New Mexico Democrats are urging President Joe Biden to protect 107,000 acres in their state as a national monument before control of the White House changes hands on Jan. 20.
Sens. Martin Henrich and Ben Ray Luján and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández outlined their bid to establish the Caja del Rio National Monument in a letter Tuesday to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
“The Caja del Rio is a living testament to centuries of New Mexico’s complicated and under-told history,” the lawmakers wrote.
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The proposed 107,000-acre site — comprising two-thirds Forest Service-managed lands with the remainder overseen by the Bureau of Land Management — stretches between Sante Fe and the Rio Grande.
