Updated December 19, 2008

In 1982, the 101,794 acres of the Valle Vidal was transferred to the Federal Government and became the Valle Vidal Unit of the Carson National Forest. Because the Carson National Forest Plan had been completed just prior to the transfer, the Valle Vidal did not receive a proper management plan. The 1986 Forest Plan decision noted that future environmental analysis will be used to decide management direction for Valle Vidal, and appropriate management prescriptions would then be incorporated in the plan. A decision on how Valle Vidal is to be managed has not yet been incorporated in the Carson National Forest Plan and the area continues to be managed using a 1983 Multiple-Use Area Guide.

Because of the 2002 expression of interest to industrialize the Valle Vidal, the Forest Service decided (May 2004) that a Forest Plan amendment was needed to establish the natural resource goals, objectives, standards, guidelines, and desired conditions, prior to considering the Valle Vidal Unit for leasing. The scoping process for the proposed forest plan amendment was initiated in June 2005 with a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS). The proposal to amend the Carson National Forest Plan to incorporate management direction for the Valle Vidal Unit was publicly circulated in the summer of 2005.

Over 50,000 people commented on the proposed amendment through a variety of methods - form letters, post cards, individual letters, petitions, e-mails, and phone calls. A number of management alternatives were then identified by the Forest Service team. A comparison of alternatives was then to be included in the draft EIS (DEIS) that was scheduled for release and public comment in late summer of 2006.

That DEIS has yet to appear.

As noted elsewhere on this site, several actions associated with Valle Vidal took place between 2005 and 2008. For example, in December 2005, the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission designated the surface waters within Valle Vidal as Outstanding National Resource Waters (ONRWs) under the Clean Water Act. This designation disallows any new or increased discharges to Valle Vidal surface waters that would result in lower water quality. Then, in May 2006, Governor Bill Richardson filed a petition with the Secretary of Agriculture that formally recommends Valle Vidal to be added as a roadless area with the same protection as the other inventoried roadless areas. It remains unclear if the Valle Vidal will be considered for roadless status. Finally, on December 12, 2006, President Bush signed the Valle Vidal Protection Act, sponsored by U.S. Representative Tom Udall, which withdrew all of Valle Vidal from applicable mineral laws.

The Carson National Forest is currently in the process of incorporating all these new management directions for our Valle Vidal into its forest plan amendment. The DEIS is currently due out in December 2008 with the final to be issued several months later.

When the DEIS is issued, there will be 60 days for public comment. Please check this site or the Carson National Forest site for updates and ways you can comment on the DEIS.

Proposed Valle Vidal Amendment Plan Documents: Land Management Plan