VallesCaldera.com – The independent news source about the Valles Caldera

In a remarkable turnaround after years of displaying stalwart opposition to the idea that the Valles Caldera National Preserve should become part of the National Park Service, the Valles Caldera Board of Trustees announced that it now supports the Park Service assuming management of the Preserve as well as the dissolution of the Trust itself, in testimony today on Capitol Hill by Board Chairman Raymond Loretto.

In remarks to the Senate Subcommittee on National Parks, which conducted a hearing today (a video of which can be viewed here) to hear testimony on 21 pending bills, including S.564 (the “Valles Caldera National Preserve Management Act”) which would transfer the Valles Caldera to the Park Service, Loretto, whose full remarks can be read here (PDF), stated the following:

Although approximately 20% of our annual operating costs are covered by revenues from our various programs on the Preserve, it now appears that the Valles Caldera Trust will not meet the financial self-sufficiency goal that was a major objective of our enabling legislation. In light of this fact, a majority of the presidential appointees on the Board of Trustees feels that the proposed transfer of the Preserve to the National Park Service is justified.
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[W]e believe that the outstanding landscape that is the Valles Caldera National Preserve deserves the best stewardship possible, situated in a stable administrative structure that is permanent and adequately funded for public use and appreciation. The Board of Trustees of the Preserve believe that the National Park Service would provide that home, thus, we support S. 564, the Valles Caldera National Preserve Management Act.

Loretto’s statement serves as a dramatic reversal by the board in less than eleven months. During a hearing last June of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, former Valles Caldera Trust chairman Stephen Henry voiced opposition to last year’s bill that would have transferred the Caldera to Park Service control, stating that he was “disappointed and concerned” that the bill had been introduced.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), who introduced S.564 along with Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM), spoke in favor of his legislation in today’s hearing:

We’ve had a lot of discussion in NM about what the best management structure is for this Preserve… In recent years, there has been a growing consensus that the Valles Caldera Trust, which is an independent government corporation that manages the Preserve, will be unable the meet the requirements in the enabling legislation, that it be financially self-sufficient, and that a different management structure might be better for the long-term success of the preserve. In my opinion, the National Park Service is the agency best suited for the long term management of the Valles Caldera. It is my hope that inclusion of the Preserve in the National Park system will improve public access, while allowing the Park Service to protect the cultural and natural resources.

Two other witnesses testified before the subcommittee today regarding the “Valles Caldera National Preserve Management Act.” Stephen E. Whitesell, the Associate Director of Park Planning, Facilities, and Lands at the National Park Service, and Joel Holtrop, the Deputy Chief of the National Forest Service, both offered their agencies’ opinions about the Caldera legislation.

Whitesell (read his testimony here in PDF) offered a wholehearted endorsement of S.564, and revealed the Park Service’s estimates for the fiscal impact of a change in management:

The Department supports the protection of the nationally significant natural and cultural resources found at the Valles Caldera National Preserve as provided in S. 564…Based on current expenses for Valles Caldera and the cost to operate park units comparable in size and assets, we anticipate the annual cost to operate and manage the park would be approximately $22 million for developmental costs and $4 million for annual operational costs, although more complete cost estimates would be developed through the general management plan. In addition, our 2009 Update Report identifies 5 parcels of private property within the proposed park boundaries, totaling 40 acres. Although appraisals have not been completed, the expected costs to acquire this private property and any transfer costs are expected to be minimal. Funds would be subject to the availability of appropriations and NPS priorities.

Holtrap (read his testimony here in PDF) did not explicitly oppose the legislation, but he also did not endorse it, stating that since the Preserve has been a part of the Forest Service since 2000, and since the agency was an “unsung hero” in the acquisition of the Preserve eleven years ago, the “Department of Agriculture and the Forest Service have a lot of equity invested in the Valles Caldera.” Holtrap also said that “because the Valles Caldera National Preserve is part of the National Forest System, it has the ability to draw upon the considerable resources of the Forest Service.”

Holtrap also provided the following testimony:

It is important to note that restoration and resource management issues are already being managed by the Forest Service on approximately 895,000 acres of National Forest System lands in the Jemez Mountains surrounding the Preserve and on the Preserve’s Southeast corner adjacent to Bandelier National Monument. The connectivity of the forests, rangelands and waters in the Jemez Mountains of central and northern New Mexico allows for the continuity of natural resource management and for efficient restoration practices to be implemented on a landscape scale. It is important to keep this “all-lands” cross-boundary approach. Active management will be needed to maintain a functioning ecosystem at a landscape scale. The Forest Service is well positioned to provide landscape and restoration management in the Jemez Mountains, as envisioned by the Administration’s priorities for maintaining and enhancing the resiliency and productivity of America’s forests.

Finally, Holtrap stated:

I would note that the spirit of cooperation would be paramount for all agencies to work together for the thoughtful stewardship of the Valles Caldera National Preserve, regardless of the Congress’ decisions regarding administrative jurisdiction, the U.S. Forest Service has long cared deeply about the Valles Caldera and we will continue to care about its place in the broader landscape. Forest restoration is important to us and we look forward to engaging our expertise and capabilities in working across boundaries. If a change in administrative oversight were to occur because of this legislation, we look forward to collaborating in the achievement of restoration goals with the surrounding National Forest.

Despite this legislation having been reintroduced in Congress to overwhelming support in New Mexico, the fate of S.564 is uncertain. Last year’s Caldera bill, while approved unanimously by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, never came up for a vote on the floor of either the Senate or the House (both of which were controlled by Democrats at the time), with Republicans opposing the large omnibus public lands bill that contained the Caldera legislation.

Now, with Democrats in control of the Senate and the Republicans in control of the House, the legislation’s fate is even murkier. The subcommittee’s ranking member, Sen. Richard Burr, (R-NC), seemed to scoff at the prospects of passage by the full House and Senate of the bills discussed today, first objecting to the number of bills that were included in today’s hearing, asserting that no more than 10 to 12 bills are usually discussed in subcommittee:

It’s difficult for me to imagine that it bodes well for these particular bills in front of us today making it through the committee process on a bipartisan basis. I might add that the House has been very candid at their lack of desire in moving these types of bills, so for those members and for those interested parties today I wouldn’t get my hopes up.

Sen. Bingaman struck a conciliatory tone in responding to Burr:

There are a lot of bills here. My hope was, and discussions with Sen. Murkowski were that this hearing would be a chance to identify any bills that needed additional hearings, and we can have additional hearings on bills that need additional hearings, but that these are all bills that were considered in the previous Congress, and were passed out of committee in the previous Congress, and the thought was that we should get going. We’re four months into this year, this new Congress, and we needed to move ahead, and so this was the course we decided on. As I say, this doesn’t mean that this is the one and only opportunity for people to express concerns, ask questions, get further elaboration on some of these bills.

Legislation that would transfer management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve to the National Park Service will be considered on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, May 11, at 12:30 PM MDT, in Senate hearing room SD-366. The bill, dubbed the “Valles Caldera National Preserve Management Act,” which was reintroduced by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) in March after first being introduced last May, will be one of 21 bills about which the Senate’s National Parks Subcommittee of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hear testimony during the hearing.

Among the four individuals scheduled to testify before the subcommittee is Raymond Loretto, the chairman of the Valles Caldera National Preserve Board of Trustees.

Though Bingaman chairs the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the National Parks Subcommittee is chaired by Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO), who is a first cousin of the senator who co-sponsored the Caldera bill along with Bingaman, Tom Udall (D-NM).

The hearing will be webcast live on the committee’s website, and an archive video will be available shortly after the hearing is complete. Witness testimony will be available on the website at the start of the hearing.

The following individuals are slated to testify at the hearing:

Panel 1:
U.S. Thomas Carper (D-DE)

Panel 2:
Stephen E. Whitesell, Associate Director of Park Planning, Facilities, and Lands National Park Service, Department of the Interior
Joel Holtrop, Deputy Chief, National Forest System, Department of Agriculture
Dr. Raymond Loretto, Chairman, Valles Caldera Trust

The following article was featured in the web site of the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club this month:

Citizen efforts protecting Valles Caldera National Preserve

By Tom Ribe, Executive Director, Caldera Action

The yawning expanse of the Valles Caldera National Preserve in north-central New Mexico’s Jemez Mountains has drawn generations to its streams, grasslands and wild forests. This outstanding remnant of a recent cataclysmic volcanic event has been cloaked in peace that belies its geologic and tumultuous human history.

The public is intensely interested in this fragile landscape, which was purchased by the federal government in 2000 from willing private owners. In 2000 when the Sierra Club and others lobbied Congress to put up funds to buy it, resistance from some conservative interests forced a compromise where the Valles Caldera would be operated by a government corporation (sort of like the Post Office) rather than being managed by an agency like the U.S. Forest Service or National Park Service.

Though still under the Forest Service budget umbrella, VCNP is operated by a nine-member, presidentially appointed Trust that supervises the preserve staff. This “experiment in land management” has had a multitude of intractable problems that have inspired continued citizen activism to revise the 2000 legislation that created the trust.

My organization, Caldera Action, has since 2007 led efforts to watchdog the Trust and seek protection and preservation of the Valles Caldera while working with the New Mexico Congressional delegation to pass a bill that would transfer the VCNP to the National Park Service as a “preserve” (not a national park).

The National Park Service manages 18 other national preserves across the United States, and the preserve concept would allow the NPS to give Valles Caldera the high level of protection and interpretation for which the NPS is known while allowing some traditional uses like fishing and hunting.

In 2009, Sen. Bingaman introduced an excellent bill for Park Service management in the U.S. Senate. His bill passed the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which he chairs, and awaited action by the full Senate, which was nearly paralyzed by partisanship. At the end of the Congressional session in December 2010, the Valles Caldera bill was included in a big Omnibus Public Lands bill that came up for a vote in the last hours of the “lame duck” session.

Objections by Sen. McCain and others caused Majority Leader Harry Reid to withdraw the Omnibus bill, and the Valles Caldera bill died with 100 other measures contained within the omnibus. Had this bill passed, it would have moved to the White House for signature without a need for a vote in the House of Representatives since the individual bills within it had largely been considered in the House.


In early March 2011, Senators Bingaman and Udall reintroduced in the Senate the same bill for the Valles Caldera that had been considered in the previous Congress. This Congress will be far more difficult for all public-land conservation bills since several new senators with anti-conservation stances have joined the Senate and the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Likewise, the House of Representatives is controlled by Republicans who already have directly attacked budgets for public lands, clean-air, and clean-water programs.


Caldera Action will resume a more nuanced and diversified effort to see the Valles Caldera National Preserve Management Act pass this Congress. With the retirement of Senator Bingaman looming in 2012, our efforts are urgent.

Caldera Action urges Sierra Club members to join efforts to press and support the new Valles Caldera bill in the U.S. Senate (SB564) and urge Congressmen Luján and Heinrich to introduce a similar bill in the House. Also please make comments to planning efforts currently underway at the Preserve through the Trust website: http://www.vallescaldera.gov.

On Wednesday, a letter written by Staci Stevens of Santa Fe was printed in the Santa Fe New Mexican:

Far-sighted senators

Recently, Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall introduced legislation to transfer the management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve to the National Park Service.

As anyone who has been to the caldera can testify, it is spectacular to behold and has a fascinating geological and cultural history.

The preserve is listed as one of Audubon New Mexico’s top 10 Important Bird Areas and provides habitat for a wide range of other wildlife, including 17 threatened or endangered species, and such animals as the black bear, mountain lion, goshawk, peregrine falcon and Río Grande cutthroat trout.

The bill introduced by our senators would still allow hunting, fishing and cattle grazing as well as ensure access by pueblos to tribal cultural and religious sites. Transfer of the caldera to park-service management will ensure proper management of this iconic area for generations to come. I thank the senators for their foresight!

Staci Stevens
Santa Fe

The first of this year’s three legally-mandated meetings of the Valles Caldera National Preserve Board of Trustees will be held on Tuesday, April 19, 2011, at 9:00 AM, at the Valles Caldera National Preserve offices in Jemez Springs. An agenda for this meeting has not yet been posted on the official government-run Preserve web site.

Unfortunately, once again, the board of the VCNP, a taxpayer-owned national preserve, has chosen to schedule another public trustee meeting during business hours, when most members of the community who have day jobs (including the author of this web site) are unable to attend. This is not new; only once in the last five years has the management of the Preserve decided to make it easy for working people to attend its meetings by scheduling them during evenings or on weekends. This last occurred when the VCNP scheduled an evening board meeting in 2009 in Los Alamos that drew a “standing room only” crowd.

VallesCaldera.com has repeatedly criticized this long-standing and arrogant habit of the Preserve — a practice that is clearly designed to minimize public participation in these meetings and reduce the amount of dissent and opposing viewpoints that might be expressed to the presidentially-appointed members of the Board of Trustees when officials from New Mexico’s congressional delegation are in attendance (as is usually the case).

We will continue to question this ill-conceived and elitist strategy until VCNP management decides to operate in a manner that reflects more respect for the working people of Northern New Mexico, or until the Valles Caldera Trust is dissolved, which would occur if legislation currently in the U.S. Senate passes.

One wonders why the Board of Trustees is truly so afraid of scheduling its public meetings at night or on the weekends. The most likely result of such a scheduling decision could be a robust and productive face-to-face dialogue with members of the community who might have a different vision for how to manage the scenic crown jewel of Northern New Mexico from those who have been presidentially appointed to manage this land.

Or do the members of the Trust really expect members of the community who want to attend these meetings to take the day off of work for the honor of expressing their opinions to them in person?

VallesCaldera.com again calls on the Valles Caldera National Preserve to show some respect for the working people of Northern New Mexico who might want to participate in its thrice-yearly legally-mandated public meetings by scheduling them when people with day jobs can attend — in the evening or on the weekend.

In a Senate floor speech, New Mexico’s senior U.S. senator, Jeff Bingaman, promoted the legislation that he reintroduced last week that would bring the Valles Caldera under the leadership of the National Park Service (read this legislation here). Bingaman (also speaking for Sen. Tom Udall) submitted the following remarks into the Congressional Record:

Mr. President, I rise today to reintroduce legislation that would transfer administrative jurisdiction of the Valles Caldera National Preserve from the Valles Caldera Trust to the National Park Service. I am pleased that my colleague from New Mexico, Tom Udall, is again a cosponsor of this bill.

For those not familiar with this area, the Valles Caldera in Northern New Mexico is one of only three supervolcanoes in the United States, the other two being Yellowstone, WY, and Long Valley, CA. Spanning more than 100,000 acres, the caldera contains lush and expansive grassland valleys, ponderosa pines in the foothills and mixed conifer forests in the higher elevations of the volcanic domes and peaks. Numerous cultural and archaeological sites are scattered throughout the landscape that provides quality habitat to elk, trout, golden and bald eagles, and myriad other species. In 1975, the Valles Caldera received formal recognition as an outstanding and nationally significant geologic resource when it was designated a National Natural Landmark.

More recently in 2000, the Valles Caldera Preservation Act authorized the Federal Government to acquire the property and established the Valles Caldera Trust—an independent government corporation led by a board of trustees appointed by the President whose mission is to provide for public access and protection of the Preserve’s natural and cultural resources. The Trust is also directed to manage the Preserve in a manner that would achieve financial self-sustainability after fifteen years.

While the individual board members have done their best to fulfill the original legislative directives, time has shown in my opinion that this management framework is not the best suited for the long-term management of the Preserve. These issues have been laid out at length in two GAO reports, during the hearing we held on this legislation in the 111th Congress, and in previous statements I have made on the subject.

In weighing the various alternatives, the conclusion was reached that management by the National Park Service—an agency with a mission of protecting natural, historic, and cultural resources while also providing for public enjoyment of those resources—is more appropriate for the long-term future of the Valles Caldera. In my view, it would also best serve the public’s desire for increased public access, balanced with the need to protect and interpret the Preserve’s unique cultural and natural resources.

Senator Udall and I first introduced this legislation during the 111th Congress, during which time the bill received a hearing in the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and was reported out favorably by that Committee. The reported legislation, which is what we are introducing today, incorporated the many comments we received during the hearing process. This includes improvements to the provisions on hunting and fishing and cattle grazing as well as changes made based on recommendations by tribal governments. Other stakeholder comments, including those from the friends group, Los Amigos de Valles Caldera, led to modifications that will ensure the ecological restoration of the Preserve remains a priority under Park Service management. I also appreciated the valuable comments we received from the staff at the Valles Caldera Trust who remain steadfast in their commitment to the highest management standards at the Preserve.

Beyond these changes, however, the original framework and intent of the legislation remains the same. The existing character of the Preserve would be maintained and protections for tribal cultural and religious sites would be strengthened. The Park Service would manage the Preserve to protect and preserve its natural and cultural resources, while increasing public access and continuing to permit hunting and fishing and grazing. The National Park Service would also establish a science and education program similar to the highly successful program created by the Trust.

While the full Senate was unable to take action on this bill during the last Congress, I remain hopeful that we will find an opportunity during this one to bring it before the Senate for consideration. Public support in my State remains very high for the Park Service to manage this unique resource, and it is my hope that the enactment of this legislation will allow more Americans as well as future generations to enjoy this special place.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

A legislative clash regarding the future of the Valles Caldera has emerged in Washington as two bills have been introduced in the U.S. Senate that would have starkly different outcomes for the Jemez Mountains: one would transfer the Valles Caldera National Preserve to the National Park Service, while another would entirely eliminate all federal appropriations for the Valles Caldera if it remains as part of the Department of Agriculture, placing the Preserve’s viability in immediate danger.

The first bill, reintroduced yesterday from the previous Congress by New Mexico’s U.S. Senators, Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall, would dissolve the Valles Caldera Trust and designate the Valles Caldera National Preserve as a unit of the National Park system. The legislation, S.564, once again titled the “Valles Caldera National Preserve Management Act,” was read on the floor of the U.S. Senate yesterday and has been referred to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, which Bingaman chairs.

The Bingaman-Udall legislation, which you can read by clicking here, is identical to the marked-up Valles Caldera-NPS transfer bill that was unanimously approved by the Senate Energy Committee last August after the committee held hearings. Last year’s bill died in December after it was inserted as the keynote item into a large omnibus public lands bill that never came up for a vote in that month’s lame-duck session of Congress.

If it passed, the Valles Caldera would not become a national park. Rather it would be America’s 21st national park preserve, a designation designed to give certain NPS units an exemption from the Park Service’s usual rules that prohibit hunting and fishing — traditional activities on the Caldera that are explicitly protected in the Bingaman-Udall legislation.

The second Valles Caldera-related bill introduced in the Senate this month — S.475, the “Enacting President Obama’s Recommendations for Program Termination Act,” introduced by Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn (R), would halt all federal appropriations for the Valles Caldera Trust (among many other federal programs) immediately. The bill states that “no Federal funds may be expended for the Valles Caldera of the Department of Agriculture,” and “any funds appropriated to or unobligated by the program shall be rescinded and returned to the Treasury.” Bingaman and Udall’s bill would thwart Coburn’s bill in the context of the Caldera by removing the Preserve from the auspices of the Agriculture Department. Coburn’s bill has been read on the Senate floor and has been referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Bingaman and Udall announced the reintroduction of their legislation in a joint news release yesterday:

The Senators today introduced legislation that directs the Park Service to take over management of the Valles Caldera in a way that protects the Preserve’s natural and cultural resources. Hunting, fishing, and cattle grazing would be permitted under the bill. Additionally, the measure strengthens protections for tribal cultural and religious sites and ensures access by pueblos to the area.

Bingaman and Udall first introduced their legislation last year, following a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) that said the Preserve is at least five years behind schedule in the development of an effective management control system and that the requirement to achieve financial self-sustainability by 2015 is the Trust’s biggest challenge and will be difficult to achieve.

A separate National Park Service study, which was requested by Bingaman and Udall, determined the Valles Caldera meets the high criteria for inclusion in the National Park System as a National Preserve. In particular, the report highlighted the nationally significant geologic resources found in the area.

“The Valles Caldera is one of the most spectacular places to visit in New Mexico. I believe it belongs within the National Park Service, which has a long history of managing our nation’s most special natural resources,” Bingaman said.

“By utilizing the resources and skills of the National Park Service, I believe the Valles Caldera National Preserve will continue to prosper as a natural wonder full of significant geology, ecology, history, and culture,” Udall said. “Park Service management is the next critical step in preserving this national treasure for future generations. I look forward to working with Senator Bingaman and all the stakeholders who care about the Caldera to accomplish this important goal.”

The first calls to bring the Valles Caldera into the National Park System were in 1899. In four separate studies throughout the next century the Park Service found that the area was suitable for protective status under its management. But it wasn’t until 2000 that Bingaman, former Senator Pete Domenici and then-Representative Udall were successful in acquiring the property for $100 million. The law also established an experimental management framework where a Board of Trustees would manage the Preserve as a working ranch with public access, with the goal of becoming financially self-sustaining by 2015.

Last year, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved the legislation, clearing it for full Senate consideration. Unfortunately, there was not enough time in the session to consider it. The bill will once again be referred to the Energy Committee, which Bingaman chairs.

The newly-reintroduced Valles Caldera National Preserve Management Act stipulates the following:

• Hunting and fishing “shall be permitted” under NPS management of the Caldera
• Grazing of livestock “may” be allowed to continue, “to the extent the use furthers scientific research or interpretation of the ranching history of the Preserve”
• Immediately upon passage the Secretary of the Interior will have sole management responsibility of the Preserve. Within 180 days of passage, the Valles Caldera Trust will be terminated, at which time the Valles Caldera Preservation Act of 2000 will also be repealed (but this 180 period can be extended if the Secretary of Agriculture “determines that the termination date should be extended to facilitate the transitional management of the preserve”). During the 180-day interim period, “the Preserve shall remain open to public use”
• The NPS “may coordinate the management and operations of the Preserve with the Bandelier National Monument”
• A comprehensive management plan (which has never been prepared by the Trust) will be produced within three years
• The preserve’s universally-acclaimed science and education program will be continued until the aforementioned management plan is prepared, at which time the NPS will establish a new science and education program
• The feasibility of creating a Caldera Rim Trail (inside only the boundaries of both the Preserve and Santa Fe National Forest — not on portions of the Caldera Rim owned by Santa Clara Pueblo) will be studied within three years of passage
• The NPS may establish a science and education facility outside of the boundaries of the preserve (enabling the continuation of the VCNP’s science and education center in Jemez Springs)
• No roads or motorized buildings will be allowed to be constructed, nor will motorized access be allowed, on the Preserve’s many volcanic domes above 9,600 feet in elevation or 250 feet below the top of the dome, whichever is lower, except for administrative purposes or emergencies
• The NPS will ensure the protection of traditional and cultural sites in the Preserve (as well as access to these sites by pueblo members) and may “temporarily close to general public use one or more specific areas of the preserve to protect traditional cultural and customary uses”
• The boundaries of the Santa Fe National Forest will be modified to exclude the preserve
• All Trust employees will be retained for at least 180 days after the passage of this legislation, at which time the NPS may hire them on a noncompetitive basis for comparable positions at the Valles Caldera or elsewhere in the NPS or Forest Service in New Mexico

Here are some links to news coverage of the Bingaman-Udall legislation:

Santa Fe New Mexican: “Local News In Brief — N.M. senators renew Valles Caldera proposal”

Albuquerque Journal North: “Senators Make Another Push”