Mount Taylor

New Mexico SCT Affirms Decision to Recognize Mt. Taylor as Cultural Property

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion in Rayellen Resources Inc. v. Lyons.

An excerpt:

We accepted certification from the Court of Appeals to review the decision of the New Mexico Cultural Properties Review Committee to recognize approximately 400,000 acres of public land on Mount Taylor as a registered cultural property under the New Mexico Cultural Properties Act. We affirm in part the Committee’s decision and hold that the  Mount Taylor listing was lawful under the Cultural Properties Act and that the proceedings before the Committee did not violate the constitutional guarantee of due process of law. We reverse the Committee’s inclusion of 19,000 acres of Cebolleta Land Grant property and hold that land grant property is not state land as defined in the Cultural Properties Act.

We posted on this case a while back here.

Materials in Challenge to Designation of New Mexico’s Mt. Taylor as Cultural Property

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here are the materials in Reyellen Resources Inc. v. New Mexico Cultural Properties Review Committee:

2011-02-04 Rayellen Resources v. NM CPRC dist ct dcn

2012-03-08 NMCA order certifying Mt. Taylor TCP to NMSC

An excerpt from the trial court opinion:

Petitioners, variolls surface and mineral owners, filed a First Amended Petition for Writ of Certiorari challenging the Respondents’ listing of “more than 700 square miles spanning portions of three New Mexico counties encompassing the entirely of Mt. Taylor–from its peak to its surrounding mesas–as a traditional cultural property on the New Mexico State Register of Cultural Properties.” Respondents herein are the New Mexico Cultural Properties Review Committee. Alan “Mac” Watson, individually and as Chairman oflhe Cultural Properties Review Committee and the Pueblo of Acoma, will be hereinafter collectively referred as “Respondents”. This Court granted certiorari and now reverses and remands tor the reasons stated below.