Dear Representative Ben Lujan and Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall:
I'm very frustrated with the current management system at the Valles Caldera National Preserve. It has been almost 9 years since the Preserve was created in July 2000 and the hiking public is still no closer to having freedom of movement within the Preserve. There are only a limited number of fee hikes that are available in the interior of the Preserve, for which hikers must make a reservation, be driven in a Preserve van to the trailhead and given a time by which they must end their hike.
Due to deteriorating snow conditions, winter recreation ended March 1 this year, making it only a two months long season because the Preserve closed its gates the whole month of December. Checking the VCNP calendar, no recreation programs are scheduled until May 21. In the meantime, hikers in Los Alamos are enjoying hikes in the Santa Fe National Forest and Bandelier National Monument but we must remain locked out of the Preserve until the end of May. Why can't I buy an annual pass to hike on the Preserve? If they are afraid that private vehicles will do damage to their roads, why not let us hike in from the edges of the Preserve, displaying proof of an annual pass in our parked vehicles like they do in Bandelier?
The Valles Caldera Trust (VCT) in their Annual Report to Congress 2008 claim that they have already fulfilled various requirements of the Valles Caldera Preservation Act 2000. The Trust asserts that the requirement for a comprehensive management plan mandated in Section 108 (d) of the Preservation Act was fulfilled with the July 2003 publication of the Trust's NEPA procedures. NEPA procedures provide a legal framework within which to develop plans but publishing NEPA procedures and calling it a comprehensive management plan seems a semantic ploy so the Trust can say it has fulfilled that requirement of the Preservation Act. The proof that the Trust doesn't truly have a comprehensive plan is that since 2002, the public has only been allowed on the Preserve on an interim basis. We don't yet have a permanent right to enjoy recreation on the Preserve. The Trust promises planning this year for public use and access but, truthfully, I don't hold out hope that much will change to fulfill the public's desire for more freedom to explore this beautiful land. If the Valles Caldera National Preserve were under the forest service or the national park service, we would by now have more freedom to access it.
Also in their 2008 annual report to Congress, they state that they have fulfilled the requirement found in Section 111 (b) of the Preservation Act to submit a plan for annual decreasing congressional appropriations toward the goal of achieving financial self-sufficiency. But the so-called plan that they refer to, found in Appendix B of the 2005 Framework and Strategic Guidance for Comprehensive Management, does not even mention specific dollar amounts! That they could assert this in an annual report to Congress and no one has called them to account for it shows that they have not had careful oversight.
This year the final GAO Report on progress at the Preserve will be released. In the November 2005 interim report, Valles Caldera Trust Has Made Some Progress, but Needs to Do More to Meet Statutory Goals, the GAO stipulated that the Trust should take steps to come into compliance with the Government Corporation Control Act which mandates annual independent financial audits of government corporations. It is only this year that the Trust says it will finally release independent financial audits for 2004-2007 and 2008. The Trust's finances are another area in need of more congressional oversight to ensure that they have not been reckless with the public's money.
Recently, the New Mexico Legislature passed Senate Memorial 32 which calls upon New Mexico's congressional delegation to hold hearings to reconsider the present management system at the Valles Caldera National Preserve. I hope that you will soon do that. The present system isn't working.
Respectfully and sincerely.
I'm very frustrated with the current management system at the Valles Caldera National Preserve. It has been almost 9 years since the Preserve was created in July 2000 and the hiking public is still no closer to having freedom of movement within the Preserve. There are only a limited number of fee hikes that are available in the interior of the Preserve, for which hikers must make a reservation, be driven in a Preserve van to the trailhead and given a time by which they must end their hike.
Due to deteriorating snow conditions, winter recreation ended March 1 this year, making it only a two months long season because the Preserve closed its gates the whole month of December. Checking the VCNP calendar, no recreation programs are scheduled until May 21. In the meantime, hikers in Los Alamos are enjoying hikes in the Santa Fe National Forest and Bandelier National Monument but we must remain locked out of the Preserve until the end of May. Why can't I buy an annual pass to hike on the Preserve? If they are afraid that private vehicles will do damage to their roads, why not let us hike in from the edges of the Preserve, displaying proof of an annual pass in our parked vehicles like they do in Bandelier?
The Valles Caldera Trust (VCT) in their Annual Report to Congress 2008 claim that they have already fulfilled various requirements of the Valles Caldera Preservation Act 2000. The Trust asserts that the requirement for a comprehensive management plan mandated in Section 108 (d) of the Preservation Act was fulfilled with the July 2003 publication of the Trust's NEPA procedures. NEPA procedures provide a legal framework within which to develop plans but publishing NEPA procedures and calling it a comprehensive management plan seems a semantic ploy so the Trust can say it has fulfilled that requirement of the Preservation Act. The proof that the Trust doesn't truly have a comprehensive plan is that since 2002, the public has only been allowed on the Preserve on an interim basis. We don't yet have a permanent right to enjoy recreation on the Preserve. The Trust promises planning this year for public use and access but, truthfully, I don't hold out hope that much will change to fulfill the public's desire for more freedom to explore this beautiful land. If the Valles Caldera National Preserve were under the forest service or the national park service, we would by now have more freedom to access it.
Also in their 2008 annual report to Congress, they state that they have fulfilled the requirement found in Section 111 (b) of the Preservation Act to submit a plan for annual decreasing congressional appropriations toward the goal of achieving financial self-sufficiency. But the so-called plan that they refer to, found in Appendix B of the 2005 Framework and Strategic Guidance for Comprehensive Management, does not even mention specific dollar amounts! That they could assert this in an annual report to Congress and no one has called them to account for it shows that they have not had careful oversight.
This year the final GAO Report on progress at the Preserve will be released. In the November 2005 interim report, Valles Caldera Trust Has Made Some Progress, but Needs to Do More to Meet Statutory Goals, the GAO stipulated that the Trust should take steps to come into compliance with the Government Corporation Control Act which mandates annual independent financial audits of government corporations. It is only this year that the Trust says it will finally release independent financial audits for 2004-2007 and 2008. The Trust's finances are another area in need of more congressional oversight to ensure that they have not been reckless with the public's money.
Recently, the New Mexico Legislature passed Senate Memorial 32 which calls upon New Mexico's congressional delegation to hold hearings to reconsider the present management system at the Valles Caldera National Preserve. I hope that you will soon do that. The present system isn't working.
Respectfully and sincerely.
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