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

The Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce has announced its endorsement of the proposed transfer of management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve to the National Park Service.  Kevin Holsapple, executive director of the Los Alamos Commerce and Development Corporation/Chamber of Commerce (writing on behalf of its board of directors), recently sent the following letter to the Los Alamos County Council conveying why its members support NPS management of the Preserve:

CDC/Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce
190 Central Park Square
Los Alamos, NM 87544

Los Alamos County Council
PO Box 30
Los Alamos, NM 87544

March 14, 2010

Dear Council:

Please accept our organization’s comment on the question of the future management of the Valles Caldera property. Our organization operates several programs having strong interest in this matter. The Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce is an association of about 300 businesses, organizations, and individuals interested in positive community and economic development and our Los Alamos Meeting and Visitor Bureau program operates visitor centers in Los Alamos and White Rock and is an important resource for understanding visitation and tourism in our area. We believe that the most desirable management option coinciding with the interests of the Los Alamos community is for the Valles Caldera to become a National Park managed by the National Park Service. This option presents several advantages:

• The National Park Service option is by far the best from the standpoint of promoting visitation and tourism to the area. The NPS “arrowhead” is a powerful brand that far exceeds those of forest service and the Valles Caldera Trust in terms of attracting interest and visitation.

• The NPS mission of “safeguarding America’s special places” stands in contrast with the role of the Forest Service in consumptive use of resources. In contrast with the VCNP Trust, the NPS works with small businesses to provide concession opportunities whereas the VCNP is motivated to develop captive services that do not provide such opportunities. These attributes of the NPS are best aligned among the three management options with our community’s interests in realizing economic benefit from visitation and tourism.

• In our experience in Los Alamos County, the involvement of the NPS in our community has far exceeded that of the other proposed management entities. Based on this experience, we believe that it is more likely that the NPS would be interested in working closely with our community for mutual benefit.

Please note that we do not expect the Valles Caldera to become “Los Alamoscentric” in any of the scenarios. We think that Los Alamos is a natural eastern gateway to the Valles and the Jemez Mountains just as we recognize that Jemez Pueblo and Jemez Springs are natural western gateway communities. We understand that it will be important for whatever management entity that is selected to reach out in both of these directions. We encourage that as general input regardless of the choice that is made.

We think that there is an opportunity to collaborate with the selected entity on a joint visitor center (or centers) in Los Alamos County. Such a facility would be a natural first stop for visitors to Los Alamos and would feature not only the Valles Caldera, but also Bandelier National Monument, the Bradbury Science Museum, the Los Alamos Historical Museum, the Pajarito Environmental Education Center, area Pueblos, and area recreational attractions. We are currently the operator of the visitor center here and we would welcome the opportunity to collaborate on a joint visitor center. We believe that this would enhance the visitor experience as well as enable economies of operation.

Thank you for listening to and accepting our input. Our organization stands ready to assist the County and the selected management entity for the Valles Caldera.

Sincerely,
Kevin Holsapple
Executive Director

Garrett Veneklasen, the chairman of the outdoorsman organization Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, wrote an op-ed in the Albuquerque Journal this past weekend throwing his support behind a proposed transfer of management of the Valles Caldera to the National Park Service.

Entitled “Managers of Preserve Want Status Quo,” the op-ed also responds to the story written in the Journal North earlier this month in which the management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve claimed that its science and recreation programs would be at risk if the Park Service took over (sentiments which were dismissed the next day by the Journal North editorial board as “less than convincing,” “hard to believe,” and “laughable”).

Click here to read this op-ed (after clicking on this link, non-subscribers must click on the “trial access pass” button in the lower left of the screen to read the story). A portion of the piece is included below:

The recent story about Valles Caldera National Preserve’s new science program for visiting students, “Programs at Risk,” was missing a few important elements, including a healthy dose of skepticism.

Preserve Executive Director Gary Bratcher told the Journal that the new education programs would evaporate if the National Park Service or U.S. Forest Service took over operations at Valles Caldera. But a quick online check shows the preserve’s neighbor, Bandelier National Monument, hosts a wide range of educational and scientific research programs. Most national parks do, and there is no reason to think such programs wouldn’t continue at Valles Caldera, regardless which agency takes the reins.

Bratcher also says that under National Park Service or Forest Service management, other programs would cease, leaving “only hiking and camping.”

But the National Park Service study says the the agency believes “public access and recreational opportunities would be expanded under NPS management….” The study goes on to note, “There is untapped potential for enhancing public enjoyment” of Valles Caldera preserve.
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Access and the opportunity to enjoy the magnificent Valles Caldera would actually improve if operations were transferred to a public lands management agency. Such a move would benefit the public, reduce costs — similar-sized Park Service units with similar numbers of employees cost a little over $2 million a year — and stimulate the economy for Jemez-area businesses through increased visitation.

It is clear from the Journal story that Mr. Bratcher and other top Valles Caldera managers desperately want to maintain their quiet, well-funded operation. Perhaps a better headline than “Programs at Risk” would have been “Status Quo at Risk.”

The Journal North published three letters to the editor regarding the Valles Caldera in the past week — all of which expressed support for proposed National Park Service management of the Caldera.

Albuquerque’s Betsy Barnett responded to the Journal North article published earlier this month, “Programs at Risk,” in a letter to the editor headlined “Preserve Transfer Benefits Us All.” (click here to read the letter — after clicking on this link, non-subscribers must click on the “trial access pass” button in the lower left of the screen to read it):

The National Park Service is careful to sustain prior uses consistent with its land protection mandates when it assumes management of a new unit. Preserve director Gary Bratcher is wrong when he says “all programs would be cut but hiking and camping.” On the contrary, all uses compatible with protecting a unique natural resource — hiking, skiing, horseback riding, star gazing, backpacking, camping, fishing, hunting, mountain biking — can continue under the NPS.

Under the NPS, access will be greater and cheaper than it is at the preserve. The preserve admits roughly 15,000 visitors annually compared with the approximately 250,000 visitors served by Bandelier National Monument, which is only one-third the size of the preserve. Moreover, the trustees are now considering how much they can increase the already pricey fees they charge for access and the activities they offer.

It is in everyone’s interest to transfer the management of the preserve to the National Park Service.

Caldera Action Chairman Tom Jervis’ letter is headlined “Park Service Better Serves Preserve.” Click here to read it — after clicking on this link, non-subscribers must click on the “trial access pass” button in the lower left of the screen to read the letter:

Gary Bratcher is quoted as saying the trust is “light on our feet,” yet after 10 years of trust management, the trust has provided no permanent restrooms, no permanent visitor center, no potable water system, no general transportation plan and only the beginnings of any concrete plans for these essential facilities.

On top of limited facilities, opportunities are limited, as well. The article notes that snowshoeing and cross-country skiing are “offered” two days a week. What if a visitor has only a few days in New Mexico? Will they consider the preserve when these opportunities are available at less cost on adjacent National Park Service or Forest Service land seven days a week?

None of the programs at the caldera is at risk from a change in federal management. The Park Service has many equivalent programs at sites across the country that offer far greater opportunities than those at the preserve.

Finally, Caldera Action President Tom Ribe submitted a letter, “Park Service Would Enhance Caldera.”  Click here to read the letter — after clicking on this link, non-subscribers must click on the “trial access pass” button in the lower left of the screen to read it:

The preserve belongs to all Americans. The “trust” management model was imposed on the preserve in 2000 as an experiment to see if the private sector could improve public land management. This expensive experiment has had some good results like the science program, but the rest of the experiment has been an unfortunate experience.

While the trust staff is proud of the recreation programs they have recently begun, these recreation programs are expensive, infrequent, experimental and are interim. They tell us we could have corporate sponsored activities on the preserve, but do we want big corporations on our public lands, sticking their logos on our signs and buildings and demanding things from public agencies in return? All of the recreation activities touted by the Trust are routinely offered on National Park Service preserves, at much lower cost, and by a public agency with an overall excellent record.

The top story in yesterday’s Journal North asserted that public support for ending the Trust management experiment at the Valles Caldera National Preserve is building.

This comes on the heels of last week’s article in the Los Alamos Monitor that came to the same conclusion (headlined “Residents Prefer Park Service”), and it also follows this month’s public listening sessions in which 86% of participants expressed support for possible National Park Service management of the Caldera.

Click here to read the Journal North article in its entirety (after clicking on this link, non-subscribers must click on the “trial access pass” button in the lower left of the screen to read the story). A portion of the article is shown below:

Support appears to be growing for turning the Valles Caldera National Preserve over to the National Park Service or the U.S. Forest Service.
   
Two public meetings were held this month to address the issue. Of the 90 or so who attended, only about five spoke in favor of retaining the current structure, under which the Valles Caldera is managed by a presidentially appointed board of trustees, according to Los Alamos County Councilor Nona Bowman.
   
“Basically, people want it under the National Park Service,” she said. “They just want, I think, more opportunity without so much hassle to get into the park.”
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Jason Lott is both a member of the Valles Caldera National Preserve board and the superintendant at Bandelier.
   
“When you go to the Valles Caldera, your experience is based on which programs you decide to attend,” he said. “It’s cost-based by program. … In Bandelier you can do whatever you want, snowshoeing or whatever.”
   
Lott said there are no programs currently at the Valles Caldera, including the educational center, that would be automatically cut should it become part of the park service. Bandelier’s opportunities include cultural demonstrations, outdoor workshops, skiing, biking, and programs involving science, he said.
   
It would all depend on the legislation drafted in Congress. Hunting, which is allowed at Valles Caldera, could also be preserved on the preserve.
   
“Each park is its own model on what it can be and what it is,” Lott said. “There’s no limitations on the park service.”
   
Last year, Bandelier hosted more than 200,000 guests. Valles Caldera hosted less than 16,000.

“Los Alamos and the resources around it — Bandelier, the Valles Caldera, Pajarito Mountain, Santa Fe National Forrest — all these things lend to this place becoming a destination for tourists,” Lott said. “They (people in Los Alamos) recognize the economic benefits. The National Park Service is nationally known very well. People know the arrowhead (logo). The National Park Service as a brand is going to attract people from a lot farther away to this location.”

Last week, the Los Alamos Monitor summarized the tenor of the two public listening sessions held this month in Los Alamos regarding the proposal for National Park Service management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve. The article, headlined “Residents prefer park service: Public wants ease of access,” can be read by clicking here. A portion of the article is included below:

Fences may make good neighbors, to paraphrase poet Robert Frost, but in the case of Los Alamos and one of its largest neighbors, the problem isn’t the fences. It’s how to get through the gates more easily.

That was one main conclusion after a council session and a couple of public meetings over the last few weeks on the subject of managing the Valles Caldera National Preserve.

“People are very concerned about lack of access to the preserve,” said Councilor Nona Bowman, one of the councilors who participated in public meetings on March 4 and March 9. “They want to go when they want to go, not have to make reservations so far ahead,”

One of the points that came out this week in White Rock, she said, is that, “The preserve has not taken into consideration that limiting access is not treating the taxpaying public fairly.”
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“Most of the folks appeared to be in favor of the National Park Service taking over the management,” said Councilor Ralph Phelps, who volunteered along with Bowman to monitor the listening sessions.

“Most people thought the parks service would provide better access to the public and be better and able to establish trail systems and make better use of the property for things like hiking, biking and snowshoeing in the winter.”

He said it also came out that of two kinds of park service entities, the public preferred what is called a preserve, rather than a park or monument, mainly because hunting would be allowed in the preserve rather than the park.

On March 4th and 9th, the County of Los Alamos hosted two “listening sessions” designed to provide an opportunity for county councilors to gauge public opinion regarding a proposed council resolution that would express support for transferring management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve to the National Park Service.

Attendees of the meetings revealed an overwhelming, compelling, and vocal opposition to Trust management of the Preserve, as well as explicit support by 86% of attendees for National Park Service management of the Caldera.

At the March 4th meeting, at Fuller Lodge in Los Alamos, 69 members of the public attended (according to the County), as did County Councilors Nona Bowman and Ralph Phelps. Dozens of attendees offered public comments, and every comment but one was critical of the Trust. According to an article on the first listening session in the Los Alamos Monitor (click here to read the article):

Former State Sen. Steve Stoddard of Los Alamos, one of the founding trustees for the preserve was virtually alone in opposition to reassigning the preserve to the Park Service.

Particularly revealing was the straw poll taken after each public comment, designed to gauge public reaction to each speaker. Each poll was overwhelmingly in favor of Park Service management of the Caldera:

Facilitator Allison Majure called for an informal showing of hands after each comment. Public comment and the straw votes were consistently critical of the Trust’s management.

According to the County’s synopsis of the meetings, 67 of the 69 attendees of the first meeting raised their hands when asked if they supported National Park Service management of the Preserve.

At the conclusion of the first session, Councilor Bowman verbally noted the near unanimity of opposition to Trust management expressed at that meeting.

The second listening session, on March 9th in the Los Alamos suburb of White Rock, was attended by 27 members of the public, according to Los Alamos County (five county councilors also attended). According to a straw poll conducted by the County, 16 of 27 attendees of the meeting expressed support for National Park Service management of the Caldera.

Given the official numbers released by Los Alamos County for both events (67 supporters of Park Service management of the VCNP at the first meeting, 16 supporters at the second; out of 69 attendees at the first meeting, plus 27 at the second meeting), it appears that 86% of attendees of the Los Alamos listening sessions support a transfer of the Valles Caldera to National Park Service stewardship.

The Journal North published a letter today from Santa Fe resident Don Dayton supporting National Park Service management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve (click here to read the letter on the Journal North web site. After clicking on the link, non-subscribers must click on the “trial premium pass” button on the bottom left to bring up the letter):

Preserve Better Under Park Service

I appreciate the March 3 Journal North editorial that refutes some of the claims of the current management board of the Valles Caldera National Preserve.

The board’s claim in the March 2 story in the Journal North that the preserve under National Park Service administration could lose its new Educational Center is completely absurd. Our National Parks are leaders in the areas of environmental, historical and archeological education. If anything, the NPS with its broad research expertise could very well expand on current student educational programs at the center and the preserve.

Another very important factor is that under the existing administration and management of adjacent Bandelier National Monument, the (cost of) administering the preserve probably could cost significantly less than the current annual operating budget of $3.5 million. Certainly the availability for public use would increase.

Don Dayton
Santa Fe

On Friday, the Santa Fe New Mexican published an article by longtime Caldera beat writer Staci Matlock, focusing on the opening of the aforementioned Preserve Science and Education Center. Click here to read that story, which begins below:

Next week, students from Lake Forest High School in Illinois will be the first group to enjoy accommodations at the Valles Caldera Trust’s new science and education center in Jemez Springs.

They’ll stay in the center’s 25 bedrooms, eat in the large dining hall and make use of the equipment in the 1,200-square-foot, state-of-the-art laboratory.

The 15,000-square-foot center realizes a long goal of Bob Parmenter, lead scientist with the Trust, which manages the 89,000-acre Valles Caldera National Preserve. It is a place where students, researchers and other groups will be able to study in the vast outdoor classroom of the preserve and enjoy a few comforts at the same time, like wireless Internet connections, a bed and the nearby hot springs.