Otero’s Trails Closer to Open
Mountain bike enthusiasts with an affection for the prime trails in Otero Canyon are celebrating this week’s announcement that the Air Force no longer plans to erect a fence that would close off their beloved biking area.
Abandonment of the fencing plan is surely reason to smile, but really whooping it up may be a bit premature.
The Air Force has identified a 400-acre swath of land on the northeast boundary of Kirtland Air Force Base property as “no longer necessary to support Kirtland’s mission.” Otero Canyon bikers say that area holds a significant portion of the trails that prompted them to mount an organized opposition to the fence plan.
But the Air Force also hints that returning the area to the control of the Forest Service — which would make it officially public land available for recreation — is far from a simple matter of a phone call or two.
“… the Air Force will initiate National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documentation to assess the impacts to the quality of the human environment as a result of the potential change in land use … (and) will ensure continued communication with the affected stakeholders and will offer opportunities for public input in the future.”
Translated to layman’s terms, what that jargon probably means is studies and meetings, followed by more studies and more meetings. So it hardly seems time to start counting any chickens.
Rep Heather Wilson, R-N.M., who worked in recent years to encourage the Air Force to consider the public’s desire to use this land, said this week the announcement essentially amounts to a return to the policy that prevailed for decades before the fencing plan was announced in 2003.
Since the 1940s, the land has been technically and officially closed to the public. But the closure was rarely enforced and recreational use of the area was widespread.
Wilson said warning signs will remain in the area and people should pay attention to them. But at least it appears the days of armed military patrols and citations for criminal trespassing in Otero Canyon are behind us.
Some version of a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy with regard to recreational use of Otero Canyon is probably something advocates of public access can live with for now. Indeed, they functioned under essentially that policy for years. But they have loftier visions for the future.
Matt Turgeon of Friends of Otero, a trail advocacy group that opposes closing any part of the Otero Canyon trail system, said Tuesday that “it would be great if Kirtland Air Force Base would give back the whole withdrawal area, which is several thousand acres, and hopefully they’ll work toward that in the future.”
Turgeon acknowledged it could be a very long time before that happens. But he also pointed to this week’s small victory as an example of what can be accomplished through grassroots efforts and working through the public process.
It seems clear that plenty of Otero Canyon fans will continue to do that good work.
(c) 2007 Albuquerque Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.