WildEarth Guardians

Wednesday, September 7, 2005
Caldera Grazing Sparks Debate

The trust board is putting the cow before the fish, elk, birds and streams. None of the streams flowing through the Valles Caldera National Preserve meet state water quality standards and should be better protected from grazing.
Contact: Albuquerque Journal

Debate over the direction of the Valles Caldera National Preserve and the question of ranching versus recreation spilled over to the board of trustees' meeting Tuesday evening in Albuquerque.

The issue sparked when the board decided at its last meeting in August to undertake a large-scale planning effort for its livestock grazing plan to replace an interim one that expires at the end of September. That planning would come at the expense of other reviews that could allow greater public access and recreation.

Trust board members say they decided to tackle grazing first because of limited staff and resources that would be necessary to integrate planning and because the program was in the worst financial shape.

At Tuesday's meeting, the debate's spark turned into more of a fire when proponents of increased access and recreation opportunities urged the board to integrate its management approach and consider undertaking a more comprehensive planning effort.

"We are opposed to limiting preserve-wide planning to only the livestock program," Betsy Barnett told the board, speaking on behalf of the Pajarito Group and the Rio Grande chapter of the Sierra Club.

She said because the funding Congress used to buy the 89,000-acre Jemez Mountains preserve came out of the Land and Water Conservation Fund- which she said is to help preserve, develop and assure access to outdoor recreation- such planning shouldn't be pushed aside.

Bought in 2000, the Valles Caldera National Preserve was established by federal mandate to operate as a working ranch, but also to provide access for hunting, fishing, hiking and other recreation activities.

Starting from scratch, with scarcely any infrastructure or internal planning guidance, the trust has been working to balance all its mandates while meeting its legislated requirements.

"You can't do it with a few cows," said Roger Tilkemeier, a ranching proponent, who countered recreation proponents and conservationists.

He told the board that in order for grazing to make money, more cows must be allowed to graze over a broader area, which he said has been demonstrated in the past on the caldera to not cause damage.

Bill Stern, the grazing program coordinator for the WildEarth Guardians, argued that none of the streams flowing through the preserve meet state water quality standards and should be better protected from grazing.

He said the trust is putting "the cow before the fish, elk, birds and streams."

Livestock grazing has been a money loser to date, as recreation, especially elk hunting, brings in the bulk of the preserve's revenue- a fact recreation and conservation proponents suggest make recreation planning a priority.

But trustees Barbara Johnson, Tracy Hephner and Larry Icerman, have all said that to at least bring the grazing program up to the break-even point, it needs to be revamped to allow more cattle over a larger area of the preserve.

The trust plans to undertake the necessary reviews, including public comment, over the next year.

Copyright 2005 Albuquerque Journal - Reprinted with permission