Court upholds Mount Taylor's cultural designation

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a tribal cultural designation that protects hundreds of thousands of acres on Mount Taylor, which is known for its rich uranium reserves.

The justices said the New Mexico Cultural Properties Review Committee acted lawfully in 2009 when it granted the special designation for some 400,000 acres of public land on the western New Mexico mountain. The court did, however, reverse the panel’s inclusion of 19,000 acres of land grant property, saying it was not state land as defined in the Cultural Properties Act.