Press Releases

Watch the clip HERE and the full hearing HERE

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández’s (NM-03) bill, H.R. 4284, the Small Cemetery Conveyance Act, was marked up today by the House Natural Resources Committee, advancing legislation that would remove long-standing federal barriers for rural, Tribal, and land-grant communities to care for ancestral cemeteries located on National Forest lands.

For generations, families laid their loved ones to rest on lands chosen long before those lands were claimed by the federal government. Yet many communities have since been forced to navigate costly, time-consuming bureaucratic processes simply to maintain the cemeteries where their ancestors are buried.

The Small Cemetery Conveyance Act addresses this injustice by allowing the U.S. Forest Service to transfer small parcels of land containing historic cemeteries directly to states, local governments, federally recognized Tribes, and land-grant mercedes—without requiring a purchase or land exchange. The bill also authorizes the Forest Service to waive expensive survey and appraisal fees for communities that cannot afford them.

“No community should have to pay for their ancestors,” said Congresswoman Leger Fernández. “This law returns stewardship of these cherished places to the communities who have cared for them for centuries. It is a respectful solution that honors our culture, our history, and our herencia." 

In New Mexico alone, at least eight cemeteries across four land-grant communities are potentially eligible for transfer under the legislation, with many more historic cemeteries throughout the National Forest System expected to benefit.

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