September 2nd, 2026Heinrich Speaks at National Conference of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers, Visits Spiritus Pilot Facility on Nambé Pueblo, Meets with Community Leaders in Canjilon to Protect Northern New Mexico from Uranium Mining

ALBUQUERQUE & ABIQUIÚ, N.M. — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) attended the 26 th Annual Conference of the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (NATHPO), where he advocated for increased funding for Tribal Historic Preservation Offices and meaningful consultation; toured Spiritus Direct Air Capture pilot facility at Nambé Pueblo; and visited Canjilon in northern New Mexico to meet with community members opposed to a potential uranium mine. On Tuesday, August 25, Heinrich joined U.S. Representative Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) at the NATHPO Conference for a discussion moderated by Santo Domingo Pueblo Governor Raymond Aguilar, Jr., and Acoma Governor Charles Riley. The discussion focused on the need for greater federal investment in Tribal historic preservation, and the importance of meaningful Tribal consultation in federal decision-making. Heinrich highlighted Tribal Historic Preservation Officers’ role in protecting and preserving cultural, historical, archaeological, and traditional Tribal resources, and called for the Historic Preservation Fund to be made permanent, adequately funded, and expanded. He has previously introduced legislation establishing a goal of $300 million annually for the Fund and requiring at least 20 percent of funding for Tribal Historic Preservation Officers — providing at least $60 million annually for Tribal Historic Preservation Offices. “We need to make the Historic Preservation Fund permanent. We need to adequately resource the fund as a whole. And we especially need to make sure that we're dedicating more of those funds to Tribal Historic Preservation Officers, so that you can expand your efforts and do the work that we all know has to get done,” said Heinrich. U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) speaking with Acoma Governor Charles Riley, Santo Domingo Pueblo Governor Raymond Aguilar, Jr., and U.S. Representative Teresa Ledger Fernández (D-N.M.) at the Annual NATHPO Conference, August 25, 2026. During the conversation, Heinrich also emphasized the need for bipartisan collaboration to make stronger federal protections for Tribal historic preservation durable over the long term. “One of the things we really need is to build more Republican support. So having Tribes that are represented, in particular, by Republican senators, reach out. We need some champions on the other side of the aisle to be successful with this — we don't want to just be in a position where we're able to get this done when we're in complete control of the White House, the Senate, the House. We want this to be durable for the long term, and we need some good Republican partners,” said Heinrich. Heinrich criticized the Advisory Council of History Preservation’s proposed revisions for Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), warning that the changes could undermine Tribal sovereignty and meaningful consultation. “I don't know how to characterize the draft that we've seen as anything other than complete hostility to the government-to-government relationship and to meaningful consultation,” said Heinrich, stressing the importance of meaningful and effective Tribal consultation. “A comment period is not consultation. Full stop. These proposals are a way of cutting Tribes out of the conversation. And the irony is, that's not going to get projects built.” On Thursday, August 27, Heinrich toured Spiritus, a Direct Air Capture pilot facility at Nambé Pueblo. The facility builds on a Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) technology transfer and uses a new approach to capture carbon dioxide with less energy than previous methods. Spiritus’ partnership with the NPDC will bring sustainable, high-skill jobs to New Mexico and cement the state as a key player in the future of large-scale carbon sequestration. Heinrich submitted a $1 million Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) Congressionally Directed Spending request to improve Tova Muusa Poe, the road serving the Nambé Pueblo Development Corporation facility where Spiritus is a tenant. U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) touring Spiritus Pilot Facility at Nambé Pueblo, August 27, 2026. On Friday, August 28, Heinrich met with Rio Arriba County ranchers, acequia parciantes, and Land Grant heirs at the U.S. Forest Service’s Canjilon Ranger Station to speak out against uranium mining in Northern New Mexico and discuss the Mesa Arc Project, a uranium exploration project in the Upper Chama watershed. U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) speaking with Rio Arriba County community members about protecting the Upper Chama watershed from proposed uranium mining, August 28, 2026. Heinrich is fighting to protect communities in Northern New Mexico and the Chama Watershed from uranium mining and mineral development. Earlier this month, Heinrich co-sponsored U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján’s (D-N.M.) Chama Basin Watershed Protection Act, legislation to permanently ban uranium mining on federal lands in Northern New Mexico’s Rio Chama Watershed. In April, Heinrich, Luján, and Leger Fernández wrote to Carson National Forest Supervisor James Duran expressing strong opposition to a proposal to conduct uranium mining within the Carson National Forest. ###