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RECREATION ADVOCATES SEE
PROBLEMS WITH TRACKWAYS MONUMENT
ALBUQUERQUE, NM July 20, 2006: Two
recreational advocacy groups today voiced
concerns about legislation that would establish
a new National Monument near Las Cruces, New
Mexico. The New Mexico Off Highway Vehicle
Alliance (NMOHVA) and the BlueRibbon Coalition (BRC)
sent a letter to Senator Pete Domenici laying
out their concerns and asking for further time
to study the proposal.
Joanne Spivack, President of NMOVHA said;
"The recently introduced bill seeking to
establish the Pre-Historic Trackways National
Monument has some real problems. There are
better options for protecting and studying the
area." Brian Hawthorne, Public Lands Director
for BRC said; "The area is already protected as
a Research National Area which provides the
authority to properly study the trackways. A
National Monument is more words, more
restrictions on the public and far more
expensive, but does not provide a lot more
protection."
The proposed monument includes an area where
dinosaur tracks have been found in the past.
Those tracks were cut out many years ago and
moved to a museum storage building in
Albuquerque. The tracks were not on the surface,
but lay many feet below.
Both groups expressed support for appropriate
protection and scientific study of the trackways,
but they question the need for a new
designation. The existing Research Natural Area
Management Plan currently directs the BLM land
managers to "manage to protect, research and
interpret paleontological values." The bill to
establish the Monument says; "to conserve,
protect and enhance the unique and nationally
important paleontological, scientific,
educational, scenic and recreational resources
and values." Again, more words, probably more
restrictions, but not a lot more protection for
the dinosaur tracks.
The area is located directly adjacent to Las
Cruces and has been historically used as a
quarry. It is a popular area for recreation
including off-highway vehicle (OHV) use. A
network of popular OHV trails is currently
managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The
agency is currently revising their management
plans for the area and looking closely at how to
best manage all the competing uses.
NMOHVA and BRC identified several significant
problems with the bill including:
- The Monument is an unnecessary expense. The
current Research Natural Area (RNA) provides
adequate protection for the trackways. A
comprehensive study done in 1994 did not
recommend Monument designation for protection
from either natural or human threats to the
trackways.
- A Monument designation would jeopardize the
Chile Canyon trail system. These trails were
established and authorized by the BLM after the
trackways study area was created. Most of the
trail network is outside the current 720 acre
RNA area, but would fall inside the 5300 acre
proposed Monument.
- The legislation provides no funding but
requires the BLM to staff and operate the
Monument. The BLM is already stretched thin,
with a budget that has been cut over 15% for the
past several years. The Las Cruces BLM office
manages over 2 millions acres.
- New Mexicans and Las Cruces residents would
have little or no say in how the Monument is run
or what recreation would be allowed in the area.
Mark Werkmeister has been 'four-wheeling' in
the area for many years. He adds, "This area is
no different visually from all the lands around
Las Cruces. There is nothing special here which
justifies making it a National Monument. And the
trackways area includes an open strip mine. It
is anything but scenic. Making this a National
Monument really cheapens the concept of a
Monument."
Spivack concluded: "The off-highway vehicle
community is committed to preserving the
historical recreational uses of the Robledo
Mountains and the surrounding area. We will
vigorously oppose plans which undermine and
threaten those recreational uses."
Read the letter here:
http://www.sharetrails.org/uploads/PL/NHOHVA-BRC/BRC_
NMOHVA_ Letter_to_Sen_Domenici
The New Mexico Off Highway Vehicle Alliance is a
statewide alliance of motorized off-highway
vehicle (OHV) enthusiasts that promotes
responsible OHV recreation through education,
safety training, land conservation and access.
NMOHVA works in cooperation with public and
private interests to ensure a positive future
for OHV recreation in New Mexico.
http://www.nmohva.org
The BlueRibbon Coalition is a national
recreation group that champions responsible use
of public and private lands, and encourages
individual environmental stewardship. It
represents over 10,000 individual members and
1,200 organization and business members, for a
combined total of over 600,000 recreationists
nationwide. 1-800-258-3742.
http://www.sharetrails.org.
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