On Friday, December 12, 2008, the Los Alamos Monitor ran an article by Roger Snodgrass that gave a brief synopsis of the December 11, 2008 meeting of the Valles Caldera Trust (VCT), in Santa Fe, New Mexico: Bratcher Named Preserve Director.
There was a short presentation at the meeting by Martin Chavez and Tom Christensen. I believe they are part of the Enterprise Technical Services team that the VCT will use in the development of alternatives for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) planning process. They will be working with the public in Spring 2009 to gather input on the what uses and access the public envisions for the Preserve.
Martin was with the forest service for 33 years and Tom is a conservation and recreation planner. Tom says he helped plan Land Between the Lakes in Tennessee and that it's similar in plan to the Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP).
The planners will solicit public comment and then have a "testing process" in April-May 2009 for different public use and access ideas. It's unclear to me if that "testing process" only includes indoor sessions in public workshops, using storyboards to plot out alternative ideas or if it will also include actual testing of alternatives on the ground in the Preserve. It may be a combination.
The planners welcome "packages of options" for public use and access as prepared by the public.
I don't have contact information for Tom Christensen but Martin can be contacted at:
Martin Chavez
VCT Public Access/Use Coordinator
(505) 428-7737
mdchavez_6@msn.com
Valles Caldera Trust
18161 State Highway 4
PO Box 359
Jemez Springs, NM 87025
There was a short presentation at the meeting by Martin Chavez and Tom Christensen. I believe they are part of the Enterprise Technical Services team that the VCT will use in the development of alternatives for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) planning process. They will be working with the public in Spring 2009 to gather input on the what uses and access the public envisions for the Preserve.
Martin was with the forest service for 33 years and Tom is a conservation and recreation planner. Tom says he helped plan Land Between the Lakes in Tennessee and that it's similar in plan to the Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP).
The planners will solicit public comment and then have a "testing process" in April-May 2009 for different public use and access ideas. It's unclear to me if that "testing process" only includes indoor sessions in public workshops, using storyboards to plot out alternative ideas or if it will also include actual testing of alternatives on the ground in the Preserve. It may be a combination.
The planners welcome "packages of options" for public use and access as prepared by the public.
I don't have contact information for Tom Christensen but Martin can be contacted at:
Martin Chavez
VCT Public Access/Use Coordinator
(505) 428-7737
mdchavez_6@msn.com
Valles Caldera Trust
18161 State Highway 4
PO Box 359
Jemez Springs, NM 87025