Edward Olona, president of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, a 95-year-old sportsman’s conservation organization, penned an op-ed in the Santa Fe New Mexican today, headlined “Public resource management needed for Valles Caldera.” This piece was written in response to an editorial published by the New Mexican last week, which called for a delay in a proposed takeover of the Valles Caldera National Preserve by the National Park Service until the recession ends. An excerpt of today’s op-ed follows:
Most important, and a point missed in Monday’s editorial, is that despite all the high fees, this experimental management system is actually costing the taxpayers more money than traditional management. At present, Valles Caldera hosts 15,000 visitors per year with an operating budget of around $4 million, a cost of about $266 per visitor. Bandelier National Monument, which is managed by the National Park Service, hosts more than 250,000 visitors per year on a budget of around $2.5 million, or about $10 per visitor.
People are demanding a new approach, one in which the preserve is maintained but professionally managed as public land for the benefit of all citizens. For these reasons the New Mexico Wildlife Federation supports the move by New Mexico’s two U.S. senators to start exploring options to turn management over to a professional, public natural resource agency, such as the National Park Service or U.S. Forest Service.
Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall have jointly asked the National Park Service to study the option of managing Valles Caldera as a national preserve —- not as a national park as was erroneously stated in your editorial, an important distinction because hunting is allowed in national preserves.
Read this op-ed in its entirety by clicking here.
