Happy winter Caldera lovers.
The Valles Caldera National Preserve only closed briefly during the recent government shutdown. Our understanding is that state and federal politicians prevailed on the National Park Service management to open the Preserve so those with state-issued elk hunting permits could access the Preserve. The Visitor Center was staffed with uniformed rangers who were probably working for deferred pay. While it’s good to have our Preserve open, the Trump administration told most parks in the National Park system to stay open, often with inadequate staff to protect the parks. Some parks like Yosemite had serious law enforcement problems during the shutdown. Fortunately, the VCNP and Bandelier both had law enforcement rangers working as they were considered “essential employees.”
So far, the Vales Caldera has received only trivial amounts of snow. You can see for yourself by logging in to the webcam mounted on the Volcano Discovery Center in the Cabin District.
News
Fire crews at the Valles Caldera will be burning piles of wood waste created by thinning crews that have been cutting out small trees from the understory of mixed conifer forests in the Preserve. The thinning is meant to restore the forests to a condition similar to what they would be like if regular natural fires had been allowed to occur over the last century. The piles of debris are cured for a couple of years and then lit in the winter when snow prevents the fire from burning away from the piles. The burning will happen on South Mountain, San Antonio, and Cerro Pinyon.
Firing Park Staff
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and OMB Director Russ Vought had said they plan a reduction in force (RIF) at the Park Service which would potentially end the careers of 300 NPS employees. So far, that hasn’t happened, probably because of increased public awareness of the plight of the parks under Trump. Courts stopped the RIF during the shutdown. We’ll keep an eye on this situation.
Cutting Funding for Park Restoration and Wildlife
Meanwhile Russ Vought continues to cut funding and end grants for national park programs. In late September, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum cancelled millions of dollars in grants for contract nonprofit organizations that were reseeding fire scars and collecting native seed for revegetation in the parks. These grant cancellations stopped projects mid-stride, leaving vulnerable seeds stuck in warehouses and lands untreated. The human and capital investment embodied in those seeds is thus wasted.
Burgum also cancelled grants for bird population monitoring in many parks, saying the grants were “wasteful.” When Burgum wrote to the contractors to inform them, he cited their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs as the reason for their contract terminations. The contractors said they had no DEI programs.
This latest wave of anti-conservation funding cuts by the Trump crew won’t affect the Valles Caldera or Bandelier directly but other cuts to science programs will. The revegetation work is critical to prevent high severityfire scars from being repopulated by invasive weeds. Monitoring bird populations supports the core National Park Service mission.
Abandoning Wetlands, Risking Species
The administration also changed regulations on two bedrock environmental laws, the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act. They removed most wetlands from federal protection, allowing landowners and states to fill wetlands or dump pollution into them without federal oversight. Wetlands provide critical habitat for millions of birds and fish and they recharge groundwater in places like the Valles Caldera. Meanwhile the Trump people ordered the US Fish and Wildlife Service to consider economic impacts of species protection before listing endangered species. How or who would do that and in what timeframe leaves us all wondering about the impacts and practicality.
So far, Congress has not tried to change pollution control or conservation laws during the second Trump term. Regulations changed by one president can be changed again by future presidents, so these changes are temporary but for species on the brink of extinction, delays in listing and delayed critical habitat designations can be detrimental.
Our Trespass Cattle Lawsuit
Caldera Action’s lawsuit with other organization against unmanaged trespass cattle grazing at the Preserve is based on our concern for endangered species at the Preserve including the meadow jumping mouse and Jemez Mountain Salamander. Our “side” of the suit is negotiating with the Department of Justice for terms of a settlement. Meanwhile, a planned field trip for the parties and the agency representatives to the Caldera and the Santa Fe National Forest near the north boundary was cancelled due to the government shutdown. We hope to reschedule in the spring.
