Pueblo wants land in Pecos Canyon

Move to acquire land along river concerns village, county officials

Phaedra Haywood | The New Mexican

5/22/2008 - 5/23/08

As hundreds of campers prepare to head to Pecos Canyon to relax and fish in the shady grottos along the Pecos River this weekend, local politicians have been meeting to discuss concerns that public land along the river might be sold.

Jemez Pueblo Gov. Paul Chinana confirmed Thursday that the pueblo wants to buy 70 acres along the river where many campsites are located. Chinana said the pueblo wants to buy the land to protect a cave that has cultural significance to the people of Jemez Pueblo, particularly those who are descendants of a group that lived in Pecos but left in the mid-1800s and became part of Jemez Pueblo. "It's a cave that they used to do their pilgrimages ... and initiations," Chinana said.

But officials from the village of Pecos and San Miguel County expressed dismay at the idea during a joint meeting in Pecos on Wednesday. At that time, they had only unconfirmed suspicions that the pueblo was interested in the land.

The two governing bodies passed identically worded resolutions at the meeting, asking New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to "do all things necessary to insure that the New Mexico Game and Fish Commission initiate discussions and solicit input ... before proceeding further concerning the disposition of any area in the Pecos Canyon."

"I am totally against anything happening to those campgrounds," said Pecos Mayor Tony Roybal. "If the campers can't come and camp along that river, it will cost us money. If the Indians open up a business of their own, that will cost us money."

The land in question, called the Simmons Tract, is north of the village of Pecos and south of Terrero. It is owned by New Mexico Game and Fish. Game and Fish spokesman Marty Frentzel said the pueblo has not made an offer on the property.

Chinana said the pueblo is in the process of having the land surveyed and appraised so Jemez will know how to proceed.

The appraiser and surveyor sparked the maelstrom of rumors — and the special meeting — after San Miguel County Commissioner Hugh Ley, who lives in Terrero and owns a store there, recently spotted them in the Pecos Canyon.

Ley told village trustees and county commissioners during Wednesday's meeting that if Jemez Pueblo was getting ready to put a proposal before Game and Fish, the community, which has its own ideas about how the Pecos Canyon should be managed, should prepare to offer an alternative proposal. Ley said the land in question contains about 75 percent of the campgrounds in the area.

Ley and others in the community, including members of the Upper Pecos Watershed Association, hope all the publicly owned land in the canyon will be made into a state park.

Though they have different agendas, the pueblo and the community have the same concern: Overuse is destroying the river and the land around it.

"The people that camp around there trash it out," said Chinana. "They defecate along the river and bring their dogs. They trash out the Terrero Cave. We've been working with Game and Fish to close the cave entry. We put some barricades ... with a gate, and it was chained. But they always break it, and leave broken beer bottles and cans all over in the entry."

Chinana said if the pueblo purchases the land, it wouldn't necessarily close it to campers. "Anything can be negotiated," he said. "We are open to suggestions and always willing to work with the people of Pecos."

Chinana said the residents of Pecos have been kind and generous to Jemez Pueblo people when they make their annual pilgrimage to Pecos National Monument. "We'd like to return the favor and at least be harmonious and in peace," he said. "We don't want to be closing anything down. We'd rather work with people than to make enemies. That was the old territory of the Pecos tribal members, and it's just land we are trying to get back, even if we have to buy it."

The pueblo would prefer the land be administratively transferred back to the pueblo people, Chinana said. But if it is appraised for more than $100,000, that would not be an option under state law.

Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos on Thursday dismissed a rumor that Richardson planned to give the land to Jemez Pueblo when he leaves office. Gallegos said the governor discussed the issue with the pueblo about five years ago, but at the time, only the cave and not the surrounding property was at issue. There haven't been discussions since, according to Gallegos. "If they do make some sort of proposal, I'm sure the governor would want community input on it," Gallegos said. "I wouldn't characterize the governor as supporting or opposing it so far. I guess they wanted this cave transferred to them, but they can't have it just transferred. They would have to purchase it."

Denise Ramones, a spokeswoman for Santa Fe businessman Gerald Peters, said there is no truth to a rumor that Peters and the pueblo plan to open a casino in the canyon. This past winter, the U.S. Interior Department rejected Jemez Pueblo's proposal to build a casino and resort on 79 acres in Southern New Mexico, near Anthony, in which Peters would be an investor. The interior noted the Northern New Mexico pueblo was some 300 miles from the proposed casino site, too far to provide pueblo members employment.

Chinana said if the pueblo owned the land, it could at least legally patrol the campgrounds.

"Right now, we depend on Game and Fish to patrol it, but they are short-staffed, and that's why it's always trashed out," he said.

Contact Phaedra Haywood at 986-3068 or phaywood@sfnewmexican.com.