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Frijoles and Alamo Headwaters Public Access Project
Bandelier National Monument » Frijoles and Alamo Headwaters Public Access Project » Document List
Bandelier National Monument is proposing to open park lands north of NM 4 and west of FR 289 within Sandoval County that are closed to recreational public use, and designate those lands and lands south of NM 4 as year-round day use only. These lands include areas acquired in 1977, 1998, and 2000, totaling approximately 3,997 acres and are hereafter referred to as the project area. Of this total, approximately 1,488 acres are currently open to seasonal winter use only. The remaining 2,509 acres are closed to public access year-round. The proposed action is to formally designate all 3,997 acres open for year-round, daytime public use. This environmental assessment/assessment of effect evaluates three alternatives, including two action alternatives and the No Action alternative, for implementation.
Alternative B, the NPS preferred alternative, proposes to open monument lands within the project area for year-round, daytime public use. This alternative proposes two hiking routes within the project area: the Cerro Grande Route and the Alamo Boundary Route. Both routes will be out-and-back routes and will follow existing logging skid trails to the extent possible to minimize ground disturbance. This alternative also proposes to designate two parking areas along pullouts on New Mexico Highway 4 (NM 4), and utilize the existing paved parking areas along NM 4 for access to the project area. If monitoring over the next three to five years indicates the need for an additional parking area, one will be considered adjacent to Forest Road 289 (FR 289) at the Alamo Boundary Route trailhead. All other administrative activities that are currently ongoing within the project area will remain unchanged.
The NPS preferred alternative would have impacts that range from negligible to moderate, adverse and beneficial, direct and indirect, and short and long term on soils, hydrology, and water quality; vegetation; wildlife; threatened and endangered species; archeological resources, ethnographic resources; park operations; visitor use and experience; and land/resource managing agencies, tribal land management plans, and monument neighbors. No major adverse impacts to resources within Bandelier were identified in the analysis.
Bandelier National Monument
15 Entrance Road
Los Alamos, NM 87544
505-672-3861, ext. 502
Jennifer Carpenter
Resource Management Planner
Bandelier National Monument
505-672-3861, ext. 563
Alternative B, the NPS preferred alternative, proposes to open monument lands within the project area for year-round, daytime public use. This alternative proposes two hiking routes within the project area: the Cerro Grande Route and the Alamo Boundary Route. Both routes will be out-and-back routes and will follow existing logging skid trails to the extent possible to minimize ground disturbance. This alternative also proposes to designate two parking areas along pullouts on New Mexico Highway 4 (NM 4), and utilize the existing paved parking areas along NM 4 for access to the project area. If monitoring over the next three to five years indicates the need for an additional parking area, one will be considered adjacent to Forest Road 289 (FR 289) at the Alamo Boundary Route trailhead. All other administrative activities that are currently ongoing within the project area will remain unchanged.
The NPS preferred alternative would have impacts that range from negligible to moderate, adverse and beneficial, direct and indirect, and short and long term on soils, hydrology, and water quality; vegetation; wildlife; threatened and endangered species; archeological resources, ethnographic resources; park operations; visitor use and experience; and land/resource managing agencies, tribal land management plans, and monument neighbors. No major adverse impacts to resources within Bandelier were identified in the analysis.
Contact Information
Darlene Koontz, SuperintendentBandelier National Monument
15 Entrance Road
Los Alamos, NM 87544
505-672-3861, ext. 502
Jennifer Carpenter
Resource Management Planner
Bandelier National Monument
505-672-3861, ext. 563