OPINION: BLM, Pueblo de Cochiti celebrate partnership reopening Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument

Joel A. Arquero

The Bureau of Land Management and the Pueblo de Cochiti are excited to announce the reopening of Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. We are not only excited to welcome visitors back, but also to celebrate our historic partnership.

Created in 2001 by Presidential Proclamation, based on work led by New Mexico’s longtime respected former U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, the monument is a popular destination for visitors both locally and worldwide.

The monument is a sacred place for pueblo nations, as well as a remarkable outdoor laboratory, offering an opportunity to observe, study, and experience the geologic processes that shape natural landscapes. The Presidential Proclamation creating the monument directed the BLM to manage it in close coordination with the Pueblo de Cochiti.

Through our historic co-stewardship agreement, members of Pueblo de Cochiti will be rangers at the monument, providing expertise and insights to visitors from the direct descendants of people who have lived, worked on, and cherished this landscape for thousands of years. The pueblo will assume management of the day-to-day operations, while BLM will retain its role of maintaining, planning for, and making final decisions on the monument, in close cooperation with the pueblo.

The BLM is delighted that the monument will again be reopened to all. At the same time, we recognize that over-visitation has impacted not only the natural resources within the monument, but also the gateway community of Pueblo de Cochiti.

To address these impacts, there will now be a reservation system to allow for measured visitation, which is common for other monuments and national parks that contain sensitive natural and cultural resources. Visitors can use recreation.gov to make reservations and pay the BLM amenity fee.

In addition, the Pueblo de Cochiti is implementing a Tribal Access Fee that will be collected at the Cochiti Visitor Center, which will cover use of the road into the monument and assist in management of the road and the needs of the pueblo.

The BLM and Pueblo de Cochiti are very excited to welcome you back to Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks. We look forward to seeing you.