VCNP News:

The Valles Caldera National Preserve will resume fishing and other selected recreation activities at 8 a.m. today, July 12.

Recreational programs and activities were suspended during the Thompson Ridge Fire, which burned 22,927 acres of the preserve. Public access was limited to the Valle Grande staging area until preserve officials determined certain areas were safe for visitors.  

“So far the fisheries have not been impacted the way they were after the Las Conchas Fire, and we don’t anticipate they will be,” Executive Director Dennis Trujillo said. “We will also resume the daily Magma to Magpie van tours and the free hikes outside the burn area.”

Trujillo emphasizes that only a few of the recreational activities were impacted by the fire. Those activities that were to take place in the burn area will reopen once mitigation of unsafe conditions and rehabilitation of the landscape is complete.

That process began with the Thompson Ridge Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) assessment of the landscape and will continue with the implementation of an approved work plan during the coming weeks. The BAER assessment update is available at http://inciweb.org/incident/article/3430/18928/.

“Protection of life and safety must be assured before any additional activities resume,” Trujillo said.

For more information on available activities and programs at the Valles Caldera, call 866-382-5537 or go to www.vallescaldera.gov. Click on the calendar tab at the top of the page for a daily schedule of events.