Park Service rounds up and pens NM cattle

Just A Reminder...Frank

I was contacted by rancher Ivan Trujillo from Jemez Springs the Valles Caldera rounded up about 200 head of cattle belonging to various livestock owners that graze cattle on bordering allotments on the north and west sides of the VC. To my understanding they are penned up at the San Antonio Valle Pipe Corral.   I was told by Mr. Trujillo that the VC wanted the cattle trailered out and not herded out.  I find this to be an extreme inconvenience and expensive proposition for all the ranchers involved that must travel 120 plus miles each way from Canones, Coyote, Youngsville, Canjilon, and Medanales when the VC has failed to maintain the fences.  Parts of this fence burned down completely during the Las Conchas Wildfire and no attempt to date by the VC has been made to erect new fence where it burned totally to the ground, and fix where clusters of burned trees have fallen on the fence, or where the elk have damaged the fence.  The VC has taken no action to remedy this fence situation.  I raised this issue of fence maintenance at several meetings while the transfer from the Forest Service (FS) to the Park Service was transitioning.  I was told this would not be an issue!  I know several ranchers this year attempted numerous times to herd their cattle out but to no avail.  

Ms. Rachael Suazo of the FS,  Espanola and Coyote  Ranger Districts is well aware of the fence issue problems we are faced with.  We talked to her about it because it takes time to go from the north end and west side allotments into the VC to find and herd these cows out.  If the VC can hire folks to round up this cattle why didn't they do the same to get the fences fixed, and then advise the livestock owners to remove the cattle on their own terms.   I believe the VC has to be a good neighbor and let folks remove there cattle through trailering or herding.  I believe rounding up the cattle should have been the last resort.  I'm also asking they fix the fence immediately so our efforts of removing the cattle are not futile.  These cows will be in these allotment through the end of October 31.  

I suggest the NM Livestock Board (NMLB) intervene in this matter and mandate ranchers be afforded the opportunity or choice to trailer or herd their cattle out, especially since the fences are in such disarray.  I'm requesting this also from a safety issue because of the extreme steep hills that must be negotiated with trailering cattle out of the VC whether you go through Los Alamos or Jemez Springs.  Most ranchers in the bordering allotments can easily remove the cattle from the San Antonio Corral back into their respective allotments within 2-3 hours versus 3-5 days or more as only one trip per day can be made because of the distances.  Most folks trailers too are capable only of moving safely 10 head per load because of the dangerous road conditions.  I have copied other folks for assistance to get resolution to our concerns with how to remove the cattle and address the fence maintenance issues.

If anyone has questions please call me at home at 505-685-4541, or 505-927-9818.

Carlos Salazar

President-Northern NM Stockman's Association

UPDATE

This post has created quite a few shares and comments on Facebook, so perhaps I should clarify a few things.

First, the image of Heinrich and the Preserve were put there by me, not Carlos. It was just to remind everyone Senator Heinrich was responsible for having the Valles Caldera transferred to the Park Service. I wrote about this in July of 2015, explaining what the legislation really said and expressing my concerns about the future for the people of the north:

Valles Caldera

Recall that Senator Heinrich got these 89,000 acres transferred from the Santa Fe National Forest to the Park Service as part of a political deal in last year’s National Defense Authorization Act. 

The Park Service is now holding public hearings on management of the area, and we are beginning to see what the native folks and traditional users are up against –  limited access in general and a slow phasing out of most hunting and grazing.  Yes, I know the legislation says there "shall" be grazing, but it also says,"at levels and locations determined by the Secretary to be appropriate."  Read Park Service policy on its website and you'll find this:  "The Service will phase out the commercial grazing of livestock whenever possible and manage recreational and administrative uses of livestock to prevent those uses from unacceptably impacting park resources."  Apply the general policy to the legislative language, and if you are seeking "commercial" livestock grazing, forget it.  The whole thing is being set up to allow grazing for the "interpretation of the ranching history of the Preserve", and that will probably mean Park Service cows managed by Park Service employees. Similar limitations are placed upon hunting and trapping.

Does anyone consider the NPS to be pro-hunting?  Pro-grazing?  Not exactly.

Members of the group Caldera Action have spent years advocating for National Park Service management because, their spokesmen says, the Park Service will police “wayward cattle”, they didn’t want it “treated like a piece of multiple-use land where you have…cows and litter”, but that “hiking and cross-country skiing” are less destructive.

A huge preserve has been set aside for the elite to camp, hike and convene with nature.  The traditional uses made by the folks native to the area will be eliminated over time.  That, I'm afraid, will be the final outcome of this Udall/Heinrich legislation.

As far as the Park Service being a good neighbor to locals, I posted this in February of 2016

Park Service denies renewal of contract to Carlsbad nonprofit

After nearly 60 years of working with local national parks, the contract between the Carlsbad Caverns/Guadalupe Mountains Association and the National Park Service has not been renewed. On Feb. 17, the bookstores run by the association at Carlsbad Caverns National Park and a Guadalupe Mountains National Park cleared their shelves and packed away their inventory. "I really love the Caverns," store employee Dorry Batchelder said, tears welling up in her eyes as she stood behind the cash register. "I really loved this job." Batchelder, one of 11 full time employees who are now out of work, said she was not having any luck finding a new job as of last week. The association has run a bookstore out of Carlsbad Caverns National Park since 1957 and out of Guadalupe Mountains National Park since the 70s, according to the organization's board chair Steve West. West also said they have donated more than $3.5 million to the two parks during that time. West claimed the National Park Service has not been fair in its dealings with his organization, citing poor communication and working conditions, which has only made the relationship worse. "Maybe the next people that come in, they’ll treat with a little bit of decency and respect," West said...more

Senators Udall & Heinrich were successful in transferring 95,000 acres in northern NM (Valles Caldera) to the Park Service, and over time, the locals there can expect similar treatment.

UPDATE 2

Here is another thing that bothers me. If you go to the Park Service website they have Climate Change Response Program which states, "Responding to climate change is the greatest challenge to the National Park Service today", and a Planning Document stating the NPS is working "to incorporate climate change considerations and responses in all levels of NPS planning" (underlining is mine) and yet insist on a plan that will require the heavy use of fossil fuels, when a more natural and efficient alternative is available?