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

The Valles Caldera National Preserve Management Act (S.3452), which would transfer control of the Caldera to the National Park Service, is a candidate for inclusion in an omnibus lands bill this fall, according to the Federal Parks and Recreation Bulletin, a biweekly publication for federal employees of parks and recreation areas. An omnibus bill is a piece of legislation that packages together multiple measures into one. From the Bulletin:

Two important outdoor bills took major steps forward last week, raising the possibility they will be eligible for an omnibus lands bill this fall. Assuming of course an omnibus lands bill is assembled.
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The Senate Energy Committee, which usually assembles the ingredients for an omnibus measure, has not yet begun to put together a new omnibus, but that doesn’t mean one will not be prepared. The ultimate call will be made by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).

Obvious candidates for the omnibus are a bill to transfer the Valles Caldera area in New Mexico to the Park Service, as well as measures to designate wilderness and trails in central Idaho, to extend a popular federal land sales bill, to designate a national park in Delaware (the state has none now), designate a handful of national heritage areas, and much more.

The Valles Caldera National Preserve Management Act was introduced in the Senate on May 27. Hearings on the bill in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee were held on June 30.

William DeBuys, who from 2001 to 2004 served as the founding chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Valles Caldera National Preserve, wrote an editorial this week on the New West website advocating passage of the legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall that would transfer management of the Valles Caldera to the National Park Service and dissolve the Valles Caldera Trust.

Mr. DeBuys, among whose books is Valles Caldera: A Vision for New Mexico’s National Preserve, wrote this piece in response to this week’s editorial written by Courtney White that was titled “A Step Backward: the Valles Caldera National Park.”  Mr. White’s piece argues against the legislation and questions whether the late Stewart Udall, who served as Secretary of the Interior under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson (and is the father of Sen. Tom Udall), would have supported the bill that his son co-sponsored.  Click here to read Mr. DeBuys’ piece.

Mr. DeBuys includes some compelling insight, revealing that he visited with Stewart Udall a month before his death in March, and according to Mr. DeBuys, Mr. Udall “expressed deep satisfaction that introduction of the bill was imminent.”

Below is a portion of the editorial, headlined “Valles Caldera: What Would Stewart Udall Think?”

Courtney White has my sympathy. He regrets that the land management “experiment” of the Valles Caldera Trust should be abandoned. I share his regret, but not his conclusion. It is time for all of us to face facts and not entangle the fate of a peerless natural landscape in dreamy notions about “new approaches.” The caldera has been the subject of a new approach for nearly a decade. It hasn’t worked.
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Lamentably, the complex and conflicted mission with which the Trust was charged has produced paralysis, not synthesis, and the public is understandably frustrated by the conspicuous lack of both progress and access at the preserve.

The trust would have better served its fortunes in recent years by focusing its energies on building a broad public constituency; ultimately, its failure is not that it cannot be self-sufficient in dollars, but that the people it should be serving have failed to care sufficiently about it. As a result, the enormous reservoir of public goodwill with which the Trust started its journey has largely been consumed. Let’s move on.

Mr. White’s assertion that the “national park idea… is not well-suited for the onrushing, global challenges of the 21st century” is nonsense, and it is offensive that he should utter this foolishness in reference to Stewart Udall. If Stewart were still alive, he would be the first to say that the national park idea has proved adaptable and enduring, not least in lands beyond the borders of the United States where the defense of the natural world is led by citizens with sharper vision than Mr. White’s. The national park idea continues to represent one of the best strategies yet devised for protecting the environmental commons against the relentless push to privatize and exploit the earth’s goods.

Making the Valles Caldera National Preserve a unit of the National Park System will assure the protection and effective stewardship of an extraordinary place. New Mexico Senators Bingaman and Udall are demonstrating realism and leadership in championing the necessary legislation. Their bill would permit continued grazing and hunting on the preserve, and it also calls for continuation of the preserve’s science and education program, one of the signal achievements of the Trust’s early years. When I last saw Stewart Udall, about a month before he passed away, he expressed deep satisfaction that introduction of the bill was imminent.

A pair of clashing editorials regarding the recently-introduced legislation to transfer the Valles Caldera to the National Park Service have been published in the last week.

The first, in favor of keeping the current management structure at the Preserve and entitled “A step back for Valles Caldera,” was written by Santa Fe resident and 2007 Caldera cattle grazer Courtney White. Mr. White is founder of the Quivira Coalition, whose goal is to “build bridges among ranchers, conservationists, scientists and public land managers around concepts of progressive cattle management, innovative stewardship and improved land health.”

The second, entitled “Valles Caldera Bill a Step Forward,” which favors the legislation, was penned by Roger G. Kennedy, who served as director of the National Park Service in the 1990s.

Mr. White’s piece, which you can read by clicking here, was published in the Santa Fe New Mexican, as well as on the New West website. The conclusion of his piece is quoted below:

Continue reading ‘Former Park Service director clashes with recent Preserve cattle grazer in opposing editorials debating Valles Caldera legislation’

In a legislative move that could herald the endgame of the 111-year-long effort by New Mexicans for the National Park Service to protect and administer the Valles Caldera for the American people, U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall (D-NM) introduced a bill yesterday that would transfer the Valles Caldera National Preserve to the Park Service.

UPDATE 5/31: This bill has been read on the Senate floor and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (which Sen. Bingaman chairs). Read this legislation by clicking here.  The bill (the “Valles Caldera National Preserve Management Act,” S.3452), additionally specifies the following:

• Hunting and fishing will be permitted
• Grazing “may” be allowed “in areas of the Preserve in which grazing was permitted during the grazing season preceding the date of enactment of this act, and to the extent that 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”)
• The NPS will, to the maximum extent practicable, coordinate preserve operations with those of Bandelier National Monument
• A comprehensive management plan (which was never prepared by the Trust) will be produced within three years
• The feasibility of creating a Caldera Rim Trail (inside the boundaries of both the preserve and Santa Fe National Forest) will be studied within three years of passage
• 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 NPS may establish a science and education facility outside of the boundaries of the preserve (enabling the continuation of the VCNP’s new science and education center)
• All volcanic domes above 9,250 feet will be protected from the construction of roads and facilities, and they will also be protected from motorized access
• 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

Below is the joint press release issued by Bingaman and Udall (which you can also read by clicking here):

U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall today introduced legislation to transfer the management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve to the National Park Service.

The bill follows on a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) mandated by the Valles Caldera Preservation Act of 2000 and a feasibility study from the National Park Service requested by the two senators.

The GAO reports that 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. It also notes that the revenue enhancement study commissioned by the Trust estimated the need for at least $21 million for infrastructure improvements to support greater public access.

The National Park Service study, which was requested by Bingaman and Udall, determines 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 Senators’ bill directs the Park Service to take over management 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.

“The Valles Caldera is not only one of the most stunning places in New Mexico, it’s one of the most beautiful places in our country. That is why I worked so hard to bring it into public ownership,” Bingaman said. “I believe it is the perfect candidate for the National Park System.”

“For centuries the Valles Caldera has stood out as the icon of the Jemez Mountains,” said Udall. “As one of the largest volcanic calderas in the world, the vast grass-filled valleys, forested hillsides, and numerous volcanic peaks make the Valles Caldera a treasure to New Mexico, and a landscape of national significance millions of years in the making. It is clearly worthy of National Park Service status.”

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.

“Although the Valles Caldera Trust has done its 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,” Bingaman said. “I believe that the desire for increased public access balanced with the need to protect and interpret the Preserve’s unique cultural and natural resources would be best served by the National Park Service.”

“As Senator Bingaman and I take steps today to begin a transition of the Valles Caldera into the National Park System, I want to applaud the decade of work that the Board of Trustees, the Valles Caldera Trust and the preserve employees have invested in this unmatched natural resource,” said Udall. “As we look to the future, we do so with respect to the longstanding grazing, educational, and once-in-a-lifetime hunting opportunities that are cherished and valued by so many New Mexicans. By utilizing the resources and skills within the National Park Service, the Valles Caldera National Preserve will continue to prosper as a natural wonder full of significant geology, ecology, history and culture.”

The measure will be sent to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which Bingaman chairs. A hearing could be scheduled as soon as next month.

News of the introduction of this legislation has already been covered widely by the media. Click below to read the media’s coverage:

Associated Press (covered here by KRQE-TV): “Valles Caldera may move to Park Service; Bill introduced Thursday”

Santa Fe New Mexican: “Local news in brief May 28, 2010; Valles Caldera transfer bill introduced”

Albuquerque Journal: “Bill Would Move Valles Caldera to Park Service; Management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve would be transferred”

New Mexico Independent: “U.S. Park Service may take over Valles Caldera preserve”

Los Alamos Monitor: “Bingaman and Udall introduce bills; Legislation would transfer Valles Caldera management to the National Park Service”

This month, National Geographic took a look at the Valles Caldera in a feature entitled “America’s Next National Parks?” along with such scenic treasures as Mount St. Helens in Washington, the Lower Hudson River Valley in New York, and Maine Woods.

Click here to read National Geographic’s profile of the scenic crown jewel of New Mexico. A portion of the feature is shown below:

Home to New Mexico’s largest elk herd, the ranch sits inside an ancient volcanic caldera, combining mountains, coniferous forest, and grassland with diverse wildlife.

A compromise in 2000 created the preserve, technically part of Santa Fe National Forest but managed by an independent board. Since then, dissatisfaction over limited public access has grown, along with renewed efforts to transfer the area to the National Park Service.

A December 2009 Park Service report confirmed the suitability and feasibility of acquiring Valles Caldera—almost certainly under regulations that would still allow hunting.

High Country News, a Colorado-based bi-weekly newspaper that “reports on the West’s natural resources, public lands, and changing communities,” published an update on the controversy surrounding the Valles Caldera National Preserve in its most recent edition. Click here to read the entire article. A portion of the article is included below:

In 2000, when the federal government shelled out $101 million to buy what’s now the Valles Caldera National Preserve, it made one thing clear: The government wouldn’t be the preserve’s cash cow forever. But nine years later, the preserve isn’t close to weaning itself off federal funding, according to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office.

Valles Caldera started as an experiment in public lands management. The 89,000-acre ranch was purchased for preservation, but would be managed as a working ranch by a for-profit government corporation called the Valles Caldera Trust. By 2015, the feds expected the trust to be able to support itself financially, a goal the GAO now says is out of reach…

As HCN reported in 2005, the public was feeling increasingly locked out of a management process that was once inclusive and transparent. Access to the land itself was no better: “[F]ive years after the preserve’s creation, the public has unrestricted access to just two short hiking and ski trails. Hunting is tightly restricted, and even fishing access is determined by a lottery held three times a year.” Now, reports Castinado, access isn’t only controlled, it’s expensive: “You have to pay to play in the preserve or be politically connected to get in.”

Click here to read the whole article in High Country News. You can also read a response to this story by Valles Caldera National Preserve Natural Resources Coordinator Marie Rodriguez immediately following the article.

The Associated Press yesterday issued a story covering the release of the Government Accountability Office audit of the Valles Caldera Trust. Among other newspapers, the story was covered in the Denver Post. Click here to read the article from the Post in full. The first portion of the article is included below in its entirety:

A federal report says the land management experiment on New Mexico’s Valles Caldera National Preserve is plagued by managerial problems, lack of planning and legal stumbling blocks, and it’s uncertain the operation could be self-supporting by a 2015 deadline.

The report by the Government Accountability Office provides more ammunition for critics who say the public-private experiment should be ended and the remote, 89,000-acre preserve turned over to a federal agency.

The preserve, a collapsed volcano that is now a series of huge, grassy bowls ringed by mountains, was bought by the federal government nine years ago and is run by a nine-member trust.

It’s supposed to be financially self-sustaining by the end of 2015, when federal funding would dry up.

But the GAO said the trust is at least five years behind schedule. It hasn’t developed a strategic plan or monitoring systems, and has weak financial management, according to the recently released report.

Stephen Henry, chairman of the trust’s board, acknowledged in a letter to the GAO that “there is no excuse for these plans and controls to be lacking.”

Once again, click here to read this article in its entirety.

Roger G. Kennedy, a former director of the National Park Service, revealed his support for that agency to assume control over the Valles Caldera National Preserve yesterday.

He announced this in an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle, in response to another opinion piece in that paper earlier this week that dealt with the concept of the national park, a topic that has been receiving a great deal of media coverage recently due to the airing of the Ken Burns PBS miniseries “National Parks: America’s Best Idea.”

Kennedy lauds the concept of having protected land near cities, stating that “accessible places near urban areas are, as well, examples of good land use and as re-inspirators for everyday life. That is the joy of the accessible park lands around San Francisco, Denver, New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.”

And now we need another great national park. The Valles Caldera, near the growing metropolitan areas of Albuquerque and Santa Fe, N.M., should be a national park.

Click here to read Kennedy’s op-ed in its entirety.

The Associated Press released an article yesterday written by Deborah Baker, entitled “Valles Caldera: Failed Federal Experiment?” Read this article in the Las Cruces Sun-News by clicking here.

UPDATE 9/28: The Journal North printed this article today on the top of its front page, with a headline asking: “Valles Caldera: System Failure?” Click here to read the story in the Journal (after clicking on the prior link, non-subscribers must click on the “trial premium pass” button on the bottom left of the screen to read the story).

An excerpt of the piece follows:

This collapsed volcano in the Jemez Mountains, which erupted more than a million years ago, is the site of a federal experiment in public lands management — a failed experiment, according to critics. Even its most ardent supporters acknowledge that it needs a fix.

The preserve isn’t run by a federal agency, although the former private cattle ranch was bought with tax dollars.

Instead, it’s governed by a nine-member board — with seven, by law, being appointed by the president of the United States. It has a mixed-message mandate: protect the land and cultural resources, provide recreation, run cattle, all while making the preserve financially self-sustaining by 2015.

“It’s basically an unworkable system,” said Tom Ribe, president of Caldera Action, a watchdog group.

Valles Caldera National Preserve Executive Director Gary Bratcher also stated in the article the need for a modification of the law that governs the Valles Caldera National Preserve, asserting that “something has to change.”

Sunday’s Albuquerque Journal, as well as this month’s edition of Paonia, Colorado-based High Country News, featured an op-ed by Albuquerque resident Mike Castinado, entitled “Whose Valles Caldera Is It?”

Castinado begins his piece by referring to the Valles Caldera by its oft-repeated moniker, the Yellowstone of the Southwest:

But unlike Yellowstone, which is managed by the National Park Service, the [Valles Caldera National Preserve] has a radically different management structure. It is not managed by any federal agency; instead, it is run by a federal corporation known as the Valles Caldera Trust and its board of politically appointed trustees. Congress passed the Valles Caldera Preservation Act [of 2000] to establish the preserve and trust, and also gave it the unusual mandate that it must be operated as a working ranch and become financially self-sustaining.

Anyone who read the Preservation Act couldn’t fail to see its conflicting goals: preservation of the land, the former Baca Ranch, along with exploitation of the land in order to make a profit and sustain the trust. Many New Mexico residents like myself wondered how both goals could be achieved, but we were jubilant when at last the formerly private land became a public resource.

Nine years later, we’re a lot less jubilant. Public access is severely limited and also expensive, with $40 van tours, $35 to go fishing, $10 to hike on designated trails, and off-putting rules like no hiking midweek and fees tacked on to other activities. You have to pay to play in the preserve or be politically connected to get in. What’s more, public board meetings seem more like a sham, with directors recounting what has already been decided somewhere else, far away from public scrutiny. Executive directors also come and go with disturbing frequency — four in the last nine years.

Most of the nine board members are businesspeople with no public-land management experience. Almost without exception, all have fulltime endeavors to attend to besides the preserve. At best, a part-time board runs this national treasure.

Read this article in the High Country News (tagline: “For people who care about the West”) or in the Journal (after clicking on the prior link, non-subscribers must click on the “trial premium pass” button on the bottom left of the screen to read the story).