Valles Caldera park bill moves forward in US Senate, along with others
A small handful of bills that would impact the National Park System have been sent to the full Senate for consideration. Among them is legislation that would shift Valles Caldera National Preserve out from under a trust and into the park system.
Also gaining voice-vote approval from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee earlier this week were:
* H.R. 3388 - An Act to modify the boundary of Petersburg National Battlefield in the Commonwealth of Virginia...
* H.R. 4395 - An Act to revise the boundaries of the Gettysburg National Military Park to include the Gettysburg Train Station...
* S. 3075 - A bill to withdraw certain Federal land and interests in that land from location, entry, and patent under the mining laws and disposition under the mineral and geothermal leasing laws...
* H.R. 2430 An Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior to continue stocking fish in certain lakes in the North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake National Recreation Area, and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area...
The 89,000-acre Valles Caldera National Preserve in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico is due west of Santa Fe. The caldera 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 Valles Caldera stands at the center of the Pueblo Indian world of the Southwest with many living Pueblo communities a short distance from its flanks and the great “Anasazi” (ancestral pueblo) ruins at Bandelier National Monument, Chaco Culture National Historical Park and various state parks nearby.