WSP08384 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

. By HUTIlIlEll)E I\L^~'IOS^ - The proposal to con. 'It the Great 0alld Dunes National 011 11 II I(.'U 1 into:\ national parl{ is IllOV' ,~ forward "at it speed which I have 'VCI" see II all)' Il'gislal.iv~~ action move -lore," Ivloll\llHcnt Superintendent C\"l; Chanc)' told Valh:y COli II!.)' CUlIl' issiollcrs on Tuesday. The change would require Congrcs- 111;11 approval. Chancy said there arc three desires 'ivillg tile monument-tn-park proposal rwanl: 1) to provide permanent pro. ~), ( . ): lccliulI 10 die salld (llIBe .system; 2) to incrcase tourism; und 3) to eliminate the l~nl'a Ranch as a waleI' development threal. The first reason, to protect the dune system, is whallhc Nat.ional Park Ser- vice is most. int.crc$t.cd in, CIHlllCY said. Arca businesses l,nd indllstricsnrc most interested in t.he sccoIlll desire, t.o in- crease tourism. The third reason,. to eliminate t.he water .t.hreat, "js a long standing isslle that thiscommunity has come together over... the past dcclHlc or so. "~ronically, what w~ have learned about this system and been ahle to iden. tify has come about since ^ WDI." Be. fore AWDI (^merican Water Develop. ment Inc.), there was no' threat }WI-' ceived significant enough to force the research on th.c 5ystcl11,.I1O ~aid. In addition to eliminating the waler threat, pUl"chasil'igthe llncH would bring wildlife and wetlands into a national park, Chancy said. Chancy spoke briefly about some of the obstacles to converting the lllOIl\I- men~ to a parle . Dunes . ". I:, . Continued from page 1 and Wildlife land. It is similar to Payment In Lieu ofTa,.;s (PILT), Chancy said. . He added that there -arc some CUllccrllS in the l3aca Grande coml11ullitv ahout the impact.of growth' ill their neighborhoods. Some'ufi.l1~)sccuIJCcrnscanJiot he an~weJ:l'tl right now, Chancy said, eXCl'pt (0 point tu similar situat.ions elsewhere. . That kind of concern should he handled throu~h mamlljcI11cnt pl;\lli1il1~ which will occllr after legislation passes and the park houndaries are drawn. Local input will be a part of that manage- mentplanlliJl~, he ~aid." . Clianey i\ddr('ss'cd apointofconfusioll which has arrsen surround- .in~ the mOIHIlIlenl.to-p:uk proposal. lie said an Environmental Impact Statement is Bot required hefore the legislature approves the park conversion. Once the legislature cumpletes its part of the process, puhlic input will be required, he said. "I ~hink therc's a n~ally good Jlotential fOI" the cnd product to be sOll1cthil~g that everyuody gai.ns frum," Chancy s~id. ~ \...:--~.) --~:--'" Ill' said there is "a lut of cOllversati()l~ hetween partics right now" to try to..' nll.eviate potential conflicts before they. anse. The main obstacles, he said, arc: mOlley to acquire the llaca; stnte and' federal land issues; and .property tax luss in Saguache Count.y. "Money to acquire the l3aca is obv~- ously BumberoJle," Chaney said. Other than lheprivately.owilCd Baca and land owned by the Nature Conscrv.ancy, the property needcd to expand th.c duncs,t!? a park is largely state and.fedcrallnnd, Chancy said. One problem with the state/federallands going into a national ~ park is the loss of some of the uses such: as hunting and grazing, Chancy said. : However, with the Uaca'purchase~some ~ land could be traded arollIld with the' fede'ral and state agencies "to offsetth'at,' somewhat, to .create some hunting" managed wildlife opportunities that: currently don't exist." - As far as the potential loss of property: tax t.o Saguache County, Chancy said: there might be a way of recovering some: of that loss through a ,Refuge Revenue: Sharing ^cl which applies to U.S. Fi~!l: . Please see Dunes page 5 '0) ,.~_:.~/ ~ ~\'.'" ....f.;.,;;.