BLM works on plan to preserve monument

ROBLEDO MOUNTAINS, N.M. (AP) - Winds rushed loudly through a canyon, whipping up dust and shaking ocotillo stalks, prickly pear pads and tufts of desert grass.

Overhead, ravens sailed gracefully against a backdrop of low-hanging clouds and brilliant blue sky.

Underfoot, jagged slates of red rock littered the ground, many marked permanently with the imprints of creatures that roamed the area 280 million years ago. Visible were conifer imprints, impressions left by invertebrates as they wormed their way through mud and the occasional webbed footprint of a dimetrodon - a lizard-like pre-dinosaur animal.

Last year, this 5,280-acre area northwest of Las Cruces joined such notable places as the Little Bighorn Battlefield, Mount St. Helens and Wyoming's Devil's Tower to become the nation's 100th national monument. The designation is the first-ever for Doña Ana County and the 12th in New Mexico.

Called the Prehistoric Trackways National Monument, the designation is aimed at protecting the ancient footprints, petrified wood pieces and other fossils that dot the park.

The site is important because of the range of tracks and fossil impressions that can be seen from that time period, said Las Crucen Greg Smith, who advocated for the park's creation. Also, he said, the monument has yielded specimens that have been found nowhere else.

"Beyond that, the quality of the examples and number of the examples make this a unique and special site," he said.

Though the designation was granted last March by Congress, it could be years before residents see any significant changes at the site. That's because the agency overseeing the monument, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, must create a long-term plan beforehand.

The final document will spell out whether - and to what degree - the monument should be developed, said Tom Phillips, BLM land-use planner. For instance, he said, the site could feature as little development as the Soledad Canyon Day Use Area - a parking area and dirt trail system - or as much development as Dripping Springs Natural Area, which includes a visitor's center.

Phillips said other decisions will guide how research takes place in the monument and the types of park interpretation that will be available.

The BLM has begun its first step: gathering public input. The deadline for the first round is Feb. 10. An informational open house, meant to give people a jumping off point to submit comments, is planned for Tuesday.

An aspect of the plan likely to be controversial is setting guidelines for off-road vehicle use.

Many off-roading enthusiasts opposed the creation of a monument because of concerns it would stop or curtail the year-round use of designated vehicle trails in the monument and the Chile Challenge, a popular annual rock crawl event.

Blu Riedemann, a member of the Las Cruces Four Wheel Drive Club, said the perception that the off-roading community doesn't want the land protected is wrong. Rather, he said he wants both natural resources to be protected and the area to remain accessible to off-road vehicles.

"What I'm hoping to see is cooperation, actual cooperation," he said. "There has been a lack of open-mindedness from some of the groups involved, and I'm hoping we can get beyond that and come to an agreement that works for everybody."

Riedemann said he'd like as many of the trails that are currently allowed to remain open.

Phillips said the legislation creating the monument allows for continued off-road vehicle use, as long as it does not endanger the natural resources.

Smith, president of the nonprofit Paleozoic Trackways Foundation, said his group does not support a blanket ban on off-road vehicle use within the monument and never has. He noted that vehicle use can remain if it doesn't damage trackways.

"If it seems the two can co-exist, the Chile Challenge and off-road activities would be allowed to continue," he said. Riedemann contended vehicle trails should remain open because they're the only way some people, such as the elderly, are able to access the site.

"This outback country we have is beautiful and pristine and majestic, but in our opinion, you have to get off the beaten path just a little bit to get a sense of how beautiful it is," he said.

Some critics of creating a national monument had argued that the designation wasn't necessary because there aren't many fossilized footprints above ground.

But Lori Allen, a BLM employee overseeing the development of the plan, said there are plenty of fossils to see, "if you know what you're looking for."

Allen and Phillips said one of the biggest challenges will be in finding a way to showcase the fossils while also keeping them safe from theft and vandalism.

"How do we get the public to see these tracks and also keep them protected?" Allen said.

Smith said fossil sites haven't been publicized in the past because of concerns they'd be taken. He said the new designation already has increased funding for BLM park rangers assigned to the monument, so the