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Journal North: Home | Sports | Opinion | Obits | Entertainment
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Support Growing for Valles Caldera
By Phil Parker
Journal Staff Writer
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."
The meetings were held at Los Alamos and White Rock in advance of the County Council taking up a resolution on the caldera management next month.
The Valles Caldera Preservation Act of 2000 was intended to set up an experiment of sorts — the government bought the Valles Caldera for $101 million, and although publicly owned, it would be privately managed by the nine-member trust board.
The legislation contained a stated goal of the preserve achieving financial self-sustainability by 2015.
All sides, including the board and the Caldera's current management, acknowledge that isn't going to happen. Valles Caldera National Preserve executive director Gary Bratcher would like to see the legislation changed to remove the self-sustaining language. If Congress mandated that the Caldera raise between 20 and 50 percent of its budget (about $4 million per year), with the rest provided by Congressional appropriations, operations there could continue under the current management structure.
That current structure, however, has critics.
"The question is not 'Why would it be better as a national park?' " said Tom Jervis, president of the watchdog group Caldera Action. "The question is 'Why should it not be a national park?' "
Caldera Action has proposed legislation to assimilate the Valles Caldera into the National Park Service. While New Mexico U.S. Sens. Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall haven't introduced their own official legislation, they are at least listening: The pair initiated a feasibility study by the park service that earlier this year concluded the Valles Caldera was suitable for inclusion within the system.
"If you take away financial self-sustainability as a goal, what particular benefit does having a board of trustees have over government management?" Jervis said. "There is none."
But Jervis also acknowledged: "The last year and a half they've been doing pretty well."
Bratcher and the management team working under the preserve's trust have introduced numerous science programs, including the opening, this month, of a dorm-style educational center in Jemez Springs where students from around the country can stay for a week at a time to study the caldera, essentially treating it as a giant laboratory classroom.
Recreational opportunities, he said, have also been expanded to include mountain bikathons, midnight snowshoeing, astronomy tours, outdoor skills workshops and dozens of other activities.
Most activities for regular folks who want to spend a day there have to be paid for, however, and many require a reservation. There is free hiking and biking within certain boundaries, but, beyond those, it costs money, from $10 for some activities like mountain biking to $75 for fly-fishing clinics.
"There's a whole bunch of cool places that I can't go to because it's not open to the public," Jervis said. "The two or three hiking trails are a total of four miles, round trip. Those are the free hiking trails."
Nearby Bandelier National Monument, like a lot of areas in the park system, charge one initial fee (now $12), then give visitors more or less free reign.
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."
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