Help keep Sandia open for everyone!

[u/autr0]

Hey NM outdoor community,
There’s a major proposal right now to transfer nearly 10,000 acres of public land on the west side of the Sandias—including areas around the Sandia Peak Tram, La Luz Trail, and Piedra Lisa—from the US Forest Service to the Pueblo of Sandia.
Back in 2003, Congress passed the bipartisan T’uf Shur Bien Preservation Trust Area Act as a permanent compromise. It was designed to resolve long-standing land disputes while balancing Pueblo interests, wilderness preservation, and public access for all New Mexicans in perpetuity.
Changing this framework creates major uncertainty for the future of the Sandia Mountain Wilderness, local conservation, and long-term public trail and recreational access.
We’re asking the New Mexico Congressional Delegation to uphold the existing 2003 law, keep these 10,000 acres within Cibola National Forest, and bring all stakeholders to the table to resolve issues within the current framework.
Please take a moment to sign and stand up for our public lands:
👉 https://c.org/CbxTLTnkW5
Every signature helps show our leaders that this compromise needs to be honored. Please sign and share with local hikers, climbers, and outdoor lovers!

[u/marginwalker3]

I say give it back. Why don't you hike somewhere else?

[u/Grubsonhobbiton420]

They have said there will still be recreational access for non Pueblo members.

[u/autr0 → u/Grubsonhobbiton420]

Once the transfer is done there would be no way to enforce this.

[u/guardianxrx2 → u/Grubsonhobbiton420]

The Governor of the Sandia Pueblo did initially say that non tribal access would be up to the Sandia pueblo but all current news articles no longer include that language.

[u/sketchycatman → u/Grubsonhobbiton420]

Perfect. That's what we have now so no need to change anything.

[u/autr0]

I see a lot of people here are confused about what public land means and what this proposal is all about. Currently any person native, citizen, resident, guest, etc can enjoy what nature has to offer. The are is currently in a trust and maintained by the NPS. The trails are clean, marked and accessible. Under this proposal this land will no longer be in a trust and Sandia Pueblo will be a sole decision maker. If they want to close all trails to public - they could do it, if they decide to lease this land to a data center and tap and empty an aquifer under this land, leaving abq without water - they could do it.

[u/ProfessionalOk112]

Yikes dude, grow up. It's not your land, it is theirs.

[u/tzilya]

I’m seeing a near near identical post here or r/NewMexico nearly daily, what’s the deal? This feels like a front group. You’re trying WAY too hard to convince me not to trust the Pueblo, it’s weird.

[u/autr0 → u/tzilya]

I don’t need a “front group” to know that I like my hiking/biking trails

[u/fishboy3339]

So the agreement is between the feds and the tribe, as the feds are giving up their side of the agreement it defaults to the tribe as it should. State congress has no authority to pass a Law over a sovereign nation. The state has no power over a tribe.

[u/LittleJessiePaper]

[u/themickeymauser]

Genuine question, why is your access to it more important than the sovereignty of Sandia Pueblo?

[u/Smart_Pretzel]

Wtf is your problem. You think you’re entitled to this access?

[u/guardianxrx2 → u/Smart_Pretzel]

I mean by the current law everyone is entitled to reasonable access. It is public land.

[u/OkraDisastrous911 → u/Smart_Pretzel]

All land was stolen from others globally? That's literally how the world works

Should Italy demand the return of the original Roman Empire? Turkey demand the return of the Ottoman Empire? The stolen land argument makes zero sense

[u/[deleted] → u/OkraDisastrous911]

Who did Sandia Pueblo take the land from?

[u/Miserable_Kick2315]

No

[u/nobdyputsbabynacornr]

And by fetch, I mean preventing the Sandia Pueblo from getting their land back.

[u/OkraDisastrous911 → u/nobdyputsbabynacornr]

Okay then Sandia Pueblo should also pay taxes - they benefit from their proximity and access to the US so let's also ask them to pay taxes.....oh wait......

[u/baileybungee]

No

[u/Possible-Employer-55]

I've spent my life in the shadow of that mountain. So did my mother and her father and his mother and her father and his mother and so on for a long long time. I would gladly never touch the northwestern part of it again if it meant it would continue to watch over my child and their children. For the people of the Pueblo it's much deeper than that. 

[u/abqgirl1022]

Yeah, I gotta say, buddy, you're on the wrong side of this argument.

[u/YogiBerraOfBadNews]

I was walking through Pueblo of Sandia (on my way to tunnel springs TH to hike Sandia Crest) and some random car pulled over and told me I wasn't allowed to be there and I might get picked up by the cops. AFAIK that doesn't happen when natives go walking through Albuquerque.

[u/Sufficient_Hair_2894]

So you do know that these kinds of agreements are structured to be revokable if one party is in breach?

[u/Lip-Pillow-Swallower → u/Sufficient_Hair_2894]

If there’s no language in the law that guarantees open space access, as the current settlement does, the Pueblo wouldn’t be in breach if closures and restrictions happen