Community Advisory Meeting –
Review of BLM Resource Management Plan (RMP)
by Joann MacKenzie, Orin Safier/ES-CA
(BREAKING NEWS – see below – Santa Ana Pueblo’s Plan for Wildlife Corridor)
Community Meeting Handout – With Maps
On Sunday, August 26th a capacity crowd of 100+ concerned citizens attended the joint Eastern Sandoval Citizen’s Association (ES-CA) and Las Placitas Association (LPA) meeting at the Placitas Elementary School to learn about the BLM draft RMP. This wide reaching Plan (which BLM updates every 20-25 years) will have long term and significant ramifications for the management of over 9,500,000 acres throughout Central New Mexico.
The meeting summarized the possible impact on the Placitas area:
In particular, there are 3 BLM parcels in the Placitas Area:
Parcel A – “Buffalo” Parcel: 3143 acres to the immediate north of Placitas and bordering San Felipe tribal lands, shaped somewhat like a buffalo;
Parcel B: 195 acres within Placitas, bordering the Overlook, Cedar Creek and Ranchos De Placitas subdivisions; and
Parcel C – Crest of Montezuma: 917 acres on the east end of Placitas.
The draft RMP offers 4 alternatives for each parcel of land:
Alternative A: No action, and highly unlikely to be approved;
Alternative B: Emphasizes conservation uses with a minimum of resource/economic development;
Alternative D: Emphasizes development, with minimum conservation use.
Alternative C (“Preferred Alternative”): Attempts to balance conservation with development use.
The current draft Preferred Alternative for the 3 parcels are as follows:
Parcel A: Allows for controlled surface use for extraction of oil and gas. Also extraction of saleable minerals (primarily gravel, also sand, gold, silver, uranium), on an area in the north part of the parcel, bordering the San Felipe pueblo lands;
Parcel B: Subject to “Land Ownership Adjustment”, that is transfer of ownership, to other public or private entities.
Parcel C (Montezuma Crest): Will transfer to the Forest Service subject to passage in the U.S. Senate and the President’s signature of House bill HR 491, sponsored by Senator Heinrich, which passed unanimously in the House of Representatives. If the Senate does not pass the bill, the Crest will be open to oil and gas extraction, and vehicle travel only on existing roads and trails.
The BLM plan is extensive and detailed with over 300 pages and 90 maps, but ES-CA and LPA have identified several deficiencies in the draft plan and are requesting additional information including: property values and other social and economic impacts on nearby private lands; air quality issues; potential harmful impact on water aquifer due to oil and gas exploration and extraction processes; the effect on traffic, especially along the I-25 Frontage Road, of additional mining truck traffic; impact on the wild horses; other possible rights of way through Parcel A, perhaps for energy corridors.
So, what can you do as a concerned citizen of Placitas?:
1) Join ES-CA and/or LPA: Significant monetary resources will be needed to protect our interests especially in light of the economic power of the energy companies;
2) Volunteer to help: Many “eyes and ears” will be needed at future meetings especially if you have experience or interest in working with local, state or federal regulatory bodies;
3) Review and utilize the comments on the ES-CA and LPA websites: to be heard, your feedback must be presented in an appropriate and compelling fashion and both websites will have sample comments available with the necessary contact information;
4) Communicate and tell your neighbors: Spread the word during this critical period of time;
5) Last AND the highest priority for now: Attend the BLM Public Meeting (below) because many regulators and decision makers will be in attendance. It is essential that they perceive broad and significant interest and concerns within the local community:
BLM PRESENTATION
Bernalillo High School Gym – September 17th, 2012 – 6:00 P.M.
Other significant points were made by speakers at the meeting:
- The final RMP must be approved by the Governor, so our State and County officials and legislators can help. Attending the meeting was County Commissioner Orlando Lucero, State Senator John Sapien, State Representatives Jim Smith, who represents Placitas, and David Doyle. Patricia Dominguez from Representative Martin Heinrich’s staff was also present. All expressed their support for the community efforts, and offered their help.
- As regards the economic and social impacts, the draft RMP mainly talked of the positives of mining, and little or nothing about the negative impacts. This is a deficiency that needs to be corrected.
- Restoration/reclamation of land in Parcel A is also an issue.
- The Draft RMP does not include a Travel Management Plan (TMP), which details roads and vehicle traffic in the BLM lands. The TMP will only be done after the RMP is finalized. However some of the issues, such as additional traffic due to mining, are intimately connected to the management of resources, so these issues need to be considered in the RMP.
Breaking News: In the September issue of the Sandoval Signpost there appears a letter to the community from the Santa Ana Pueblo, announcing their intention to acquire the 3100+ acres, the “Buffalo Parcel”, from BLM, to use as part of a wildlife corridor extending from the Jemez to the Sandia mountains. They are seeking community support for this. We have heard that the Pueblo will hold a public forum to address questions and concerns, though the time has not yet been set. We will supply more information as we receive it.