It has been an exceptionally dry year at the Valles Caldera and the Jemez Mountains but monsoons are picking up in time to help plants and animals prepare for winter. It is remarkable how few big fires we’ve seen in northern New Mexico given how dry the winter and summer were.
In July, the human caused McCauley Springs Fire burned the southern edge of the Valles Caldera lands near Jemez Falls. It burned into the Jemez River Canyon, an area that had been fire starved for decades. Remarkably, the fire turned out to be very positive for the land. Here’s the report from the Forest Service’s rehabilitation specialists:
“Over 80% of the fire was mapped as low soil burn severity, meaning most tree canopies and ground cover remain intact, reducing the risk of erosion and runoff. About 12% of the area showed moderate burn severity, with patchy ground cover loss and some water-repellent soils. Less than 1% was classified as high burn severity, where vegetation and soil were heavily impacted.”
The Frijoles Fire across the Rio Grande Valley in the southern Sangre de Cristo near Chimayo produced similar results on the ground. Though Frijoles had about 12% at high severity, overall, it was a good fire for the land, reducing fuels and improving habitat for plants and animals.
With a super El Nino in the climate forecast, we may see increased snow this winter which could help restore the aquifers and flows in the Jemez River and Rio Grande. Time will tell.
Mostly Good News on Our Efforts to Remove Trespass Cattle
Caldera Action monitors the Valles Caldera for trespass cattle closely over the summer with the help of our friends at New Mexico Wild and the National Park Service. This summer has had far fewer trespass cattle than any previous summer since the NPS assumed management of the Caldera in 2014. We used to see hundreds of cattle in the Valle San Antonio over a summer, and ranchers would drive them out only to see them return in a few days. This summer we’ve had only a few reports of small groups of cows, and the Park Service has corralled them and the ranchers have trucked them out.
We see this improvement as a success inspired by the lawsuit Caldera Action, Western Watersheds Project, and Wildearth Guardians has levied against the Forest Service for their failures to properly manage their bordering grazing allotments and the fence separating the Caldera from the Santa Fe National Forest. Despite pressure from the Trump administration on the Park Service to ease up on the ranchers, the NPS has persisted. Meanwhile the Forest Service claims they told the ranchers on the north side of the Preserve to reduce cattle numbers on their allotments due to severe drought conditions. We have no idea whether cow numbers went down.
Sunshine on the Fence Problem
We’ve noticed that publicity is a powerful tool for getting agencies to do the right thing. Caldera Action was tipped off about a private meeting the two federal land agencies had with cattle ranchers in March wherein a lawyer for the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association stepped in to rewrite the Memorandum of Understanding between the USFS and the NPS regarding management of the north fence on the Preserve. The lawyer’s penmanship is/was probably illegal, but thanks to information we received, we issued Freedom of Information Act requests regarding the meeting and the fence. The Forest Service provided documents. So far, a new fence MOU has not been issued and we will be watching closely.
No News on Eagle Hunt
We found out that Jemez Pueblo was applying to the Park Service for a permit to hunt 8 eagles for ceremonial purposes again this fall in the Calera. They had hunted eagles and hawks in 2023. Conservationists have many legal concerns regarding hunting a threatened species on National Park Service land and we responded by publicizing the possibility of the eagle hunt. The NPS apparently is working on an Environmental Assessment for the hunt but it has not been released yet.
We respect the deep ties Jemez Pueblo has to the Jemez Mountains and understand their need to maintain traditions. We also seek to protect wildlife at a time when climate change is stressing almost all animal populations in the Caldera and elsewhere.
VCNP has Excellent Interpretation Programs
Be sure and visit the Valles Caldera before winter sets in to enjoy their education programs. The Volcano Discovery Center has a wonderful audio-visual display about the Jemez Volcano’s eruptions over a million years ago. Walk into the forest in random places to discover beauty.
Trump Administration Continues to Attack the National Park Service
This is the first administration that we know of that has actively worked to disable and dismantle the agencies it is charged with managing. Not only is the Trump administration doing a big “reorganization” of the US Forest Service which will result in massive job losses especially among scientists and field managers, but the Interior Department under Douglas Burgum also continues to find ways to damage the National Park Service.
This summer, a memo went out to National Parks across the country telling park managers to scale back or stop maintenance of parks so funds could be used in Washington DC for Trump’s “vanity projects” surrounding our nation’s 250th anniversary. This included the notorious lining of the reflecting pool, rebuilding of fountains, coating various statues in gold, cutting down cherry trees, cutting down 40 willow trees at the Kennedy Center and removing sculptures, building the Trump arch and the list goes on. These Trump priorities were cause for diverting funds from desperately needed upgrades at parks experiencing record visitation and staff and funding cuts. Meanwhile a flash flood at Grand Canyon National Park did serious damage to the water system upgrade needed for the South Rim facilities, a critical part of Arizona’s economy.
The NPS needs a very large infusion of money to keep the parks in shape for the American people who have made clear they love their national parks. But the Trump folks don’t love the parks and their animosity toward the federal government translates into sabotaging the Park Service in hopes the Parks can be privatized. This week we learned Interior Secretary Douglas Burgum had rejected $25 million in funding for park maintenance projects that Congress had appropriated and which would be implemented in some cases by nonprofit park friends groups for fire prevention, safety, and restoration projects at various parks.
Asked why Burgum was cutting the funding, and Interior spokesperson said the friends groups are “actively working against the best interests of the American people and the priorities of this administration.” She went on; “This decisive action is ensuring that these taxpayer dollars are being used in alignment with the administration’s objectives to make life more affordable for Americans, unleash domestic energy production and expand access to our public lands.” When asked what Burgum was going to do with the money instead, the Interior spokesperson wouldn’t answer.
Clearly the National Parks are not a “priority of this administration.”
Tom Ribe
