In October, a continuing disagreement over the value of mineral rights under the Valles Caldera National Preserve in northern New Mexico forced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to file a federal condemnation lawsuit to obtain the remaining mineral rights from the former owners of the Baca Ranch, which became the Preserve, reports the Wildlife Management Institute.

The Baca Ranch owners had leased their mineral rights to an energy company that had planned to build a geothermal energy plant on the property. However, plans for the energy plant were seriously hindered when, with congressional authorization, 95,000 acres were acquired for $101 million in 2000 and was designated a National Preserve. The issue originally materialized when the energy company applied for a permit to use about 30 previously drilled geothermal wells to access its share of the mineral rights below the Preserve.

In late 2004, New Mexico's two senators, Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman, introduced legislative resolution to the dispute in Congress. It called for the USDA Secretary to negotiate a price with the holders of the mineral rights?the energy company. The legislation was approved by the Senate but never went to a vote in the House.

The condemnation lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in New Mexico last month will force the owners of 12.5 percent of the Preserve's mineral rights to face a judge who will set the price and terms of sale to the USDA. In 2000, the U.S. Forest Service?the agency responsible for the Preserve?set the value of the mineral rights at $1.87 million. The owners claim that the value is as high as $14 million. In documents accompanying the lawsuit, the Forest Service revalued the rights at $700,000. Because of the large discrepancy of value assessments, the former property owners support the condemnation suit as a method to settle the long-term disagreement.

USDA maintains that it must own the mineral rights to protect the multiple values of the Preserve. The Preserve is a "quasi" Forest Service property (Santa Fe National Forest). By special arrangement, the property is managed as a working ranch and natural preserve rather than being administered under standard rules of the Forest Service. Limited public access is provided on the property for recreational opportunities, such as world-class elk hunting and wildlife viewing.

For more information on the Valles Caldera National Preserve, including information on recreational opportunities on the property, see http://www.vallescaldera.gov/.