I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
U.S. Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall introduced a bill Thursday to transfer management of the troubled Valles Caldera National Preserve to the U.S. National Park Service.
The 89,000-acre preserve was created by Congress in 2000 and has been managed by aTrust Board consisting of seven members appointed by President Bush and two government officials who manage adjacent public lands: the Bandelier National Monument superintendent and the Santa Fe National Forest supervisor.
But development of a management plan for the Jemez Mountains preserve is five years behind schedule and the Trust will not likely meet the goal of financial self-sustainability by 2015, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded last November. Trustees have failed to develop a strategic management plan or to complete annual performance plans, the GAO reported.
“It has been difficult for Congress and the public to understand the trust’s goals and objectives, annual plans and performance, or progress,” the GAO report states.
The Trust Board currently has three vacancies.
The Park Service has already completed a study determining that the Caldera meets National Park criteria. Hunting, fishing and cattle grazing would still be allowed under the bill.
