Editing Valles Caldera (section)

===Valles Caldera National Preserve===
The Valles Caldera Preservation Act of 2000 signed by [[Bill Clinton|President Clinton]] on July 25, 2000, created the Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP).<ref name=Act>[http://www.vallescaldera.gov/about/trust/docs/PL%20106-248.pdf "Public Law 106–248 - 106th Congress"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130222151016/http://www.vallescaldera.gov/about/trust/docs/PL%20106-248.pdf |date=2013-02-22 }}. Valles Caldera National Preserve. Retrieved on 2013-04-04.</ref> The legislation provided for the federal purchase of this historical ranch with funds coming from the [[Land and Water Conservation Fund]] derived from royalties the US government receives from offshore [[petroleum]] and [[natural gas]] [[drilling]].<ref name=CNN>Environmental News Network Staff (2000-07-17). [http://archives.cnn.com/2000/NATURE/07/17/baca.ranch.enn/ CNN.com "New Mexico's Baca Ranch soon to be public land"]. CNN.com. Retrieved on 2013-04-03.</ref> The Dunigan family sold the entire surface [[Estate (law)|estate]] of {{convert|95000|acre|km2}} and seven-eighths of the [[Geothermal activity|geothermal]] [[mineral]] estate to the [[federal government of the United States|federal government]] for $101&nbsp;million. As some sites of the Baca Ranch are sacred and of cultural significance to the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]], {{convert|5000|acre|km2}} of the purchase were obtained by the [[Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico|Santa Clara Pueblo]], which borders the property to the northeast. These include the headwaters of Santa Clara Creek, which is sacred to the pueblo.<ref name=CNN/><ref name=history/> On the southwest corner of the land, {{convert|300|acre|km2}} were to be ceded to [[Bandelier National Monument]].{{cn|date=March 2025}}

The Baca Ranch, also known as Baca Location No. 1, had possessed a mixed range of [[tree]] species and significant [[biodiversity]]. At the time of the purchase, the ranch was home to {{convert|40|mi}} of pristine [[trout]] streams, {{convert|66118|acre}} of [[Temperate coniferous forest|conifer forest]], 17 endangered plant and animal species, and {{convert|25000|acre}} of [[grassland]] grazed by 8,000 [[elk]], New Mexico's largest herd. The preserve is encircled by federal lands, including the [[Santa Fe National Forest]], the [[Jemez National Recreation Area]], and [[Bandelier National Monument]].<ref name="CNN2">Environmental News Network Staff (2000-07-17). "New Mexico's Baca Ranch soon to be public land". CNN.</ref>

The Valles Caldera Preservation Act of 2000 also created the Valles Caldera Trust, an experimental management organization consisting of nine board members, including seven appointed by the [[President of the United States]].<ref name="about">[http://www.vallescaldera.gov/about/ "About VCNP"]. Valles Caldera National Preserve Official Website. Retrieved on 2013-04-03.</ref> The Trust combined private-sector practices with federal land management protocol. Under the terms of the Valles Caldera Preservation Act, the preserve was to become financially self-sustaining by 2015. The experiment was controversial. In 2010, the Trust admitted that it would be unable to achieve financial self-sustainability, having raised only about $850,000 of the $3&nbsp;million needed to manage the property each year.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

[[Environmentalist]]s lobbied for the more inclusive protections of national park status instead of the Trust model, but then-Senator [[Pete Domenici]] (R) insisted on the experimental approach as a condition for his support for public purchase. Beginning in 2010, US Senator [[Jeff Bingaman]] (D) introduced legislation that would transfer the property to the [[National Park Service]] as a [[national preserve]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=S.3452 - Valles Caldera National Preserve Management Act|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/111th-congress/senate-bill/3452|website=Congress.gov|date=27 September 2010}}</ref> The 2011 bill<ref>{{Cite web|title=S.564 - Valles Caldera National Preserve Management Act|url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/senate-bill/564|website=Congress.gov|date=11 May 2011}}</ref> was supported by the VCNP trustees and a majority of New Mexico's Congressional delegation. On December 19, 2014, President [[Barack Obama]] signed the [[Carl Levin and Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015|2015 National Defense Authorization Act]], which transferred administrative jurisdiction of the preserve from the Valles Caldera Trust to the National Park Service.<ref>{{Cite web|date=11 January 2018|title=Public Law 113-291 (Section 3043)|url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-113publ291/pdf/PLAW-113publ291.pdf|access-date=11 January 2018|website=gpoinfo.gov}}</ref> After a brief transition period, the National Park Service assumed day-to-day management on October 1, 2015. On October 10, the preserve held an official dedication with dignitaries including U.S. Secretary of the Interior [[Sally Jewell]], U.S. Senator [[Tom Udall]], U.S. Senator [[Martin Heinrich]], former U.S. Senator [[Jeff Bingaman]], National Park Service Intermountain Region Director Sue Masica, and the first National Park Service Superintendent of Valles Caldera National Preserve, Jorge Silva-Bañuelos.<ref name="clark1">{{cite news|last1=Clark|first1=Carol A.|date=October 9, 2015|title=Interior Secretary Jewell Celebrates Valles Caldera's Addition To National Park Service|publisher=Los Alamos Post}}</ref>