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11 Most Endangered
Mount Taylor
Year Listed: 2009
Location: Grants , New Mexico
Current Status: Endangered
Threat: Development
Latest News
June 5, 2009: In a highly anticipated decision, the New Mexico Cultural Properties Review Committee unanimously voted to list Mount Taylor on the State Register of Cultural Properties. The decision ends for now a debate over Mount Taylor’s future that has divided the community of Grants and generated passionate appeals from those both for and against the designation. Learn more.
Mount Taylor
Mount Taylor
Mount Taylor
Mount Taylor
Mount Taylor
Mount Taylor
Mount Taylor
Mount Taylor
Mount Taylor
Mount Taylor
Significance
Located in the southwestern corner of New Mexico's San Mateo Mountains, midway between Albuquerque and Gallup, Mount Taylor, with an elevation of nearly 12,000 feet, is a startlingly beautiful, sacred place. Visible from up to 100 miles away, the mountain has been a pilgrimage site for as many as 30 Native American tribes, with special significance for the Acoma people. Centuries before the mountain was named for President Zachary Taylor, it was known to the Acoma as Kaweshtima, or "place of snow." Mount Taylor is rooted in Acoma's history and traditions and is closely aligned with the tribe's cultural identity.
Mount Taylor is approximately 50 miles from Acoma Sky City, a 367-foot tall mesa that has been the home of the Acoma people for nearly 1,000 years, and is today a National Trust Historic Site. The mountain sits atop one of the richest known reserves of uranium ore in the country: the Grants Uranium Belt. This reserve has already spawned two uranium-mining booms in the area, one in the 1950s and another in the 1970s. Current high demand for the ore has resulted in a renewed interest in mining the uranium deposits beneath Mount Taylor on federal, state and private lands, as well as on other public and private lands in the area. The New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division continues to receive proposals for exploration, mining and milling operations for Mount Taylor.
Much of the area is governed by the 1872 Mining Law, which permits mining regardless of its impact on cultural or natural resources, meaning that the U.S. Forest Service and other federal land management agencies lack the authority to deny mining applications, even if the application would adversely affect those resources. In addition to threats posed to the mountain itself, uranium mining may contaminate or impair Acoma's primary water source, the Rio San Jose. The Acoma people view the Rio San Jose as both the key to their physical survival and the cultural lifeblood of their community.
Updates
On June 5, 2009, the New Mexico Cultural Properties Review Committee voted unanimously to protect the cultural resources of Mount Taylor. The permanent listing as a Traditional Cultural Property (TCP) in New Mexico's State Register of Cultural Properties will include more than the summit and slopes of the mountain because the pueblos and tribes believe that this cultural landscape also includes many of the mesas and valleys that surround it. The U.S. Forest Service has also determined that Mount Taylor is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The listing ends for now the debate between the Pueblos of Acoma, Laguna, and Zuni, the Hopi Tribe and Navajo Nation who want to ensure their legitimate right to consultation over activities that could harm the mountain, and landowners who are concerned about preserving their rights to use private property without interference. In crafting the nomination, the tribes responded to the concerns expressed by some private property owners by designating all private property within the boundaries of the TCP as non-contributing thereby excluding those properties from the protections of the TCP listing.
April 2009: Today it is still used for a variety of cultural practices and holds value for several area tribes. Currently, the mountain is under threat from exploration and proposals for uranium mining, which, if allowed to proceed, would have a devastating impact on cherished cultural resources, including pilgrimage trails, shrines, and archeological sites.
Site videos produced by Polivision Productions.
Share your memories of this endangered place
Submitted by wonder at: December 7, 2009
As a historic preservation Major,and some one whos Great great great anceters were Native american I pray this land be preserved so that it may continue to be a part of its people as its people are a part of it.
Submitted by jbee at: November 12, 2009
I remember traveling for 3 months in the west when I was 12. The powerful beauty and peace enthralled me even then,because we were from Florida and I thought nothing could compare to the sea. WRONG!!! I close my eyes and at 50 can still see the Grand Canyon, Dinosaur Mountain, the `Painted Desert, Mount Taylor, the pueblos high in the cliffs, wild horses and bison, and so much more. In the name of profit I have seen mountaintop "removal" in W.Va. and oil flowing in the gulf after a hurricane. I want to congratulate the natives and non-natives who worked together to save this jewel. Where you see a holy place some see only $$. Oh, and next time they come sniffing around, ask which of their holy-of-holys YOU can destroy. PEACE to the land and the stewards of it.
Submitted by decendentofanindian at: November 4, 2009
Hi, it's me again. Wanted to offer further commentary--why do they want to destroy such a beautiful mountain? It's great to look up in the winter and see the snow.
Submitted by decendentofanindian at: November 3, 2009
Every morning, I look out my back door window to see Mt. Taylor. I really do not want to see a strip mine. Protect our heritage!
Submitted by ashiwi at: August 12, 2009
yeah i agree with Nativeamerican, all these laws that were put into effect is what is hurting us now....but you should realize that in the past there were no laws and the land belonged to the first descendents of the world...we need to keep this world the way it is and was meant to be, and for the future of our younger generation!
Submitted by Nativemercan at: August 11, 2009
"governed by the 1872 Mining Law, which permits mining regardless of its impact on cultural or natural resources", that part kills me, and the MIGHT harm the river part is insane. See Animas river, looks nice but will kill you. Please despense with the 'Americans did this or took that part'. This is the work of a few, that can be stopped by the many. The beauty of Mt Taylor transcends our 'wants'. We need to keep it as is.
Submitted by TL at: August 9, 2009
Leave something for us to look back on with pride, that we had the good sense not to destroy. We Americans have leveled so many historical sites and ravaged land all in the name of progress, which in the end looks like regression. We need no more coffee shops, strip malls or mining, leave the land that we have left with the soul that is has, destroy no more.
Submitted by Mebs at: August 2, 2009
This is the time to learn from past mistakes. NOW. No uranium development on Mt. Taylor, period. We know what has happened to other important sacred sites. We should be learning from people with a sacred relationship to the land, not destroying the land. No more argument: no uranium mining on or around Mt. Taylor
Submitted by Marjazz at: July 18, 2009
Please leave the land alone. No more exploitation. MAN keeps harping to feed his ego! We and future generations will not be able to enjoy this land in its natural state if we keep abusing it.This is what businesses bring GREED.
Submitted by me at: July 1, 2009
the native american people are educated now....{and this was against their will}....anyway....now they use it against those who stole the land from us to get it back. but lets clear one thing up.....the land does not belong to us the native americans or anyone else......it is here for us all and we just want to protect what is left of it and what is left of out "spiritual" places. we have lost alot and really do not want to lose it anymore. all we want is for a right to have a say in what goes on....we have been ignored too long.