Pete Domenici: “in 2000 Congress established the Valles Caldera National Preserve, which is composed of approximately 89,000 acres of…”

“in 2000 Congress established the Valles Caldera National Preserve, which is composed of approximately 89,000 acres of spectacular land in northern New Mexico. The Preserve was created to protect and preserve the region's values and to provide the public with opportunities for the multiple use and sustained yield of its resources. Over the past 5 years, we have become aware of some simple changes in Federal policy that can be made to allow the Valles Caldera Trust and U.S. Forest Service to better address the issues facing the Valles Caldera Preserve. The bill that Senator Bingaman and I introduce today recognizes the need for those policy changes. The bill does the following: (1) Eliminates the ``willing seller basis'' so the Secretary of Agriculture can purchase the outstanding mineral interests of the Valles Caldera; (2) requires the Valles Caldera Trust to better manage its obligations and expenditures; (3) expands the category of people who can solicit and accept donations on the Trust's behalf; (4) allows monies received from claims relating to the Preserve to be used for costs incurred by the Trust; (5) provides a rate of compensation for the chairman of the Trust; (6) authorizes the Trust to dispose of marketable renewable resources; and (7) requires the Secretary of Agriculture to develop a fire safety plan for the Preserve. These are not vast changes; nor should they be controversial.”