Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.03), David G. Valadao (R-CA-22) and Chellie Pingree (D-ME-01) introduced the Support Water-Efficient Strategies and Technologies Act (WEST) Act (H.R. 5764) to support agriculture practices more commonly used in Western arid climates. This bipartisan bill would allow the USDA Secretary to increase cost shares to 85 percent for Environmental Quality Incentives Programs (EQIP) practices that support water-conserving and drought-resilient programs. It would also make perennial production systems eligible for supplemental payments within the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). Further, it would strengthen the USDA soil health program by allowing the Secretary to conduct outreach on the program and offer payments for soil testing. Read more »
Santa Fe, N.M. – U.S. Representative Teresa Leger Fernández, who led the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Act, issued the following statement after FEMA announced the final regulations. The final regulations will be published on Tuesday. Read more »
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) and U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) called on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to publish final regulations for the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire Assistance Act. Read more »
WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM-03) joined by Congresswomen Jen Kiggans (R-VA-02), Chellie Pingree (D-ME-01), and Jenniffer González-Colón (R-PR-At-Large) introduced the bipartisan Women in Agriculture Act. The Women in Agriculture Act would create a Women Farmers and Ranchers Liaison at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), establish a research priority for agriculture machinery and equipment designed to be used by women, and prioritize funding for childcare facilities in rural areas. The Women in Agriculture Act recognizes that women are essential to farmlands across the country and addresses the lack of equipment designed for women farmers and ranchers and the need for childcare in rural areas. Read more »
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) and James Moylan (R-GU) and U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) reintroduced bipartisan legislation designed to strengthen the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) to compensate individuals exposed to radiation while working in uranium mines or living downwind from atomic weapons tests. Read more »
Today, Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández secured The United States Forest Service’s (USFS) commitment to work with her and the GAO to implement the GAO’s recommendations to improve prescribed burn management. Rep. Leger Fernández questioned USFS Chief Randy Moore during today’s Federal Lands Subcommittee hearing on the FY 2024 budget request for the… Read more »
Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández issued the following statement on the 1-year anniversary of the Hermit’s Peak Calf Canyon Fire.
“Today marks the 1-year anniversary of the Hermit’s Peak prescribed burn –a painful reminder of the man-made disaster that ravaged our beautiful communities, forests, acequias, lands, and ancestral intergenerational homes.… Read more »
Today, Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández and Senator Martin Heinrich introduced legislation to establish Cerro de la Olla Wilderness within the Río Grande del Norte National Monument in northern New Mexico.
Senator Ben Ray Luján and Representative Melanie Stansbury are original cosponsors.
For generations, people of the Taos area have hunted, gathered herbs, and… Read more »
Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández issued the following statement after President Biden nominated Xochitl Torres Small to serve as Deputy Secretary of Agriculture at the U.S. Department of Agriculture:
“New Mexico knows rural – it’s our herencia y cultura – it’s also a major economic engine for many ranchers and farmers. Our hermana Xochitl… Read more »
U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and U.S. Representative Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) successfully reauthorized the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area (NRGNHA) for an additional 15 years to continue the conservation of local cultural and historic resources.
Senator Heinrich and Representative Leger Fernández introduced bicameral legislation in April 2021 to… Read more »
