge the Santa Fe County Commission to "delay issuing leases for any activities, such as exploration or drilling, that have the clear potential to permanently disturb or destroy irreplaceable historic artifacts in the Galisteo Basin."

Text of the letters to both Director Nussle and the Santa Fe County Commission are included below.

Jim Nussle
Director, Office of Management and Budget
725 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20503

Dear Director Nussle,

We are writing with regard to the Galisteo Basin Archaeological Sites Protection Act, which became Public Law No: 108-208 on March 19, 2004. This law was written to help protect the many well preserved prehistoric and historic archaeological resources of Native American and Spanish colonial cultures found in the Galisteo Basin of New Mexico.

This law mandates that the Secretary of the Interior shall continue to search for additional Native American and Spanish colonial sites in the Galisteo Basin area and, within three years of funding being made available, make recommendations for additions to, deletions from, and modifications of the boundaries of the list of archaeological protection sites in the Act. We included this language because we know we have only just begun to take stock of all the prehistoric and historic archeological resources in this area yet they are constantly under threat of ruin by natural causes, urban development, vandalism, and uncontrolled excavations. The Secretary is further directed by the Act to, within three years of funding being made available, develop a management plan to provide for the identification, research, protection, and public interpretation of sites in the Basin.

We are deeply concerned that, to date, no funds have been proposed for either of these purposes. The threats remain, and these invaluable resources continue to degrade. We ask that as you prepare the budget for Fiscal Year 2009 you include adequate funding to commence the investigation, cataloguing and preservation of the uniquely North American archeological treasures in the Galisteo Basin of New Mexico.

Thank you very much for your prompt consideration of our request.

Santa Fe County Commission
102 Grant Avenue
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501

Dear Commissioners:

In 2004, we sponsored and passed into law the Galisteo Basin Archaeological Sites Protection Act because many well preserved prehistoric and historic archaeological resources of Native American and Spanish colonial cultures were found in the Galisteo Basin and the surrounding area, but were yet to be fully identified and protected. These resources, in large part unique to New Mexico, include the largest ruins of Pueblo Indian settlements in the United States, spectacular examples of Native American rock art, and ruins of Spanish colonial settlements. Over time, it was becoming evident that these invaluable resources were being threatened by decay and erosion, urban development, vandalism, and uncontrolled excavations.

The law states that the Secretary of the Interior must continue to search for additional Native American and Spanish colonial sites in the Galisteo Basin area and, within three years of funds being made available, make recommendations for additions to, deletions from, and modifications of the boundaries of the list of archaeological protection sites. Additionally, the Secretary is directed to prepare a general management plan for the identification, research, protection, and public interpretation of the archaeological protection sites located on federal land and for sites on state or private lands for which the Secretary has entered into cooperative agreements.

The identification and development of plans for the protection of the wealth of historic artifacts that exist in this area is still in its early stages. Accordingly, we ask you to delay issuing leases for any activities, such as exploration or drilling, that have the clear potential to permanently disturb or destroy irreplaceable historic artifacts in the Galisteo Basin. We will continue to work to secure the federal funding necessary to complete these surveys.

We thank you for your consideration.
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For more info on these issues, visit these websites:

• Drilling Santa Fe
• Santa Fe Not Oil

Also see our previous post, which contains links to older posts and other sources of info.