Happy new year to our members and friends. Caldera Action board and executive director are deeply grateful for your continued engagement and the donation many of you sent at year’s end. Our advocacy work is only effective if our members and friends stay engaged and you do. Thank you.
For the last year, we have pushed back on the Trump administration’s efforts to defund and even sell units of the National Park System, including the Valles Caldera and Bandelier. Our local efforts blended in with a big national campaign to save the NPS from Elon Musk and Russel Vought, director of Office of Management and Budget and the central architect of federal downsizing and grant terminations. It appears that our work succeeded, for now. The administration has not fired more rangers as they said they would before the government shutdown. With the midterms looming, they may be laying low. We’ll see.
Another victory for public lands advocates has been pushback from Congress, including republicans, against major cuts Trump wanted in the public land budgets for 2026. Western senators and representatives support public lands (with a few notable exceptions) and the appropriations for 2026 look better than can be expected from Congress. Trump had asked for a 55% cut to the NPS budget, but Congress refused and only cut the NPS budget about $13 million out of $3.34 billion. The NPS budget was inadequate for NPS functions at the end of the Biden years, but at least the bleeding has slowed.
Likewise, the Forest Service is due for a small budget increase as Congress rejected a more than 50% budget cut Trump and Russ Vought had proposed. Of course, the administration will continue their efforts to damage these agencies but at least the agencies will have funds, if the Trump folks will spend them.
Meanwhile, the US Fish and Wildlife Service that administers the endangered species program for the federal government is in danger from Russ Vought’s budget cuts and efforts to close wildlife refuges. The Trump people are conducting a review of the whole refuge system, and their intentions are worrisome given the corporate-speak that the directors used in describing their review. Trump had called for a big cut in the budget for the USFWS, but Congress only cut their budget a small amount. Like the NPS, the USFWS has lost 30% of its employees since 2010 and some wildlife refuges have no staff at all.
Onward
Caldera Action will continue to monitor the Caldera and its management in 2026, and we will continue to advocate for the highest levels of environmental protection and well-regulated public access at the Preserve. We will continue our interest in Bandelier National Monument as well and keep an eye on the national forests surrounding the Caldera as these lands are facing serious threats from the Trump administration.
Thank you again for your support.
Tom Ribe
