Statement on Signing the Valles Caldera Preservation Act

Statement on Signing the Valles Caldera Preservation Act

July 25, 2000

I am very pleased today to sign bipartisan legislation authorizing
protection of New Mexico's Baca Ranch as the new Valles Caldera National
Preserve.
From time to time, we are presented with an opportunity to save a
truly magnificent piece of America's rich natural endowment. Today we
seize one such opportunity. At the heart of the scenic Jemez Mountains
west of Santa Fe, the Baca Ranch contains the remarkable Valles
Caldera--the collapsed crater of an ancient volcano--and sustains one of
our Nation's largest wild elk herds. Thanks to the careful stewardship
of the Dunigan family, this extraordinary landscape appears today much
as it did when the first settlers arrived. And thanks to the bipartisan
efforts of the New Mexico delegation, we will ensure that it remains
healthy and whole for generations to come.
I commend the Dunigans, for offering us the chance to open this
treasure to the American people; Senators Bingaman and Domenici, and
Representatives Udall and Wilson, for helping to lead this historic
conservation effort; and the leaders of the Santa Clara Pueblo, for
sharing with us their reverence for this land.
Today's success should inspire us to work even harder to conserve
America's natural heritage. The acquisition of Baca Ranch was made
possible with increased conservation funding I secured last year through
my lands legacy initiative. I have proposed another significant increase
in lands legacy funding for the coming fiscal year. Unfortunately,
appropriations bills passed by both the House and the Senate would
provide only a third of my request, cutting lands legacy funding
considerably below this year's level. In addition, riders attached to
several appropriations measures aim to cripple wildlife protections,
surrender public lands to private interests, and hamper commonsense
efforts to combat global warming. I urge Congress to drop these anti-
environmental riders and to fully fund my Lands Legacy initiative.
Ultimately, our goal must be to establish permanent conservation
funding so that each new generation will have the resources to protect
other critical lands across America. I am very pleased that the Senate
Energy and Natural Resources Committee today approved a version of
bipartisan legislation passed overwhelmingly by the House that moves us
closer to that goal. I am fully committed to working with Congress to
create a lasting endowment to support Federal, State, and local
conservation efforts. Let us work together, in the spirit of today's
historic conservation achievement, to strengthen, not weaken,
environmental protections.