Pete Domenici: “the Valles Caldera in Northern New Mexico is a place you visit for a day, and long to return to for a life time. It is…”

“the Valles Caldera in Northern New Mexico is a place you visit for a day, and long to return to for a life time. It is nature at its most extraordinary--an almost perfectly round bowl formed by a collapsed volcano. It is a place with rolling meadows, crystal-clear streams, roaming elk, Ponderosa pines and quaking Aspen trees, and Golden eagles. This legislation guarantees that this very special place will be there for future generations to visit and remember. I am very proud to be introducing legislation that will authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire a truly unique 95,000 acre ``working ranch'' in New Mexico, known alternatively as the Baca Ranch, the Valle Grande, and the Valles Caldera. Independently, but as importantly, this legislation also addresses longstanding problems encountered by Federal land managers in disposing of surplus federal property and the acquisition of private inholdings within federal management areas.”