ABQJOURNAL OPINION/GUEST_COLUMNS: Managers of Preserve Want Status Quo

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Managers of Preserve Want Status Quo

By Garrett Veneklasen
Chairman, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers
          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.
        The Valles Caldera Trust wants to continue receiving nearly $4 million a year in U.S. taxpayer funding, yet for management to continue as is. But New Mexico residents know what that actually means: continued limited access and high fees to visit an area that Congress spent $97 million to purchase in 2000.
        What the top managers at Valles Caldera don't want to acknowledge is that people in New Mexico and beyond are frustrated with the current management that treats the preserve as if it were still private land.
        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."

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