[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 116 (Thursday, September 15, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H8066-H8067]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   VALLE VIDAL PROTECTION ACT OF 2005

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the 
Valle Vidal Protection Act of 2005. The Valle Vidal is located in the 
heart of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northern New Mexico and is 
home to abundant populations of Rocky Mountain wildlife, including the 
largest herd of elk in our State. This ``living valley'' is an 
incredibly important ecological treasure whose value lies in its 
wilderness and natural beauty, not in its finite supply of energy.
  The Valle Vidal is a special place for New Mexicans and people from 
around the world who come to relax in its alpine majesty and enjoy 
outdoor recreation and sporting opportunities. Boy Scouts from all over 
the country have come to the adjacent Philmont Scout Ranch for decades 
and each year spend thousands of hours doing conservation work and 
earning merit badges in the Valle Vidal.
  Over the past 2 years, I have followed closely numerous events 
concerning the Valle Vidal. I have traveled to the Valle Vidal to 
witness its beauty, spoken with my constituents and others from the 
State, tracked political developments, and reviewed regulatory or 
policy initiatives undertaken by this administration. I have also 
received thousands of calls, e-mails, faxes, and letters against 
drilling and practically none in support of it. As a result, I have 
come to the inescapable conclusion that the Valle Vidal should be 
protected from oil and gas development.
  The modern history of the Valle Vidal dates back to 1841 when Mexican 
Governor Manuel Armijo granted 1.7 million acres, the largest single 
landholding in the western hemisphere, to Guadalupe Miranda of Taos and 
a French trapper named Carlos Beaubien. This land grant, which included 
the 100,000 acre piece now known as Valle Vidal, is probably the most 
famous ever made by Mexico. It later became known as the Maxwell Land 
Grant after Lucien Bonaparte Maxwell, a Kansan who married Beaubien's 
daughter and later became the sole owner of the vast property.
  Thirty years ago, the Pennzoil Company purchased nearly 500,000 acres 
of this land, which they used as a hunting park. Pennzoil maintained 
the area as such until 1982 when it donated a 100,000-acre parcel of it 
to the Federal Government, which was at the time the largest donation 
in Forest Service history. Interestingly, no drilling was ever done in 
the Valle Vidal when Pennzoil owned it. What an ironic travesty it 
would be for the government to now turn its back on this unique gift 
and allow the area to be blighted.
  I do not want the Valle Vidal to be opened up for drilling. New 
Mexicans and thousands of Americans are overwhelmingly against drilling 
in the refuge. These concerned citizens realize that the Valle Vidal's 
minimal contribution to our energy needs now is not worth despoiling 
such an important ecological and watershed system. The consequences are 
just too great.
  Moreover, many of my constituents, as confirmed by recent economic 
studies, recognize that the protection of special public lands like 
Valle Vidal is good for local economies; and, in fact, exploration of 
these places for a few hours of energy will hurt long-term economic 
growth and community sustainability.
  Fundamentally, drilling in the Valle Vidal to create more energy is a 
false choice. We must consider alternative and more effective measures 
for solving our Nation's energy needs. For example, an increased use of 
renewable fuels and improved fuel efficiency standards would contribute 
greatly to solving many energy-related problems. The key is to make the 
best renewable and alternate energy systems competitive with today's 
nonrenewable sources of energy so they can be developed for use in the 
United States and even for sale abroad. We simply cannot hope to drill 
our way to energy independence. The fact that this special place is 
being targeted for oil and gas leasing radically demonstrates what is 
wrong with this administration's energy policies.
  In this case, the Forest Service's commitment to a leasing 
environmental impact statement, before the agency has even prepared a 
forest plan amendment, demonstrates that legislative action is 
necessary to ensure that the Valle Vidal's nonmineral resources and 
values are given the attention and protection they deserve. Moreover, 
the Forest Service, even with irrefutable reason to do so, is without 
the legal authority to permanently protect this special place from 
mineral development.
  New Mexico is home to a strong oil and gas industry which I openly 
support. I believe there are many places suitable for oil and gas 
drilling. Valle Vidal, however, is not one of them.
  Mr. Speaker, to that end, today I am introducing the Valle Vidal 
Protection Act to permanently protect the Valle Vidal from mineral

[[Page H8067]]

extraction. In so doing, my legislation does not interfere with the 
Forest Service's Forest Plan Amendment process. That process is 
allowing the Forest Service to exercise its expertise and listen to the 
people and thereby establish a long-term management plan for the Valle 
Vidal commensurate with its importance as a critical component of our 
natural and cultural heritage. In my view, which I know is shared by 
many of my constituents, the Valle Vidal's ecological health and 
integrity should be restored and protected and enjoyed to the utmost by 
current and future generations.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues both in the New Mexico delegation 
as well as in the entire Congress to join me in passing this 
legislation and protecting the Valle Vidal permanently. This ecosystem 
is too valuable to the people of New Mexico and the nation, and the 
energy gains too miniscule to justify the potential damage to this 
pristine area. We must protect it.

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