Coalition Sets Sights on Open Space ; Private Parcel Near Gutierrez Canyon

By MATT GOMEZ Mountain View Telegraph

A group of East Mountains residents is working with a national land conservation organization and state legislators to purchase 480 acres near the Cedar Crest Post Office for use as open space.

John Peterson, a founding member of the recently formed Turquoise Trail/Gutierrez Canyon Preservation Coalition, said East Mountains residents have been using parts of the 480 acres for recreational use for years, thinking it was a piece of school property.

“I got pretty casual about it over the years, thinking that it was school property, and then one day I decided I’d call the State Land Office and discovered that it wasn’t,” Peterson said Monday.

The property is owned by the privately held Tijeras/Milne LLC, according to Bernalillo County records.

Peterson discovered that the 480 acres is likely to be sold and the preservation coalition was formed to help purchase the land so it can be incorporated as a piece of open space, Peterson said.

To purchase the land, the preservation coalition is working with The Trust for Public Land — a national land conservation organization.

“Our bread-and-butter conservation work is to work with communities that have identified important land that they want to conserve,” said Greg Hiner, a field representative with The Trust for Public Land.

Hiner said his organization is looking to purchase the land from its private owners before selling it back to whatever group would manage the property.

A sale price has not been determined, he added, saying an appraisal has to be done on the property.

“We buy at fair market value, which is determined by an appraisal, and then we sell it to the entity that would be the long- term steward, at fair market value,” Hiner said.

Hiner said the future management of the property has not been decided, but The Trust for Public Land has been in talks with the city of Albuquerque.

The Trust for Public Land has also had discussions with the landowner about purchasing the property, Hiner said, and is “trying to make something happen this year.”

The tract lies adjacent to and west of the existing 300-acre Gutierrez Canyon Open Space owned by the city of Albuquerque.

If the 480 acres is bought and used as open space, it would provide access from N.M. 14 — near the Cedar Crest Post Office — to the existing open space. Currently, access to the Gutierrez Canyon Open Space is available through a residential neighborhood.

“There is exceptional access down there between Tom and Jerry’s (Plaza) and the post office there off of (N.M.) 14,” Peterson said.

Peterson, a retired fish and wildlife biologist, said the land contains a large variety of habitat types as well as some historical resources. The land is also great for recreational use, he said.

“It’s got an extensive trail network on it and it’s heavily used,” Peterson said. “Recreational value would be real high.”

Peterson said if the land isn’t purchased soon for use as open space, “there’s no question that it’s likely to be sold to a developer.”

Andre Larroque, another member of the Turquoise Trail/Gutierrez Canyon Preservation Coalition, said Monday that the current owners of the tract are “willing to consider selling it for public use, but certainly they can’t wait forever.”

At this point, the preservation coalition is working with state Rep. Kathy McCoy, R-Sandia Park, and state Sen. Sue Wilson Beffort, R- Sandia Park, to acquire at least part of the funding through the 2007 state legislative session, Larroque said.

“I think that would hopefully be the seed money for future funding,” Larroque said.

McCoy said Tuesday that she has met with the coalition and is very supportive of the idea of purchasing the 480 acres for open space use.

“This really is stunning property, and I think this will benefit not just the people in the East Mountains but also anybody else that wants to use it for recreational activities,” McCoy said. “I’m certainly going to be pushing to get some funding for it …

“We are dealing with a lot of encroachment in the East Mountains, and this is just one way to preserve an area that people know they can go and … hike and do dog walks and whatever.”

(c) 2007 Albuquerque Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.