Residents worry bosque land transfer could mean hunting near their neighborhood

The State Land Office held its first of three public meetings to determine if it should accept an offer to transfer a 212-acre parcel of land in the bosque to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service management.

Some speakers at the Wednesday evening meeting said the transfer could protect the land from industrial development, as the creation of Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge did. But others worried that hunting, which was banned on the property several years ago, would be permitted if the land passed into federal control.

The parcel is located within the Rio Grande Valley State Park, to the southwest of the Fish & Wildlife-managed Valle de Oro refuge.

Jennifer Owen White, the first manager at Valle de Oro, said hunting and fishing are not permitted on the refuge, but she couldn’t say what the final decision would be for this parcel of land.

Currently, the city of Albuquerque’s Open Space Division, which is part of the Parks and Recreation Department, leases the land in question. The agreement, which went into place in 2021, lasts until 2030. This year, the city’s fee amounted to a little more than $1,000.

“By leasing the area, the City was able to bring the parcel under the same ordinances and protections as the rest of the Rio Grande Valley State Park that the City manages,” Parks and Recreation spokesperson Emily Moore said in an email to the Journal.

Colleen McRoberts, superintendent of the Open Space Division, said at the meeting those ordinances mean no camping, no firearms and no hunting — and people don’t need a permit to access the public land.

Don Kettwich, who has lived across from the parcel for 40 years, said he and his neighbor would often wake up to dozens of gunshots in the morning. When Kettwich first moved to the area, he said there were just three houses. Originally, there was a 90-acre alfalfa field to the east of his property, Kettwich said. Now, that land is filled with houses.

“I don’t know why they want to hunt in an urban area, I don’t understand,” Kettwich said.

Kettwich said he’s wary that a land transfer would herald the return of hunting. Other nearby residents said that enforcement of current statutes on the land have also been insufficient.

“We have very little confidence in the State Land Office and U.S. Fish and Wildlife,” Kettwich said. “We’re all convinced that it is to reintroduce the hunting.”

State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard said that although hunting is currently banned, it may not be forever. A future commissioner, Garcia Richard said, could decide to bring back hunting to the 212-acre parcel or develop the area.

“One thing to keep in mind, I’m an elected official,” Garcia Richard said. “I am responsible for 13 million acres of your public land. My term ends in three years.”

Donna Koechner, a representative from the Adobe Whitewater Club, said she supports the transfer to increase access to the river.

“Access to the river is very difficult in this area, so having access to the riparian zone and to the river would be extremely beneficial to the recreational community and the people in this area that it serves,” Koechner said.

The second meeting is scheduled for April 16 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Henry “Kiki” Saavedra Community Center, 201 Prosperity SE. The third meeting is set for May 18 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge, 7581 Second SW.

Surveys are available online, at www.nmstatelands.org/albuquerque-south-valley-meetings, and at meetings to gather community input about future uses for the land.