The rim of a collapsed volcano surrounds the 89,000-acre Valles Caldera Preserve in the Jemez Mountains of Northern New Mexico. Within, it is one of the most beautiful and ecologically productive landscapes in northern New Mexico and a place of extraordinary cultural richness.
The Preserve was a private ranch from 1960 until the Congress agreed in 2000 to spend $101 million to buy and protect it for the American people. The Preserve's wide mountain grasslands, peaks of over 11,000 feet, 27 miles of streams and the headwaters of the Wild and Scenic Jemez River create habitat for abundant wildlife, including the largest elk herd in New Mexico.
In creating the Preserve, the Congress specified an unusual management framework for the new public place. It is in the hands of a nine-member trust. The President appoints the trustees. They are charged with protecting the area's scientific, scenic, historic and cultural resources and for providing opportunities for public recreation, sustained-yield timber production and livestock grazing. The trust is also charged with devising a demonstration area for an experimental management regime which could provide long-term financial sustainability for the Preserve.
By August 2004, the trust is to have developed and implemented a comprehensive management program. A 17-member group of conservation organizations, including The Wilderness Society, formed the Valles Caldera Coalition to advocate for the Preserve, especially during the crucial period of management plan development. The Coalition will monitor the work of the trustees and support a management framework that enhances the Preserve's ecological, scenic, and cultural resources and surrounding lands for future generations.
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