Quick Fact

A more realistic proposal should be considered
 

A Win-Win-Win Solution Is Available

Senate Bill 275calls for about 5,300 acres of public land to be set aside as a National Monument.

We feel that this is an excessive amount of acreage since there has been no other verification, independent of monument proponents, that monument-worthy, significant, paleontological sites exist within this area.

The Abo redbeds that the tracks are found in extend for over three hundred miles within the state of New Mexico and these tracks are found throughout this whole region.

The original trackway discovery site was significant, and the 1994 Smithsonian Report describes it as… “one of the most scientifically significant Early Permian tracksites in the world.”.

However , the report expressly stated that it was only talking about the less than one acre, discovery site when that statement was made.

The report called for protection of the site, but did not call for national monument designation.

Shortly after that report was released, the BLM protected the area with a Research Natural Area (RNA) designation.

BLM records indicate that only four researchers have come to investigate the site since the establishment of the RNA.

Until 2007, the BLM's own paleontologists had not even investigated the potential sites listed in the 1994 report.

Years of continuous searching has not discovered anything nearly as significant as the original discovery site.

It is also important to note that the trackways found at the original discovery site were broken up and removed by the monument proponents and are now stored in various museums across the country.

Since their removal, no other significant trackways have been discovered at that site or anywhere else within the proposed monument boundaries.

The proposed monument boundaries of 5,300 acres is unreasonable, and will unnecessarily limit existing activities on these public lands.

A more realistic monument boundary would include only about 1400 acres around the discovery site where the significant discovery was made.

This map shows the complete alternate proposal for the Robledo Mountains. These boundaries not only protect the discovery site, they would also ensure that existing recreational activities elsewhere within the Robledo Mountains are not impacted.

Here are the advantages of an adjusted boundary:

1. Size is not greater than needed.

► Still protects area where significant trackways were found.

► Easier to control access.

► There are no existing roads or trails within proposed area.

► Does not affect existing recreational uses elsewhere within the Robledo Mountains.

2. Easier to get community support.