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New Mexico’s junior U.S. Senator, Tom Udall (D), appeared last week on KUNM-FM’s local news report to discuss news that he and Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D) have asked the National Park Service to perform a study on operating the Valles Caldera National Preserve as a National Park Preserve, which is similar to a National Park, except that hunting is permitted.

KUNM is the Univ. of New Mexico’s NPR-affiliated student radio station that can be heard throughout central and northern New Mexico.  Click here to listen to the entire interview.

In the interview, Sen.  Udall declared that two aspects of the legislative framework of the Valles Caldera Protection Act of 2000 are “in conflict:” “protecting the ecological integrity of the area,” while earning a profit.  He also said that he assumes that “there might be somewhat more public acccess under a National Park regime than there is under the current regime.”  However, he gave credit to the current Valles Caldera Trust, stating that “we’re asking them to contribute their time and expertise for almost nothing.”

Sen. Udall also didn’t rule out grazing under a proposed new regime, pointing out that “we have many areas in Northern New Mexico which are stressed by grazing.  And so, using the Caldera as a grass bank might allow other areas to recover and to rest.  And so, I hope that, in the process of this, we take a good, hard look at that.”

Finally, Sen. Udall praised some of the activist groups who have worked hard to get to the point in which the federal government is considering changing the management of the Valles Caldera, stating that “there have been some alliances that have been very constructive about their recommendations.”  He closed by invoking a pluralistic theme as members of the public and other Valles Caldera stakeholders enter this historic and crucial phase of the post-Baca Ranch era, which could affect the Caldera for generations, stating that “we just need to involve all New Mexicans as we move forward here and take stock of where we are today.”

Below is a portion of the KUNM interview, conducted by reporter Jim Williams, the News Director of KUNM:

SEN. UDALL: Typically, a National Park is run with a protective approach to the land.  In the case of this designation, hunting would be allowed.  But it would achieve permanent status, I guess, more than anything.  Right now, the legislation expires in 2020.  It’s run by a corporation.  It’s run by the Trustees.  That doesn’t have permanent status.  So I guess the real difference is, is that we’re looking down the road, looking at the long term, seeing where we go from here.

JIM WILLIAMS.  Well, do you think the Trust has been a success in its current form thus far?

SEN. UDALL: The Trust, I think, have been, over the years, a very hard-working group of individuals.  And, really, we’re asking them to contribute their time and expertise for almost nothing.  And, I know, the early years, it was literally nothing.  So, this is a group of very, very, experienced citizens, that have been a part of trying to find out what the vision should be for the Valles Caldera, and also balance some very difficult concepts in the law.  I mean, first of all we tell them in the law, you know, protect the ecological integrity of the area.  Do research – do the very best science.  But then we also tell them you’ve got to earn money and by a certain date you have to be self-supporting.  And those two concepts are in conflict.  And so, what we’re trying to do here about halfway down the operation of this trust is ask some questions.  A GAO study is coming out.  We’re asking for this reconnaissance study from the National Park Service.  We’re saying, “what are the options in the future, and let’s take stock of where we are today.”

In a potentially historic action, New Mexico’s two U.S. senators, Jeff Bingaman (D) and Tom Udall (D), have asked the National Park Service to study the possibility of managing the Valles Caldera as a National Park Service preserve, which is similar to a normal national park, except that hunting is allowed, the Santa Fe New Mexican and the Albuquerque Journal reported today.

According to the article, Bingaman and Udall have asked the National Park Service to report their findings in a few months.

To students of the history of the Valles Caldera, Udall’s involvement in a potential change in management of the Valles Caldera is a nod to the history of the Caldera and his own family.

Tom Udall was elected New Mexico’s junior U.S. Senator in November 2008, after having represented Northern New Mexico in Congress since 1998.  His father, Stewart Udall, served as President John F. Kennedy’s Secretary of the Interior after representing Southern Arizona in Congress.  In 1962, Stewart Udall was a strong and vocal proponent of establishing a Valle Grande National Park, which never happened due to the purchase of the Baca Ranch by the Dunigan family of Texas in 1963 (which it owned until the Valles Caldera National Preserve was created in 2000).

Please contact New Mexico’s U.S. Congressional delegation and provide them feedback on this idea.  Contact information can be found by clicking here.  It would also be useful to write a letter to the editor explaining your position on this initiative.  Contact information for local newspapers can be found by clicking here.

Three op-eds on the Valles Caldera National Preserve — its management, its future, and the Valles Caldera Preservation Act — have been recently published in separate publications: the Albuquerque Journal, the Los Alamos Monitor, and Forest Magazine.

On June 21, Dave Menicucci published an op-ed in the Albuquerque Journal, entitled “No Simple Solution for Preserve.”  In this piece, Menicucci, who has written a multitude of articles on the Valles Caldera and Jemez Mountains for different newspapers, examines the issue of cattle grazing on the Preserve.  Since the Valles Caldera Preservation Act of 2000 stipulates that the Preserve must be operated as a working ranch, many infer that this means that cattle grazing must be allowed on what had been a private ranch for 140 years.  However, exactly how to implement a grazing program that satisfies the various stakeholders of the Preserve is a challenge, he writes:

The Valles Caldera National Preserve continues to swirl in the vortex of controversy. Last month the preserve’s Board of Trustees selected a grazing proposal designed to provide multiple benefits to the preserve and the community. The project’s goal is to identify the best genetic makeup to maximize cattle performance in high elevations. It held promise for broad-based public acceptance because the project is led by New Mexico State University and includes the Jemez Pueblo and the New Mexico Beef Cattle Performance Association, a local industry group dedicated to enhancing grazing productivity.

Instead, the plan has engendered strong negative reactions from two significant, but dissimilar quarters — the Northern New Mexico ranching community and environmentalists.

Menicucci examines different ideas for how (and, indeed, if) to proceed with cattle grazing on the Preserve, and concludes by noting that the Preserve, “with its alluring grassy valleys and fish-laden streams, is juxtaposed against complex and sometimes conflicting legal objectives regarding grazing. It has become a political battleground with no easy resolution in sight.”

Tom Ribe of Caldera Action published “At the Center of Controversy,” an opinion piece in the Summer 2009 edition of Forest Magazine.   The piece serves as an introduction to readers around the country about the unique legislative structure that governs the Preserve, the inherent problems that stem from it, the Preserve’s inability to approach profitability, and Caldera Action’s initiative to solve these problems by integrating the Valles Caldera into the National Park Service:

With the failure of the financial self-sufficiency requirement all but certain, conservation groups and other organizations see an urgent need to safeguard this landscape. “The legislation says the preserve will become national forest land in 2015 if financial self-sufficiency is not achieved,” says Caldera Action’s Monique Schoustra. “This is a nightmare scenario, since the national forest lands surrounding the preserve are overrun with cattle, off-road vehicles, and have minimal law enforcement. The place is special, world-class even, and needs high quality management and protection for ever-increasing numbers who want to visit.”

Caldera Action is pressing legislation that would transfer the area to the National Park Service as a preserve where hunting and fishing would be allowed and education and scientific research would be a core mission. With no champions of the trust experiment left in the New Mexico congressional delegation, Caldera Action and its allied groups feel optimistic that the National Park Service arrowhead may soon grace signs in the Valles Caldera National Preserve.

Ribe also wrote an opinion piece in the Los Alamos Monitor this month, touching on the results of having a Trust run the Valles Caldera National Preserve rather than a traditional government agency:

The “trust” concept apparently was intended to have the Valles Caldera run like a business instead of an agency, but accounting problems, and the fact that public lands have set costs for complying with laws and managing public values that have no monetary value has meant that the business idea is a poor match for a piece of wild country that the public wants protected and open to its owners.

The idea that the VCNP should achieve financial self-sufficiency or even come close to it cannot be achieved without commercial developments, corporate sponsorships and high fees collected from the public owners of the preserve.

Stating that the Valles Caldera Trust hires “private consulting companies for tens of thousands of dollars to do basic things that are done in the ranger offices of any public land agency at minimal expense,” Ribe asserts that “running the VCNP as a National Park Service Preserve will cost the taxpayer less than the Trust does and we will have a fully accountable and professional agency in charge.”

Los Amigos de Valles Caldera — the official “friends” group of the Caldera — has scanned and placed online the various fliers issued by the Valles Caldera National Preserve that detail the recreation activities that the Preserve is offering this summer.

You can view these fliers and learn about these recreation activities on Los Amigos de Valles Caldera’s blog by clicking here.

According to the fliers, the recreation activities include:

Van Tours: archeology tours, artist tours, botany tours, ecology tours, geology tours, history tours, wildlife tours.
Hiking Adventures: back country self-guided hikes, self-guided hikes, free self-guided hikes, guided hikes.
Stargazing Expeditions
Mountain Biking Adventures: Cruise the Caldera fun ride, Banco Bonito trail riding
Equestrian Adventures: Valle Grande pasture riding, equestrian trail riding
Trout Fishing Activities: San Antonio Creek fishing, East Fork of the Jemez River fishing, fly fishing clinics

To reserve a recreation activity at the Valles Caldera National Preserve, click here.

The Valles Caldera Trust conducted a heavily-attended public meeting in Los Alamos on June 11.  Roger Snodgrass covered the meeting in an article in the Los Alamos Monitor, which can be read in full by clicking here.  From the article:

The Valles Caldera Trust took a few more jabs from its critics at a standing-room only public meeting Thursday night at the Hilltop House, while announcing plans for several improvements.

Trustees muted their recent emphasis on commercial development projects on the public property, and Gary Bratcher, the Valles Caldera’s executive director, said he was serious about trying to help Dorothy Hoard of Los Alamos realize her vision of a 78-mile rim trail around the entire Valles Caldera Preserve.

“The board has discussed the rim project, said board chairman Stephen Henry, “and we do think that’s a good idea.”

Valles Caldera Trust Vice Chairman Ed Tinsley described “‘four criteria that we are trying to achieve,’ which included making the preserve ‘inclusive’ of all socio-economic classes, making it possible for ‘more people to experience the preserve,’ while maintaining the ‘balance’ inherent in protecting the ‘pristine asset’ that the preserve represents for many in the public, as well as “to strive to be self-sustaining by 2015 – or at least to be moving in that direction,” according to the article.

Some upcoming plans discussed by the Trust in the meeting included “work to be done on a six-mile stretch of back road along with deferred maintenance work on some of the preserve’s historic buildings,” as well as an upgrade to its website, the article reports.

The Monitor also reported that the Trust announced a two-month program in which the public will be encouraged to provide their feedback to the Trust via the internet as well as at three public meetings, beginning in Jemez Springs in July 15, and followed up by meetings in Santa Fe and Albuquerque.  The Trust will combine this input with “a round of scoping meetings from two years ago to provide the substance for phase one of an environmental impact statement.”

These plans were met with skepticism by conservation groups:

Betsy Barnett, vice president of Caldera Action, a citizen watchdog group that is part of a federation of environmental organizations, questioned the renewed planning process, noting that she had reviewed a document with comments from the previous scoping sessions showed overwhelming support for public programs and only three entries suggesting lodging or high-end camping. But the trust’s revenue enhancement plan proposing hotels and luxury camping credited the scoping process as a source.

She also said she believes the trust continues to misinterpret the founding legislation to justify their preference for the developments.

“I do not think that the act says that you must attain financial self-sufficiency at all costs,” she said, noting the explicit charge to “protect and preserve” the scenic and environmental values for future generations.

According to a list of past meetings on the Valles Caldera National Preserve’s website, this was the first time in more than three years that the Trust has held a public meeting after business hours.  However, Tom Ribe of Caldera Action, among others, has stated that “the trustees make their decisions in closed door meetings held before the public one, (possibly in violation of the Valles Caldera legislation).”

A forum on “Public Access and Future Management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve” was conducted by the Albuquerque Chapter of the New Mexico Native Plant Society on June 3. The Albuquerque public event’s primary speakers were Tom Ribe of the advocacy group Caldera Action, author and activist Dorothy Hoard, former president of the NMNPS Chick Keller, and Valles Caldera National Preserve Chief Scientist Bob Parmenter.

The Los Alamos Monitor covered the forum in a story entitled “Plant society forum finds fault with Caldera trust,” which can be read by clicking here. According to the Monitor’s Roger Snodgrass:

The New Mexico Native Plant Society might sound like an unlikely place for a rebellion. But two of the four speakers at a meeting of the Albuquerque chapter this week called for an overthrow and a third said it was time for people to stand up and say they were not going to take it any more.

The object of their criticism was not the taxonomy of desert wildflowers, but rather the system of governance of the Valles Caldera National Preserve, the 89,000-acre experiment in public land.

According to the Monitor, the Preserve’s Chief Scientist Robert Parmenter stated at one point during the meeting that with regard to the criticisms of the Preserve conveyed during the forum, “virtually everything they’ve said is just about right.”

Tom Ribe, President of Caldera Action, advocated ending the Valles Caldera Trust and merging the National Preserve into a separate entity within an existing federal land management agency, such as the National Park Service:

“Public land management is being reinvented by people who are generally unqualified to do that,” Ribe said, noting that the current executive director has no experience in public land management and that there are no supervisors other than Congress, “which understandably has its attention elsewhere.”

[...] The trust’s current emphasis on private, money-making concessions may provide more access but at a higher cost, he said, and higher fees means catering to wealthier people who can afford to pay them.

He said Caldera Action is working on a national legislative proposal that will eliminate the trust and turn the property over to professional managers in the National Park Service, while maintaining the property’s independent character.

Author Dorothy Hoard of Los Alamos was also a featured speaker. Her publications include Exploring the Jemez Country, A Guide to Bandelier National Monument, and Flowering Plants of the Southwestern Woodlands.  Her books can be found on this site’s Books section, as well as on Amazon.com.  According to the Monitor, “for two decades Hoard has been devoted to an ambitious effort to bring about an 80-mile Valles Caldera rim trail that will circumnavigate the preserve and provide majestic 360-degree views of the preserve and the surrounding area” (visit this web site for a map of the proposed trail). During Hoard’s comments, she offered her view of the politics of the Trust:

She described the founding board, appointed by President Clinton as being more conservationist in orientation while the Bush appointees were more “development-oriented.”

There are currently only four appointed trustees and two ex-officio trustees, enough for a quorum, but three Obama appointees are expected to be named this summer.

Hoard expected the Obama appointees could in their turn throw out everything the Bush appointees had done.

She said one day an employee at the preserve told her he could no longer help her on her Rim Trail proposal, because the entire staff was being devoted to grazing.

In a follow-up letter to the editor to the Monitor regarding this story, Hoard wrote that the article “described very well the mood of the panel,” but clarified some details that had been discussed regarding the proposed Valles Caldera Rim Trail.

In her letter, Hoard stated that access to many of the most scenic vistas on the rim of the Caldera is owned by the Forest Service, whereas the Preserve owns most of the vistas themselves, behind a barbed-wire fence.

Members of the public are invited and encouraged to attend this year’s second public meeting of the Valles Caldera Trust on Thursday evening, June 11, at the Best Western Hilltop House Hotel in Los Alamos from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM.

This is the first time in more than three years that the Trust has held a public meeting after business hours, which is a commendable move since it affords working people an opportunity to attend these public meetings and offer their opinions, ideas, and feedback on the record to the managers of our National Preserve.

Earlier on Thursday, the Valles Caldera National Preserve will be holding an open house at the Preserve offices in Jemez Springs from 9:00 AM to noon, in which members of the public can meet with Valles Caldera Trust Chairman Stephen Henry and other management and staff.

The Best Western Hilltop House Hotel is at 400 Trinity Drive, Los Alamos, NM 87544, and can be reached at (505) 662-2441.  The offices of the Valles Caldera Trust are at 18161 State Highway 4, Jemez Springs, NM 87025, (505) 661-3333.

The agenda for the June 11 Valles Caldera Trust meeting follows:

6:00 PM Welcome and Introductions

6:15 PM Board Business

• Approval of Agenda
• Approval of March 12, 2009 Public Meeting Minutes
• Authorize Future Executive Sessions
• Announcement of September 2009 Public Meeting

6:30 PM Management Comments

• Preserve Activities – General Manager, Preserve
• Communications – Manager, Marketing and Communications
• Science/Education – Director, Science and Education
• Financial Review – Chief Administrative Officer
• General Comments – Executive Director

8:00 PM Board Committee Reports

• Infrastructure Committee – Vice Chairman
• Corporate Governance – Chairman

8:30 PM Public Comments

9:00 PM Adjourn

There will be a public meeting this evening, June 5, conducted by the Jemez Ranger District of the Santa Fe National Forest from 6:30-7:30 PM at the offices of the Valles Caldera National Preserve in Jemez Springs, regarding potential camping and recreational restrictions in the East Fork Jemez Wild and Scenic River corridor, which is located entirely within the Valles Caldera (outside of the National Preserve).

The headwaters of the East Fork are in the eastern portion of the Valle Grande on the Valles Caldera National Preserve, and the river meanders through the Valle Grande and Hidden Valley before leaving the National Preserve and becoming the East Fork Jemez Wild and Scenic River. It leaves the Valles Caldera as it joins the San Antonio River at Battleship Rock, forming the Jemez River.  From the Santa Fe National Forest:

Over the past several years, Jemez District employees have been documenting ongoing impacts to soil, streamside vegetation, rare plants, and water quality as a result of the high volume of recreational use in the area. The District hopes to gain input from the public before designing a proposal to reduce recreation impacts to the congressionally designated Wild and Scenic River.

In 1990, Congress designated 11 miles of the East Fork of the Jemez River located on the Jemez Ranger District of the Santa Fe National Forest as a Wild and Scenic River. This small meandering stream winds its way through grassy meadows and steep-walled rock canyons on the south side of the Jemez Mountains. On its way to its confluence with the Rio San Antonio, the river passes through the heart of the Jemez Mountains’ most popular recreation area. Popular recreation sites such as the Las Conchas Trailhead, the East Fork box, Jemez Falls Campground, McCauley Warm Springs, and the East Fork hiking trail all occur within or next to the East Fork Jemez Wild and Scenic River corridor.

Over the past decade, ecological assessments of the river have repeatedly illustrated impacts from recreation to the stream system as a result of user-created trails along the river bank, trampling of stream-side vegetation, and improper camping practices. “The river is being loved to death,” said Ranger Linda Riddle, “We hope to continue to allow Forest visitors to camp and enjoy the river, but manage this use so that the East Fork Jemez River maintains its natural beauty and ecological function.”

The offices of the Valles Caldera National Preserve are at 18161 Highway 4, Jemez Springs, NM 87025.

Audits of the Valles Caldera Trust released last week revealed the following:

• Despite federal law stipulating that regular audits be performed on the Valles Caldera Trust and submitted to Congress, “Trust has not obtained an audit of its financial statements since its inception in 2000.”

• “Reportable noncompliance with laws and regulations.”

• “Several instances where possible misuse of appropriated funds were identified, including purchase of clothing, food and entertainment, dental and vision insurance for employees and personal use of government vehicles,” according to a story in the Albuquerque Journal on May 28.

• “Material weaknesses in internal control that resulted in ineffective controls over operations, financial reporting and compliance with applicable laws and regulations.”

• “Supporting documentation for journal adjustments and disbursements could not be provided by the Trust.”

• “Trust requirements for bids on procurements over $10,000 was not followed consistently by employees,” and “evidence of proper review and authorization of procurements was not available.”

• “The Trust had no documented policies and procedures in place.”

[The summary letter of the most recent audit report can be read in its entirety by clicking "Continue reading..." at the end of this post]

According to Moss-Adams, the Albuquerque firm that performed the audits, “the trust concurred with the facts and conclusions in this report.”

In response to news of the release of this audit, the Albuquerque Journal editorial board today chided the Trust for the conclusions that the audits reveal.

In the case of the Valles Caldera National Preserve, standard business procedures apply, apparently, except when they don’t.

The latest evidence: the preserve, formed in 2000, has failed since to audit its books. The long overdue review has now taken place, perhaps thanks to current director Gary Bratcher, a former cabinet secretary for economic development under Republican Gov. Gary Johnson…

The Journal has long argued that the preserve’s board of trustees should focus on the recreational and other uses for the land that bring in the most money, to keep the preserve open while not endangering its scenic beauty. The failure to audit — like the trustees’ refusal to consider turning over the grazing leases to environmental groups willing to pay much more for them than cattle growers — is an indication that the board continues to be short-sighted when it comes to “optimizing the generation of income” from the property, as federal law mandates.

Dennis Rino, the Valles Caldera Trust’s Administrative Officer, downplayed the findings of the audit.

“The findings in this report are procedural and do not represent erroneous transactions, malfeasance or ethical misconduct,” Rino stated in a letter attached to the audits.

Valles Caldera Trust Executive Director Gary Bratcher said that “staff has been working closely with Moss-Adams to develop new policies and procedures to address these deficiencies and weaknesses. As a result, our financial systems and controls have improved to the point that we are confident in our ability to comply with policy and law for future audits. We will continue to strengthen our controls and procedures and assure the public that the audit requirement will be fully complied with in the future.”

According to the Journal, “Preserve officials say they’ve corrected the problems. The changes include the hiring of an accountant and the introduction of an integrated financial system.”

The recently-released audits of the Valles Caldera Trust can be downloaded below:

Audit of Valles Caldera Trust for 2004-2005
Audit of Valles Caldera Trust for 2005-2006
Audit of Valles Caldera Trust for 2006-2007

Continue reading ‘Auditors reveal deficiencies at the Valles Caldera Trust: no audits since 2000, “reportable noncompliance with laws and regulations,” “possible misuse of appropriated funds”’