Journals
2008 New Mexico's Land Grants & the Law Symposium
Land Grants and the Forest Service
Presenters
Carol Raish and Alice M. McSweeney, U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station Introduction
Introduction
- The United States Forest Service (FS) has a long, shared history with the land grants of northern New Mexico.
- Much land included within the northern New Mexico National Forests is derived from common lands of Spanish and Mexican land grants.
- During land grant adjudication after U.S. conquest, many common lands were declared public domain, and eventually became part of the National Forests.
- Other lands went into private ownership and were later sold to the government.
Theoretical Framework and Historical Background
- Hispanic land grant and resource loss during the process of United States conquest and occupation shows similarities to land loss among other traditional and indigenous peoples.
- Culture-based internal colonialism, political dominance and economic exploitation of a subordinate culture by a dominant one, is relevant for understanding land loss after U.S. conquest and during the Territorial Period (1848-1912).
- During the Spanish and Mexican Periods land ownership and use were confirmed by land grants from the Spanish Crown or Mexican government.
- Community grants, used by a group of settlers in common, are of particular interest because they are a primary land ownership issue in the region.
- Within community grants, settlers received individually owned building sites and plots of irrigated agricultural land. The villagers used grazing, timber, and pasture lands in common.
U.S. conquest during the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848 changed patterns of land use and ownership.
- Under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the U.S. was supposed to recognize and respect the property rights of former Mexican citizens.
- In many cases the U.S. government did not honor the intent of the Treaty and related documents.
- The government adopted a legalistic, restrictive stance toward land claims in the Territory.
- Although some fraudulent claims were rejected, many legitimate claims were also rejected.
- Claims from families who had resided on their land for generations were denied because of lost, incomplete, or inconsistent documents.
Loss of Common Lands
- Often, the court confirmed house lands and irrigated plots but did not confirm community pastures and woodlands, which provided the Hispano villagers with their main grazing and fuel wood resources.
“This was our land, lost for taxes.”
- Villagers lost confirmed land because they were unable to pay property taxes under the American system of monetary tax payments, which differed from payment in animal products and farm produce.
- Unscrupulous land speculation, which was often upheld by the courts, also resulted in land loss by Hispano farmers.
- Thus, the American system of land grant adjudication and property taxation ultimately served to facilitate and legitimize the loss of substantial amounts of land owned and used by the resident population, opening areas for colonization by Anglo-Americans and non-local commercial enterprises.
Processes of Indigenous Land Loss
- Land loss under colonization has occurred throughout the world. Use of the dominant legal system as a land appropriation tool is common.
- Spanish colonizers of the Valle del Mexquital in Mexico, conquered, dominated, and acquired resources not only by force but also by means of the court system.
- Spanish resource acquisitions in the New World were regulated by law and custom, but the process was not always straight forward.
- The New World context altered application of the law, and opened loopholes for opportunists.
- Successful use of the law required a knowledge base that the indigenous people(s) did not have, which put them in a disadvantageous situation.
- A similar process occurred in Ireland under British domination. The Penal Laws, which discriminated against indigenous Roman Catholics, were passed in the early 1700s ostensibly to encourage conversion to the state Church.
- However, the intended effect was to dispossess the Catholic population of their lands. In 1641, Catholics owned 60% of land in Ireland; by 1776, only 5%. These losses, resulting from the 800 years of British domination in Ireland, remain a problem to the present day.
The Forest Service and the Land
- In northern New Mexico today, land grant loss remains an issue of bitter controversy.
- Much former grant land in the area is managed by federal agencies, primarily the U.S. Forest Service.
- These consist of unconfirmed common lands that became public domain as well as confirmed grant lands that were lost for a variety of reasons.
- Often “lost” lands were purchased by non-local interests for large commercial timbering and ranching operations. When these were no longer profitable, the often degraded land was sold to the government. The government proved to be the biggest beneficiary of decisions reached by the federal judiciary.
- Because of these government purchases, northern New Mexico National Forests eventually included considerable amounts of former grant lands that had been used as community range and woodland by local villages.
Many local permittees are land grant heirs who resent government restrictions on land they consider part of their heritage.
- The Agency has introduced changes in range management that many permittees consider harsh and poorly explained.
- The evolving economy of the region, from subsistence-based farming and ranching to wage work in surrounding towns, has also had a strong effect on local ranching operations.
Changing Times
- Free-use permits for milk cows and draft horses were phased out, goats were restricted, and there was a reduction in sheep permits.
- Many ranchers switched from raising sheep to cattle due to Agency direction and changing employment circumstances.
- Cattle require less intensive herding and care than sheep. Thus, they are easier to manage for people with full-time, off-ranch jobs.
Land Loss Protest
- Land loss protest has occurred in the region virtually since conquest in the mid-1800s. Discontent over federal grazing policies, loss of land grant lands, and general economic decline led to an upsurge of protest in the 1960s.
- The violence of the Alianza protests triggered re-examination of Forest Service policies in northern New Mexico, both within the agency and within the U. S. Department of Agriculture.
The Northern New Mexico Policy and the Hassell Report
- The Forest Service produced the Hassell Report (1968), which recommended 99 measures, 26 of which related to grazing, to improve the situation of the Hispanic villagers.
- The Northern New Mexico Policy (1972) stressed the importance of valuing the Hispanic and Indian cultures of the Southwest and recommended that efforts of the Forest Service be directed toward their preservation. It also stated that the attitudes of Forest Service employees “should be attuned to the land and its people and to their unique values.”
- There were difficulties with implementing recommendations of the Policy, and many situations discussed in the Hassell Report have not been improved.
- Poverty, disappearing traditional life-ways, and environmental problems are still concerns.
- Although there are recent efforts to develop regional cultural awareness programs and hire managerial-level employees from the area, a need remains for training in the cultural traditions and social values of northern New Mexico.
Contemporary Land Loss Issues
- Land and water are not only part of the physical landscape but also part of the cultural landscape.
- Loss of access to these resources threatens the livelihood of many Hispanics and also attacks the social fabric of rural Hispanic communities.
- As pressures for "change on the range" have mounted, ranch after ranch has sold, often to luxury developments.
- A new population moves in, and taxes increase in response to increasing land values.
- Purchase of additional land for agricultural purposes becomes prohibitive, discouraging the younger generation.
- Many new residents resent the ranching way of life as a once rural countryside becomes more urbanized.
