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

This bill requires two federal land agencies — the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service — to work together with the New Mexico Land Grant Council to create a formal agreement. The agreement would explain how land grants-mercedes, which are communities that trace back to land originally given out by Spain and Mexico, can get permission to use federal lands for their historical and traditional purposes. The agencies must also talk with Indian tribes while creating this agreement and must look at how other uses of the land affect the historical or traditional uses by these communities. New Mexico currently recognizes 27 of these community land grants-mercedes as local government bodies.

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