In its most recent newsletter to its members, the New Mexico Wildlife Federation (NMWF) weighed in on the proposed management transfer of the Valles Caldera National Preserve to the National Park Service (NPS), to be operated as an NPS preserve.
The NMWF asserted that NPS management of the Preserve would save taxpayers $1 million annually, while “providing “hunters and anglers with additional opportunity to enjoy the high country” in the Jemez Mountains.
According to its website, the NMWF, a 96-year old conservation organization, is “the voice for New Mexico’s conservation-minded sportsmen and outdoor enthusiasts in the New Mexico state Legislature and governor’s office, as well as in Congress,” and also “protects your right to responsibly access public lands.”
Click here to download the NMWF’s Winter 2010 newsletter. The article on the VCNP can be read below:
Park Service gives thumbs up for Valles Caldera transfer
Study finds change would save $1 million a year, stimulate economy
The National Park Service has said it is ready, willing and able to take over management of Valles Caldera National Preserve, potentially saving taxpayers $1 million per year and providing hunters and anglers with additional opportunity to enjoy the high country west of Los Alamos.
The study, which had been requested by U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall, found that not only would hunting be permissible under management by NPS as a National Preserve, but that hunting would in fact be necessary for proper wildlife management.
The report also found that “opportunities for public enjoyment are not presently achieved,” and that a change in management would provide benefit to the economies of Jemez-area communities.
New Mexico hunters, anglers and other outdoor enthusiasts have long maintained that the preserve limits rather than expands public access. Since its creation in 2000, the preserve has been managed by a politically appointed board of trustees with a mandate from Congress to become financially self-sustaining by 2020.
Last year, NMWF and sportsmen from across the state spoke up to defeat an attempt that would have allowed the trust to charge $10,000 or more for the public to access Valles Caldera for bull elk hunts. In response to that and other attempts to price the average person out of hunting at Valles Caldera, state Sen. Tim Eichenberg sponsored a memorial calling on the New Mexico congressional delegation to hold hearings and transfer management to a natural resource agency in order to expand and protect hunting and fishing opportunity, benefit the local economy and increase management efficiency.
According to the study, NPS management would accomplish all of these goals.
Although the Trust (a federal government corporation now managing the preserve) charges fees for hunting, fishing, cattle grazing and other activities, it has never raised more than $800,000 a year. Its annual operating budget has averaged about $4.8 million in recent years.
With the deadline looming to improve its financial situation, the Trust is considering two wide-ranging development plans. Both call for millions of dollars in public and private funding to build headquarters, luxury hotels, a restaurant, RV park and other facilities. NMWF and others propose instead that Valles Caldera National Preserve be turned over to a public management agency, such as the National Park Service, provided that hunting and fishing opportunity would be expanded.
The NPS already manages several national preserves where hunting is permitted and managed by state game and fish agencies, including the Great Sand Dunes National Preserve in southern Colorado. Valles Caldera was first proposed for consideration as a national park in 1899.
A portion of the area became Bandelier National Monument in 1906, but “Jemez Crater National Park” was proposed again in 1939, according to the report. Yet another proposal arose in 1964 for the “Valle Grande-Bandelier National Park, New Mexico.”
Although NMWF has found strong support among hunters, anglers and outdoor enthusiasts for the idea of transferring Valles Caldera National Preserve to a public land management agency, the Trust that manages the preserve has opposed the idea.
According to the NPS report, the Trust prefers to eliminate the mandate for financial self-sufficiency and continue running the area itself — a plan that, according to the study, would cost taxpayers an extra million dollars per year.
The report says Valles Caldera could be managed out of the current headquarters at Bandelier National Monument, eliminating the need for new offices and infrastructure, saving approximately $1 million per year over the current management model.
Congress has yet to act on the NPS report, but several members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation have said they want to hold hearings on the idea of transferring Valles Caldera National Preserve management to a different agency.
To read the NPS report, go to www.nmwildlife.org.
