BLM: Monument to guard tradition

San Luis Valley residents have been told that a newly designated national monument in northern New Mexico will not interfere with traditional uses of the public lands, such as livestock grazing. Area residents attended a recent meeting hosted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which has jurisdiction over the new Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. The Antonito meeting was the only one in Colorado, with the remainder of the public input meetings held in northern New Mexico. The monument covers some 242,455 acres. John Bailey, assistant field manager with the BLM office in Taos, N.M., explained that the 2013 presidential proclamation establishing the new national monument was clear about protecting long-standing uses of the land. Source