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| National Park Service says it should take Valles Caldera under its wing |
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Airdate: Tue., 12 Jan. 2010 |
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By: Jim Williams |
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Northern New Mexico’s Valles Caldera may be a step closer to inclusion in the country’s national park system. The U.S. Interior Department has released a report indicating that since the last study conducted on the area in 1979, conditions have become more favorable for the move. KUNM’s Jim Williams reports.
The Interior Department conducted the study as a result of a letter written and co-signed in June by both New Mexico U-S Senators, Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall. In the letter, the Democrats argued that including the 89-thousand-acre Valles Caldera in the national park system would offer the best way to safeguard its resources into the future. A decade ago, the area was put under the management of Valles Caldera Trust, a government corporation. While the Trust has struggled to sustain itself financially, according to the Park Service study it has conducted an extensive inventory of the Caldera’s resources and begun to improve its range, forest, and watershed conditions. The study says the National Park Service would be the entity best able to continue that work. The Valles Caldera is considered one of the nation’s best intact examples of a resurgent caldera, a large collapsed volcano with an uplifted center. The park service study says the area offers “untapped potential for public enjoyment”, and would help connect the cultural history of nearby Bandelier National Monument with the geological history that created its ancient cliff dwellings. It’s not clear how moving the Caldera into the Park Service system might impact its current use as a working ranch for several hundred cattle. And the Valles Caldera Trust opposes the change, saying more time is needed to make the trust financially sustainable. A spokeswoman for Udall said the Senator is reviewing the study findings and looks forward to working with Bingaman to determine any next steps. For KUNM, I’m Jim Williams.
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