WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today chaired a hearing to discuss legislation he and Senator Tom Udall wrote to transfer the management of the Valles Caldera National Preserve to the National Park Service. A Senate hearing is the first step toward Congressional passage.
The Senators' bill - which was before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee today -- 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.
"Everybody who has ever been to the Valles Caldera agrees that it is a magnificent natural, cultural, and recreational resource. The only question is which federal agency is best equipped to manage its unique qualities. I believe that the National Park Service is the right home for this magnificent property," said Bingaman, who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
"Its 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," Udall said. "It is with humility that we take on the great responsibility of determining the best course of management of the area."
Bingaman and Udall welcomed several New Mexico witnesses to the hearing, including Joshua Madalena, Governor of Jemez Pueblo; Walter Dasheno, Governor of Santa Clara Pueblo; Stephen Henry, Chairman of the Valles Caldera Trust Michael Wismer, Chair of the Los Alamos County Council; and Jeremy Vesbach, Director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation.
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.
A vote in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is expected in the coming weeks. If passed, it would be cleared for full Senate consideration.
