New Mexico representatives of major conservation groups encouraged members of the public to make themselves heard as the U.S. Forest Service enters the final weeks of accepting comments on draft management plans for national forests in the state.
Representatives from the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, National Wildlife Federation, Trout Unlimited and Defenders of Wildlife encouraged people at a free event in Albuquerque on Oct. 9 to file comments about the pending Santa Fe and Carson forest management plans.
The representatives said individual comments from citizens are important in making sure the final management plans meet the needs of wildlife and preserve critical habitat and natural resources. Comments are due by Nov. 7.
Jeremy Romero, regional connectivity coordinator with the National Wildlife Federation in New Mexico, emphasized that only people who comment on the draft plans will be able to protest the final plans if necessary when they’re finally released.
Romero said the National Wildlife Federation is particularly interested in ensuring the final plans give adequate protection to the San Antonio and Valle Vidal areas of the Carson National Forest as well as the Caja del Rio area on the Santa Fe National Forest
Romero noted that the Valle Vidal — roughly 100,000 acres in north-central New Mexico — is home to one of the most important elk herds in the state.
“If any of you have had the opportunity to go through the Valle Vidal, especially now, September and October, you’ve seen hundreds of elk running there in those openings,” Romero said. “And if you’re lucky and you’ve had the opportunity to hunt elk there in those areas, you know the central characteristics and what that place embodies.”
It’s critical that the final Carson National Forest plan protect the Valle Vidal and other special areas from the prospect of future road construction, energy development or other possible threats, Romero said.
The Caja del Rio area, generally between Santa Fe and Los Alamos, is home to many migratory birds and serves as critical wildlife habitat, Romero said. He said the area deserves special protections for natural resources and wildlife as well as cultural resources.
Dan Roper, New Mexico public lands coordinator for Trout Unlimited, said the Carson and Santa Fe national forest plans do a good job in many cases of spelling out the agency’s “desired future conditions” for the landscape. However, he said they’re short on standards and guidelines to make sure they ultimately reach those lofty goals.
“As you look through the plans, in my opinion, you see a real lack of standards and guidelines,” Roper said. He said he believes the Santa Fe draft plan has done a better job in this regard than the Carson.
“There are excellent desired conditions about managing these big landscapes, wildlife connectivity, for restoring habitat, for clean water,” Roper said. “But then you look at these plans and there’s nothing that prohibits oil and gas development. There’s nothing that prohibits future mining proposals. And you just kind of wonder, you know?
“Those things are very much in conflict with these desired conditions,” Roper said. “So can you really accomplish those desired conditions over the next 20 or 30 years that these plans may be in place without some stipulations about what is or is not allowed in those locations?”
Michael Dax with Defenders of Wildlife, said future road construction is one of the biggest threats to habitat connectivity and wildlife movement. Yet he said there’s nothing in the Carson draft plan that addresses protecting the San Antonio Management Area, for example, from increased motorized creation.
“So to say that we’re going to manage there for wildlife and not including something in there for motorized recreation, especially during sensitive times of year like calving season in the spring — that should be included,” Dax said.
The western side of the Carson National Forest already has seen considerable energy development. Dax said new development should be prohibited in critical areas.
While the Forest Service managers on the job today might be opposed to energy development, Dax said the management plans will remain in place for perhaps as long as 30 years.
“So if we’re going to say that our value is managing this area for wildlife, we need standards or guidelines in there preventing new energy development if we’re going to uphold that for the life of the plan,” Dax said.
Dax likewise said forestry projects in critical areas should focus on restoration, not commercial harvest.
The event was held at Marble Brewery’s Northeast Heights location at 9904 Montgomery Blvd., NE, in Albuquerque. It was part of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation’s monthly lecture series.