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

The Board of Trustees of the Valles Caldera National Preserve will conduct a public meeting Tuesday morning at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces at 9:00 am.  According to the Valles Caldera Preservation Act of 2000, the Board must hold public meetings at least three times per year.

The last public meeting of the Board of Trustees, held in the evening this past June in Los Alamos, represented the first time in more than three years that the Board had met in public outside of business hours. This decision enhanced the ability of the working New Mexican to attend and voice his or her opinions on the future of the Valles Caldera National Preserve to the Trustees of the people’s land, and the June meeting was heavily attended.

However, this week’s meeting, planned for 9:00 on a Tuesday morning, represents a return to the Trustees’ three-year pattern of holding their public meetings during working hours.

WHAT: Public meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Valles Caldera National Preserve
WHERE: New Mexico State University, Corbett Center, Student Senate Chambers (get directions here)
WHEN: Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009, 9:00 AM

AGENDA:

9:00 AM Welcome and Introductions – Board Business
• Call to order
• Explanation of public meeting requirements
• Announce results of BOT election effective 10/1/09
• Approval of June 11, 2009 Public Meeting Minutes
• Approval of Agenda
• Authorize Future Executive Sessions
• Approval of 2010 Budget

9:30 AM Presentation of programs in collaboration with NMSU
• High elevation breeding stock program – Dr. Chris Allison
• Ungulate grazing on riparian ecosystems – Dr. Colleen Caldwell
• WHEP Program – Ms. Summer Eaton/Dr. Samuel Smallidge
• Website design for VCT – MBA Candidates – Dr. Kevin Boberg

10:00 AM Report to Board of Trustees on Programs and Activities 2009-2010
• Preserve Operations – Mr. Dennis Trujillo, General Manager
• Science and Education – Dr. Robert Parmenter – Director Science and Education

12:00 Adjourn

PUBLIC COMMENT OPPORTUNITY

1:00 – 2:00 PUBLIC COMMENT SESSION

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.”

The U.S. Senate yesterday passed the 2010 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, which allocates $3.5 million to fund operations at the Valles Caldera National Preserve for the fiscal year that runs from Oct. 1, 2009 to Sept. 30, 2010.  New Mexico’s U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman (D) and Tom Udall (D) both voted in favor of the bill.  The measure (H.R. 2996) passed by a vote of 77 to 21, and includes a total of $32.1 billion in federal spending.  The funds specified for the VCNP represent a 12.5% cut from this current year’s appropriation of $4 million.

The legislation now heads to a conference committee to reconcile it with a different version of the bill that the House of Representatives passed by a vote of 254-173 on June 26, 2009.  The two bills differ in total spending by less than one percent.  However, both the House and the Senate versions of the bill contain the same $3.5 million line-item for the Preserve, making it very probable that this will be the amount appropriated for the VCNP in the final legislation likely to be passed by Congress for the signature of President Barack Obama.

The latest addition to VallesCaldera.com’s collection of virtual-reality 360° panoramas comes from the top of Cat Mesa, along the South Rim of the Caldera, in the Santa Fe National Forest, high above and to the west of the Valles Caldera community of Sierra los Piños, facing to the northeast, before a late-summer afternoon thunderstorm. Download this panorama here (see the end of this post for technical instructions).

Once the panorama is open, the resurgent dome of Redondo Peak (elev. 11,254), the highest mountain in the Caldera, stands tall in the center of the perspective. Just below this sacred mountain is the Banco Bonito, a high plateau that was formed by an eruptive event that occurred between 50,000 to 60,000 years ago, in which thick, obsidian-like lava flowed to the west, a path which you can visually follow by dragging the cursor to the left (which moves the whole perspective of the panorama).

Below the Banco Bonito, take note of the prominent rock cliffs. These form part of the north wall of the East Fork of the Jemez River canyon. Although it cannot be discerned in the perspective, to the right of these rocks is Jemez Falls, one of the most family-friendly recreation spots in the Jemez Mountains, with a short trail from the road to the roaring waterfall traversed just as easily by young and old alike.

To the left of the rock cliffs (also not visible) is McCauley Warm Springs. However, if you turn the perspective about 60 degrees to the left, you can see a rich assortment of volcanic features: at the nadir of the north and south walls of the East Fork Canyon is Battleship Rock (tiny in this panorama), which is the location of the confluence of the two rivers that drain the Valles Caldera (the aforementioned East Fork of the Jemez River as well as the San Antonio River). Above that looms the wall of massive Virgin Mesa, which forms the Western Rim of the Caldera as it extends to the right (north). Panning even more to the left is an impressive collection of tent rocks. These curious formations are hoodoos consisting of eroded Bandelier Tuff (which are the output from the two cataclysmic Jemez eruptions 1.6 and 1.2 million years ago — the first formed the Toledo Caldera and the second created the Valles Caldera, obliterating most of the first caldera). There are various collections of tent rocks (some of them hidden) throughout the Valles Caldera and Jemez Mountains, most notably in Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, a surreal, magical landscape that was designated a National Monument in 2001 by President Bill Clinton in the final days of his administration.

QuickTime (version 5.0 or above) must be installed to view our 360° panoramas. Click here to install QuickTime. You also need to have a high-speed internet connection, as this panorama is five megabytes. QuickTime will automatically launch when the panorama had been downloaded.

Once the panorama loads, enter full-screen mode (by pressing Command-F on a Mac or Control-F on a PC) for the most enjoyable viewing experience. Drag the cursor in any direction to change your perspective. You can also press the shift key to zoom in, and the Command key (Control key on a PC) to zoom out.

Finally, enjoy the remainder of our collection of virtual-reality 360° panoramas — many of which feature locations that the public has rarely, if ever, been granted access.

Tom Ribe, the Executive Director of advocacy group Caldera Action, wrote a letter to the editor of the Albuquerque Journal that was published this past Sunday. An excerpt follows:

For eight years the public has experienced the “Trust” model of managing the Valles Caldera National Preserve. Disappointment and frustration are increasing as the experiment in public land management has veered off in a direction much of the public doesn’t want and never intended when we pushed for public purchase of the Baca Ranch in 2000…

The current “access and use” planning process where the Trust is proposing everything from hotels, parking lots, gift shops, hiking trails and RV parks is a case in point. Since logging and grazing are not profitable for the VCNP, the Trust has turned to commercial developments in an attempt to attain financial self sufficiency.

The Trust experiment is a chronically flawed management system. This privatization of public land emphasizes money over the tremendous watershed, wildlife, recreation and educational values of the VCNP. It’s time to end the Trust experiment, transfer the land to the National Park Service as the 19th NPS Preserve, see professional management, financial efficiency, quality public access, and enjoy a sense that we have created a true asset to our region in a well protected nationally significant place. Please contact Congress to support this transfer before irreparable damage is done to our preserve.

Read this letter to the editor in its entirety here (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).

Approximately 15-20 members of the public attended a workshop in Albuquerque on Monday to discuss access and development options on the Valles Caldera National Preserve. During this meeting, which was conducted by Preserve staff and consultants, there was little support expressed for any of the five development options under consideration by the Valles Caldera Trust. Additionally, no audience member raised their hand when asked if they support the mandate of the Valles Caldera Preservation Act of 2000 that the Preserve be financially self-sufficient.

The first hour of the workshop consisted of an informal meet-and-greet, in which members of the public were able to chat with Preserve staff and consultants, and examine various displays and maps that corresponded with the five alternatives to develop the Preserve that have been proposed by Houston-based environmental consulting firm ENTRIX. These options, which have been reported here, include new trails, picnic areas, campgrounds, roads, RV parks, luxury lodges, observatories, bars, snack bars, food service stations, a conference center, new staff housing, a new administrative center, and “a full service science and education center and campus.”

After the meet-and-greet, the event entered what a Trust consultant characterized as a “speed-dating format,” which featured three 30-minute rounds. For each round, members of the public were invited to choose between two tables — at each table one of the following six topics having to do with future development on the Preserve was explored: access, capacity, activities, development, financing, and values. In this manner, all six topics were covered in 90 minutes, albeit with each member of the public only able to participate in one-half of the designated topics.

There was little support expressed for any of the ENTRIX proposals, and many attendees spoke strongly against commercial development.  And when a Preserve consultant asked the audience if anyone present was in favor of continuing to mandate that the Valles Caldera National Preserve be financially self-sustaining, no one raised their hand.

Staff assured the public that their comments would be entered into the Preserve’s official record; when these are released those who did not attend will be able to read all of the comments given by the public at these meetings.

For those who did not attend the two meetings this week and were not able to have their comments entered into the official record, you will be able to comment upon the five development options being considered by the Trust online at their public access and scoping web site. These comments, according to a Trust consultant, are due by October 15.

The next public meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Valles Caldera National Preserve will be held in Las Cruces on Tuesday, Sept. 29, at the Student Senate Chambers of New Mexico State University’s Corbett Center, at 9:00 AM.

Staff from the Valles Caldera National Preserve will be conducting two public workshops in Albuquerque and Santa Fe on Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 14 and 15, at 5:30 PM, to gather feedback on various alternatives for future public access and development on the Preserve.

Five alternatives were unveiled to the public online last month, which include new trails, picnic areas, campgrounds, roads, RV parks, luxury lodges (rooms for which could go for between $550 and $730 per night), observatories, bars, snack bars, food service stations, a conference center, new staff housing, a new administrative center, and “a full service science and education center and campus.”

The first hour of each event will consist of “an open house where you can learn about the elements involved in public access and use planning and visit with staff and experts,” according to the Valles Caldera Trust. After the first hour, “a series of small group discussions” will begin. Details of these meetings are as follows:

Mon., Sept. 14, 2009, Hilton Garden Inn, 5320 San Antonio Dr NE, Albuquerque, 5:30-8:00 PM
Tues., Sept. 15, 2009, Santa Fe Community College, 6401 S Richards Ave, Santa Fe, 5:30-8:00 PM