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The Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP for
short) is an unusual unit of the National Park system in the
Jemez Mountains of north central New Mexico. It preserves a huge
volcanic structure of great scenic and scientific value. Under a
unusual pact the preserve is also allowed to function as a working,
money-making cattle ranch.
The Valles Caldera National Preserve was a private
ranch until 2000, when Congress created it from a well-known ranch known
as “the Baca Ranch” in New Mexico’s volcanic Jemez Mountain Range. This
89,000 acre park is located inside a collapsed crater. Studded with
eruptive domes and featuring Redondo Peak (11,254 feet), this old ranch
property is now being developed to explore a new way of managing public
lands. |
