New Mexico bars new uranium leases on state trust land without Navajo consultation
WINDOW ROCK
New Mexico Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard signed an executive order Sept. 4 prohibiting new uranium mining leases on state trust land, a restriction that does not apply to federal, private or Navajo Nation land. Stephen Etsitty, the executive director of the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency, said the Nation was not consulted before it was issued.
Executive Order No. 2026-002 applies only to state trust land. It does not affect federal or private land, where several uranium projects are moving through permitting.
The State Land Office oversees about 9 million surface acres and 13 million mineral acres spread among parcels with different ownership.
“I’m just curious as to how far-reaching such an order applies in the state of New Mexico,” Etsitty said. “It’ll be nice to see a map of what are called the state trust lands.
“The executive order did come as a surprise, because we hadn’t heard any word of this coming up,” he said, adding that NNEPA knew only that a press event had been announced several days earlier.
To read the full article, please see the Sept. 10, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.
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I-40, WB @ Winslow