2004 Most Endangered

Most Endangered Places in New Mexico 2004

• Albuquerque Locomotive Shops, Bernalillo County
  
• Motel Blvd. / Old U.S. Highway 80
  
• Aztec Ruins National Monument
  
• Marked and Unmarked Cemeteries Throughout New Mexico
  
• Mesa Prieta
  
• The Hoyle House
  
• Traditional Village of Agua Fria
  
• Folsom Hotel
  
• Lake Valley Ghost Town
  
• Valle Vidal Unit
  
• St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church
  

Valle Vidal Unit

Carson National Forest, Colfax County. Nominated by Leslie Beck, Angel Fire, and Troy Murray, Raton

SIGNIFICANCE The Valle Vidal is located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains north of Cimarron, and is the headwaters of the Rio Costilla in the Rio Grande watershed. The 100,000-acre unit was donated to the public in 1982 by Pennzoil to become a part of Carson National Forest.

With its spectacular vistas, hiking trails, lakes, and grazing lands, the Valle Vidal has an array of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. In addition to serving hunters, anglers, ranchers, Boy Scouts, hikers, and tourists, the area is also an important resource base for agrarian communities in northern New Mexico.

The Valle Vidal played a significant role in the early economic development of Cimarron and Raton. The Ring Ranch, a large homestead dating from the 1890s, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Before it supported Cimarron?s rise as an industrial timber center, the Valle Vidal provided hunting grounds for Indian tribes, and later a home to Spanish and Anglo settlers. By the turn of the 20th century, the area bustled with activity as railroad lines, sawmills, and towns sprouted to extract the timber needed for mine props, lumber, and railroad ties. The remains of railroad lines, a cemetery, and the ruins of three sawmills can still be found.

The Valle supports 200 species of birds, 33 of reptiles and amphibians, 15 of fish, and 60 of mammals. Because it is prime calving ground, it is home to the largest elk herd in the state. All streams in the unit contain the native Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout, New Mexico?s state fish.

THREAT El Paso Production wants to lease the coalbed methane (natural gas) rights beneath portions of the Valle Vidal, and has offered to pay the $2,000,000 cost of an environmental impact study. The national forest is under pressure from the company and political leaders to speed up the process and to permit the mining.

Such mining involves the construction of well pads, roads, pipelines, compressor stations, and dehydration units. The mining operation would scrape all vegetation from large swaths of land, and may contaminate air, soil, and water with toxic materials. Mining is proposed in the area containing the Ring Ranch. In addition, the mining would severely affect the ability of people to use the land for traditional ranching and recreational activities, and will destroy much of the habitat upon which the diverse wildlife depends.