Sandoval County Highpoint Trip Report
Redondo Peak
Date: January 17, 2010
Author: John Mitchler
An article by Kurt Repanshek indicates that Valles Caldera in NM may become part
of the NPS system, perhaps a National Preserve.
"For more than a century folks have talked about creating a national park around
the unique geology and beautiful landscapes of the Valles Caldera area in New Mexico.
Now the latest National Park Service study on that proposal reconfirms
that the caldera's landscape is suitable for inclusion and says such an
acquisition would be feasibly sound."
“Located in north-central New Mexico and surrounded by a good handful of other
National Park System units, Valles Caldera, as guest writer Tom Ribe noted
earlier this month, ‘is a circle of 11,200-foot mountains that cradle vast
valleys full of grass and wildlife and rippled with hot springs and clear creeks.
Its rim mountains are cloaked in fir, aspen, pine and spruce.’
“The latest NPS study, requested by U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall of
New Mexico with a reference below, builds on previous Park Service studies of
the area produced in 1939, 1964, 1977, and 1979. The difference with this one
is that it focuses primarily on the feasibility, not the suitability, of adding
the nearly 89,000-acre Valles Caldera National Preserve to the National Park System.
The suitability question long ago was settled, the Park Service notes."
The 88,900 acre Valles Caldera National Preserve, contained within an
approximately 13-mile wide caldera rim in north central New Mexico, is of
sufficient size and appropriate configuration to facilitate long-term,
sustainable resource protection and visitor enjoyment. It is now in public ownership.
A majority of the land surrounding the Preserve is under management
by the U.S. Forest Service; management of adjacent lands is expected to remain
compatible with park values. Visitor use has been introduced and the Preserve
offers untapped potential for public enjoyment. Over the past seven years, the
Valles Caldera Trust has inventoried and established baseline resource
conditions and initiated proactive measures to improve range, forest,
and watershed conditions impacted by centuries of land use. These resource
stewardship efforts have enhanced the feasibility of NPS management.