They Poisoned
This River Once.
The Upper Pecos carries the highest water quality protection New Mexico can give. The last mine here killed 90,000 trout. Eighty-seven years later, the cleanup still isn't finished. On April 6, 2026, the federal government cancelled its protection and opened the door to do it all over again.
Read the full investigation →Where the Water Starts
The Pecos begins above 12,000 feet in the Sangre de Cristos and flows 900 miles to the Rio Grande. The Upper Pecos is the headwaters, running cold and clear through the 223,667-acre Pecos Wilderness. One of the last strongholds of the Rio Grande cutthroat trout.
In 2022, the state gave these waters the strongest protection available: Outstanding National Resource Waters. 180 miles designated. No new pollution allowed.
Not Empty Land
The Pueblos of Jemez and Tesuque have used this land for ceremony since time immemorial. Acequia farmers have irrigated from this river for four centuries. Holy Ghost Canyon holds a plant found nowhere else on Earth: fewer than 2,500 individuals.
The ruins of Cicuye Pueblo stood in this valley for more than 700 years. When the last residents left in 1838, they walked eighty miles to Jemez. Their descendants still return.
Holy Ghost Creek. The only place on Earth the Holy Ghost Ipomopsis exists.
Upper Pecos Watershed Association
Holy Ghost Canyon
This canyon holds the entire world population of the Holy Ghost Ipomopsis, a wildflower found nowhere else on Earth. Federally listed as endangered since 1994. Fewer than 2,500 individual plants remain, confined to a two-mile stretch of open ponderosa pine and mixed conifer forest.
Mining exploration roads, drilling pads, and sediment runoff could destroy the only habitat this species has. There is no backup population. There is no seed bank. If this canyon is compromised, the species is gone.
We Already Know What Happens
The Terrero Mine ran from 1927 to 1939. Twelve years. Then the company walked away and left the waste on the banks of Willow Creek.
In 1991, that waste went downstream. More than 90,000 trout died at Lisboa Springs. The river ran the color of rust. The state is still paying $80,000 a year to monitor the site. Groundwater wells still exceed standards.
Terrero Mine Site
American Metals Company operated here from 1927 to 1939, extracting lead, zinc, copper, silver, and gold from the banks of Willow Creek. When the company left, the waste rock stayed.
Decades of acid mine drainage leached heavy metals into the watershed. Groundwater monitoring wells at the site still exceed water quality standards. The state spends approximately $80,000 per year on ongoing monitoring and maintenance. The cleanup is not finished.
Lisboa Springs Hatchery
New Mexico's first state fish hatchery, operating since 1925. In 1991, heavy snowmelt flushed decades of accumulated acid mine drainage from the Terrero site downstream. The toxic plume reached Lisboa Springs and killed more than 90,000 trout. The water ran the color of rust.
The hatchery was rebuilt. The fish were restocked. But the geology hasn't changed. The same waste rock sits on the same creek. The same metals leach into the same groundwater. Comexico's 236 claims target the same ore body, in the same headwaters, upstream of the same hatchery.
The mine closed in 1939.
The cleanup still isn't finished.
The federal government just opened the door to do it all over again.
Follow the Money
Comexico LLC holds 236 mining claims in the headwaters. Plans to extract more than double the original mine's ore. Same metals. Same geology.
In 2025, the parent company was acquired by Kinterra Capital for ~A$250 million. Under the 1872 Mining Law, they pay zero royalties to the American public.
Years of Work. One Page to Erase.
The Stop Terrero Mine Coalition united acequia farmers, Pueblo leaders, environmentalists, sportsmen, and county officials. 2,200+ public comments. Unanimous vote. Bipartisan congressional support. Haaland's two-year pause. Garcia Richard's withdrawal of 2,552 acres of state trust land through 2045.
Layer after layer of protection, built from the ground up. The Trump administration erased the federal layer with one page.
The Upper Pecos runs clear. Outstanding National Resource Waters. They built this protection from the ground up. One page erased the federal layer.
Stop Terrero Mine Coalition
Not Just the Pecos
The same administration moved to cancel a 20-year ban on 264,000 acres of Nevada's Ruby Mountains. Biden-era withdrawal. Trump-era reversal. No public comment.
We saw the same playbook in the Boundary Waters, where Twin Metals, owned by Chilean conglomerate Antofagasta, positioned to mine next to America's most visited wilderness. American public land. Foreign shareholders. Zero royalties. Cleanup costs left to taxpayers.
Silence is permission.
May 6, 2026
At 8 a.m. local time, the segregation ends. All 163,483 acres open to new hardrock mining claims and mineral leasing. Only Congress can make a withdrawal permanent.
Call your senators. Support the Pecos Watershed Protection Act.
Tell them the Upper Pecos carries New Mexico's highest water quality protection. That the last mine poisoned the river for decades. That the government just opened it to foreign mining interests without public comment.
Sources: Federal Register (89 FR 101621, 91 FR 17305), DOI, USFWS, NM Environment Dept., NM WQCC, NM State Land Office, Congress.gov, Searchlight NM, Santa Fe New Mexican, Source NM
This interactive investigation was built to document what the Upper Pecos watershed stands to lose. Every fact has been verified against federal records, state filings, and primary sources. Use the resources below to take action, inform your coverage, or support your advocacy.
What You Can Do Right Now
Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
Ask for your senator's office. Tell them:
- You support the Pecos Watershed Protection Act (S. 1319 / H.R. 2727)
- The Upper Pecos carries New Mexico's highest water quality protection (Outstanding National Resource Waters)
- The last mine here killed 90,000+ trout and the cleanup still isn't finished after 87 years
- The federal government cancelled protection without public comment on April 6, 2026
- All 163,483 acres open to new mining claims on May 6, 2026
For Press & Journalists
All facts below are sourced from federal records and state filings. Links provided for verification.
Press inquiries: morethanjustparks.com/contact
For Congressional Staff
For Organizations & Advocates
Share this investigation with your networks. The URL is permanent and the page is designed to work as a standalone briefing document.
If your organization is working on Upper Pecos protection or 1872 Mining Law reform, get in touch. We amplify coalition work.
Sources: Federal Register (89 FR 101621, 91 FR 17305), U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, NM Environment Department, NM Water Quality Control Commission, NM State Land Office, NM Department of Game & Fish, Congress.gov, USDA Forest Service, Searchlight New Mexico, Santa Fe New Mexican, Source New Mexico
Last verified: April 2026
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