H.R. 2785 · 119th Congress

New Mexico Land Grant-Mercedes Historical or Traditional Use Cooperation and Coordination Act

Introduced on Apr 9, 2025 by Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM-3). One cosponsor. Latest action (May 21, 2026): Subcommittee Hearings Held

Stage
Introduced
Introduced
Apr 9, 2025
Cosponsors
1
0 from the other party
Policy area
Public Lands and Natural Resources
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Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. 2Reported by committee
  3. 3Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To provide for greater cooperation and coordination between the Federal Government and the governing bodies and community users of land grant-mercedes in New Mexico relating to historical or traditional uses of certain land grant-mercedes on Federal public land, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Advisory bodies
  • Cemeteries and funerals
  • Government information and archives
  • Infrastructure development
  • Land use and conservation
  • Licensing and registrations
  • Livestock
  • New Mexico
  • Roads and highways
  • User charges and fees
  • Water storage

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in House, Apr 9, 2025). Public domain.

New Mexico Land Grant-Mercedes Historical or Traditional Use Cooperation and Coordination Act

This bill directs the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Forest Service to enter a memorandum of understanding with the New Mexico Land Grant Council to describe existing processes that land grants-mercedes may use to obtain authorization for historical, traditional, or other uses of federal lands.

Land grants-mercedes were created when Spain and Mexico issued grants of land to communities or individuals. When the United States acquired the land, including New Mexico, a process was created for adjudicating and recognizing these property rights. During that process, most land grants-mercedes lands became federal lands. Today, New Mexico recognizes 27 community land grants-mercedes as political subdivisions.

When entering into the memorandum of understanding, the BLM and the Forest Service must consult with Indian tribes.

The memorandum of understanding must provide for (1) enhanced cooperation and coordination between the BLM, the Forest Service, and qualified land grants-mercedes; and (2) subsidiary agreements with certain land grants-mercedes for specific projects.

Additionally, the bill outlines what the memorandum of understanding must describe, such as the procedures for notice and comments on land management planning decisions.

Finally, the BLM and the Forest Service must include in land use plans a section that evaluates the impact of other uses in the plan on historical or traditional uses by land grants-mercedes.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Teresa Leger FernandezD-NM-3Sponsor

Democrats · 1

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Apr 9, 2025Introduced in House
  2. Apr 9, 2025Introduced in House
  3. Apr 9, 2025 · HouseReferred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
  4. May 12, 2026 · HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Federal Lands.
  5. May 21, 2026 · HouseSubcommittee Hearings Held

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY6 reports
    $240K reported (all issues)
  2. Pueblo of Laguna4 reports
  3. Pueblo of Taos2 reports
  4. INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS1 report
    $315.8K reported (all issues)
  5. Santo Domingo Pueblo1 report
    $20K reported (all issues)

Reports filed in 2025, 2026.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.