PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 53.
Congressional Research Service
Version 01 · Reported to Senate with amendment(s) · Feb 16, 2007
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)
Prehistoric Trackways National Monument Establishment Act - Establishes the Prehistoric Trackways National Monument in New Mexico in order to conserve, protect, and enhance the unique and nationally important paleontological, scientific, educational, scenic, and recreational resources and values of specified public land in Dona Ana County, New Mexico.
Allows the Secretary of the Interior, if additional paleontological resources are discovered on public land adjacent to the Monument, to make minor boundary adjustments to the Monument to include the resources in the Monument.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Requires the Secretary to manage the Monument: (1) in a manner that conserves, protects, and enhances the resources and values of the Monument; and (2) in accordance with this Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, and other applicable laws.
Requires that the Monument be managed as a component of the National Landscape Conservation System.
Directs the Secretary to develop a comprehensive management plan for the long-term protection and management of the Monument: (1) which shall describe the appropriate uses and management of the Monument and shall allow for continued scientific research at the Monument during the development of the plan; and (2) which may incorporate any appropriate decisions contained in any current management or activity plan for the land for the Monument and use information developed in studies of any land within or adjacent to the Monument that were conducted before the enactment of this Act.
Instructs the Secretary to only allow uses of the Monument that would further the purposes for which it has been established.
Requires the Secretary to provide for public interpretation of, and education and scientific research on, the paleontological resources of the Monument, with priority given to exhibiting and curating the resources in Dona Ana County. Allows the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements with appropriate public entities to carry out such activities.
Prohibits the establishment of the Monument from changing the management status of any area within the boundary of the Monument that is: (1) designated as a wilderness study area and managed in accordance with provisions regarding the status of lands during the period of review and determination for designation as wilderness under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976; or (2) managed as an area of critical environmental concern. Provides that, if there is a conflict between the laws applicable to such areas and this Act, the more restrictive provision shall control.
Permits the use of motorized vehicles in the Monument only on roads and trails designated for use by such vehicles under the management plan, except as needed for administrative purposes or to respond to an emergency.
Allows the Secretary to issue permits for special recreation events involving motorized vehicles within the Monument's boundaries, including the "Chile Challenge:" (1) to the extent the events do not harm paleontological resources; and (2) subject to any terms and conditions that the Secretary determines to be necessary.
Withdraws any federal land within the Monument and any land or interest in land that is acquired by the United States for inclusion in the Monument from: (1) entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws; (2) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and (3) operation of the mineral leasing laws, geothermal leasing laws, and minerals materials laws.
Permits grazing to continue in any area of the Monument in which grazing is currently allowed, subject to applicable laws (including regulations).
Prohibits anything in this Act from constituting an express or implied reservation by the United States of any water or water rights with respect to the Monument.
Authorizes appropriations.
People & committees
Sen. Bingaman, Jeff [D-NM] · D–NM
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 53.
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Bingaman with amendments. With written report No. 110-27.
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Bingaman with amendments. With written report No. 110-27.
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with amendments favorably.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. (text of measure as introduced: CR S458-459)
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S458)
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.275 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.275 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.275 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.275 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.