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

This bill requires the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service to work together with the New Mexico Land Grant Council to create an agreement explaining how certain New Mexico communities, called land grants-mercedes, can get permission to use federal lands for historical or traditional purposes. Land grants-mercedes are communities that originally received land from Spain or Mexico, but most of that land became federal property when the United States took over the area. The agreement must include cooperation between the agencies and these communities, allow for specific project agreements, and explain how these communities can participate in land management decisions. The bill also requires that land use plans include a review of how other uses of the land might affect the historical or traditional uses by land grants-mercedes.

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