New Mexico Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard signed an executive order on Friday banning all new uranium mining projects on the more than 13 million acres of state trust lands she oversees, citing the lasting environmental and public health impacts of uranium contamination.
The ban, formalized as Executive Order 2026-002, comes amid a recent uptick in uranium extraction proposals statewide, including in the Grants Mineral Belt, Canjilon, and Pie Town areas. Garcia Richard attributed the renewed interest to the Trump administration’s push to fast-track federal uranium mining permits.
Garcia Richard, a Democrat with roughly four months left in her term and running for lieutenant governor, said at a news conference that uranium industry revenues do not justify the environmental and health risks. “New Mexicans have been overlooked by the uranium industry and the federal government for far too long, and now the Trump administration is once again completely ignoring these communities and pushing for aggressive uranium development nationwide, despite the fact that there still remain thousands of sites that are abandoned and need to be remediated,” she said.
New Mexico produced most of the nation’s uranium ore during the Cold War era. The state now faces a legacy of contamination: approximately 1,100 former uranium mining, milling, and exploratory drilling sites dot the landscape, with at least 50 on state trust lands lacking clear remediation plans. While there is no active uranium mining on state trust lands currently, these abandoned sites continue to risk contaminating nearby ground and surface water.
The executive order directs the State Land Office to prioritize cleaning up legacy uranium sites instead of authorizing new projects. The state Legislature approved a second round of $20 million in funding this year dedicated to remediating abandoned uranium mine sites. Environmental compliance manager Liz Bisbey-Kuehn told reporters that the state is working on four active cleanups on state trust land, with each site containing hundreds of thousands of radiological survey points and costing upwards of $10 million to remediate.
The Trump administration has made uranium mining a priority. The federal government designated four New Mexico uranium mining projects on a national priority list as of June 2025, with three of them flagged for fast-track approval. Two long-dormant projects near Mount Taylor on Cibola National Forest have been identified as priority initiatives following executive orders from President Donald Trump.
Garcia Richard acknowledged during the news conference that her successor has discretion to overturn the executive order. However, Democrat Juan de Jesus Sanchez III, who is running to replace her as land commissioner, stood in the crowd at the announcement and told reporters afterward that he intends to keep the ban in place if elected. Republican candidate Michael Jack Perry did not respond to requests for comment on whether he would uphold the ban.
The executive order preserves two existing uranium leases on state lands, both of which expire in the 2030s. Garcia Richard noted these were signed before her tenure and represent current mineral rights held by their operators, but they are not actively being mined.
Sources
- Source New Mexico — confirmed the executive order signed by Garcia Richard, the 13 million acres of state trust lands, the Trump administration’s uranium push, the $20 million funding, and Sanchez’s commitment to uphold the ban
- Santa Fe New Mexican — confirmed the ban, the 1,100 former uranium sites statewide, the two existing leases expiring in the 2030s, the $20 million funding, the four active cleanups, and the remediation costs
- KOAT — confirmed the executive order and the risk of radioactive contamination
- KRQE — confirmed the executive order banning new uranium mines on state land
- Inside Climate News — confirmed New Mexico’s history as the nation’s largest historic producer of uranium ore and the Trump administration’s uranium mining push on federal lands
