The National Park Service is assessing Valles Caldera National Preserve for wilderness quality lands/NPS file
The National Park Service is launching a study into whether there are wilderness quality lands at Valles Caldera National Preserve in New Mexico and is seeking public comments to help with the assessment.
Pursuant to the Wilderness Act of 1964, wilderness is an area of undeveloped federal land where the earth and its community of life retain primeval character and influence, that is generally affected by the forces of nature and is without permanent improvements or human habitation. These areas also provide outstanding opportunities for solitude or primitive and unconfined types of recreation.
The principal mandate of the Wilderness Act is the preservation of wilderness character, which is a holistic concept based on the interaction of biophysical environments, personal experiences, and symbolic meanings that distinguishes wilderness from other lands. The qualities of wilderness character are defined online.
National Park Service policy requires an assessment of which lands within the preserve may be eligible for designation as wilderness. This assessment will be further announced in the Federal Register, and after the director of the National Park Service approves the final eligibility determination, the NPS will publish another Federal Register notice.
Designated as a unit of the National Park System in 2014, the 88,900-acre preserve is located in the Jemez Mountains in north-central New Mexico. Valles Caldera’s name comes from the large distinctive grassland meadows, or valles in Spanish, surrounded by forest-covered volcanic domes within the ancient caldera. The public can forward comments on the wilderness qualities of Valles Caldera via email or via regular mail sent to: PO Box 359, Jemez Springs, NM 87025.
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