WASHINGTON – Yesterday, Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández, sent a letter to U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore urging him to honor his commitment to use infrared drones for all prescribed burns in New Mexico. Rep. Leger Fernández previously secured a commitment from Chief Moore to use infrared drones during prescribed fires after a holdover pile burn unknowingly smoldered for months and helped start the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire. Infrared drones allow the Forest Service to safely and effectively monitor prescribed fires and verify that the fire is completely out. Read more »
WASHINGTON – Representative Teresa Leger Fernández introduced the Pecos Watershed Protection Act, legislation to protect portions of the Pecos Watershed in northern New Mexico from all mineral development. U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) introduced the companion legislation in the House of Representatives and Representative Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) is an original cosponsor of the legislation. Read more »
WASHINGTON – October 5, 2023 - U.S. Representative Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M) and U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) introduced the Cerro Pelado Fire Assistance Act to provide financial compensation to help New Mexicans affected by the Cerro Pelado Fire caused by the U.S. Forest Service. The bill would require FEMA to establish a Cerro Pelado Fire Claims Office to compensate those who suffered personal injury, property losses, business and financial losses resulting from the Cerro Pelado Fire. Read more »
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 »
