121

INTRODUCTION

This chapter describes the consultation and

coordination efforts that Camino Real

Administration has carried out during preparation of this draft CMP/EIS for El Camino Real

de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail.

Work on this draft document began in 2001,

following the directive from the Department of

the Interior for BLM and NPS to jointly complete a management plan.

Consultation and coordination with federal,

state, local, and tribal governments, and interested organizations and individuals (see Tables

13, 14, and 15), has occurred through formal and

informal efforts. Although this public involvement is required by the National Environmental

Policy Act of 1969, the Federal Land Policy and

Management Act of 1976, and the NPS act of

August 25, 1916, both agencies have been placing

increasing emphasis on involving communities

in planning for the future of the national historic trail.

Consultation and coordination with federal,

state, and local governments and non-government organizations in Mexico has occurred

informally. A strategy to coordinate with

Mexico has been developed jointly by the BLM

and NPS, and will be implemented in cooperation with and through Mexico’s Instituto

Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH).

INAH is the federal agency in Mexico responsible for cultural resource protection, and it has

recognized the significance of the national historic trail in the U.S. and the importance of

cooperating with the BLM and NPS. Meetings

are planned with the state directors of INAH

who have responsibility along El Camino Real

de Tierra Adentro Trail in Mexico to discuss the

strategy and coordination with Mexico. The

BLM, NPS, and INAH have existing agreements

that provide the three agencies with the authority to collaborate on this project. The act designating El Camino Real as a national historic trail

states that the managing U.S. federal agency(s)

will coordinate with Mexico.

FORMAL CONSULTATION

A biological evaluation was completed for this

plan that made a “no effect” determination for

listed threatened and endangered species.

Consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service (FWS) under Section 7 of the

Endangered Species Act of 1973 is required

before the BLM or NPS undertake an action

that may affect, and is likely to adversely affect,

any federal special-status wildlife or plant

species or its designated habitat. The U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service has agreed to enter into

consultation again in pre-construction

Environmental Assessments for specific projects.

CONSISTENCY WITH OTHER PLANS

BLM planning regulations require that

Resource Management Plans (RMPs) be “. . .

consistent with officially approved or adopted

resource-related plans, and the policies and

procedures contained therein, of other Federal

agencies, North American Indian tribes, and

State and local governments, so long as the

guidance and management plans are also consistent with the purposes, policies and programs

of Federal laws and regulations applicable to

public lands. . . .” (43 CFR 1610.3-2). NPS

Management Policies (2001) for Park Planning

call for cooperative regional planning and

ecosystem planning whenever possible. To

ensure such consistency, Camino Real

Administration has sent letters to the federal,

state, and tribal governments and local agencies

listed in Table 11. 

No inconsistencies are known to exist between

the plan and officially approved and adopted 

Chapter 5

CONSULTATION/COORDINATION
122 CHAPTER 5 CONSULTATION/COORDINATION

resource plans of these other entities. Camino

Real Administration will continue coordination

and consultation with federal, state, and local

agencies and tribal governments.
State Governments 123

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

International Boundary and Water Commission

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

U.S. Congressional Delegation

Senator Jeff Bingaman, (D) NM

Senator Pete V. Domenici, (R) NM

Senator Phil Gramm, (R) TX

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, (R) TX

Representative Joe Skeen, (R) 1, NM

Representative Tom Udall, (D) 3, NM

Representative Heather Wilson, (R) 2, NM

Representative Silvestre Reyes, (D) 16, TX

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Agriculture Experimental Station

USDA Forest Service 

Natural Resources Conservation Service

U.S. Department of the Army

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

U.S. Department of Defense

White Sands Missile Range

U.S. Department of Transportation

Federal Highway Administration

U.S. Department of Energy

Los Alamos National Laboratory

U.S. Department of the Interior

Environmental Policy and Compliance

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Regional Project Manager

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

STATE GOVERNMENTS

New Mexico

Department of Agriculture

Department of Economic Development

Department of Game & Fish

Department of Parks & Recreation

Department of Tourism

Environment Department 

Museum of New Mexico

Office of Cultural Affairs

Office of Indian Affairs

Secretary of State

State Energy & Resources Department 

State Highway & Transportation Department

State Historic Preservation Officer

State Land Commissioner

State Records Center and Archives

Texas 

Department of Parks and Wildlife

Department of Transportation

Historical Commission

State Historic Preservation Officer

New Mexico and Texas State Congressional

Delegations

New Mexico and Texas State Governors’

Offices

Table 13: PARTIAL LIST

STAKEHOLDERS/DOCUMENT RECIPIENTS
124 CHAPTER 5 CONSULTATION/COORDINATION

TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS 

AND GOVERNMENTS

Acoma

All Indian Pueblo Council

Cochiti

Eight Northern Pueblo Indian Council

Five Sandoval Indian Pueblos

Fort Sill Apache

Hopi

Isleta

Jicarilla Apache

Laguna

Mescalero Apache

Nambe

Navajo Nation and

Ramah, Tohajiilee, and Alamo Chapters

Picuris

Pojoaque

San Felipe

San Ildefonso

San Juan

Sandia

Santa Ana

Santa Clara

Santo Domingo

Southern Ute

Taos

Tesuque

Tortugas

Ute Mountain Ute

Ysleta del Sur

Zia

Zuni

LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

City Governments

City of Albuquerque, New Mexico

City of El Paso, Texas

City of Española, New Mexico

City of Santa Fe, New Mexico

City of Socorro, New Mexico

City of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico

County Commissioners/

Managers/Planning Offices

Doña Ana County, New Mexico

El Paso County, Texas

Río Arriba County, New Mexico

Sandoval County, New Mexico

Santa Fe County, New Mexico

Sierra County, New Mexico

Socorro County, New Mexico

Valencia County, New Mexico

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

El Paso Community College

New Mexico Institute of Mining and 

Technology – Socorro

New Mexico State University 

Northern New Mexico Community College

Northwestern University – Evanston, Illinois

Santa Fe Community College 

Southern Methodist University – Taos

University of California – San Diego

University of New Mexico – Albuquerque

University of Texas – El Paso

Center for Inter-American and Border Studies

NON-PROFIT AND PUBLIC INTEREST

GROUPS

El Camino Real International Center

Foundation

MEXICO

Municipalities

San Francisco del Oro

Santa Bárbara

Valle de Allende

Ciudad Chihuahua

State of Chihuahua

Congreso de Chihuahua (State Legislature)

Governor of Chihuahua

External Affairs Director

Minister of Education

Outreach Director

University Autonoma of Chihuahua

Instituto Nacional de Antropología e 

Historia (INAH) 

University of Chihuahua
Public Participation 125

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Public participation in this planning effort is a

continual process that occurs throughout the

development of the plan, and beyond. In addition to formal public participation, informal

contacts occur frequently with public land users

and interested persons through meetings, field

trips, telephone calls, and letters. All applicable

public participation is currently documented,

analyzed, and kept on file at the NPS Long

Distance Trails Group Office in Santa Fe.

Camino Real Administration published a notice

in the Federal Register on May 18, 2001 (Vol. 66,

No. 97, pp. 27682-4), announcing the formal

start of this planning process.

The agencies held several meetings to determine

the scope of the planning effort, develop planning issues, and review planning criteria (see

Table 14). Prior to these meetings, a letter was

sent to numerous individuals and groups, inviting them to participate by attending the meetings and/or providing written comments.

Summaries of the scoping meetings were mailed

to all individuals and organizations on the mailing list in October 2001. An update, El Camino

Real News, was printed and mailed in January

2002.

Table 14: Public Meetings

Scoping

Scoping

Scoping

Scoping

Scoping

Scoping

Scoping

Community Design Session

Community Design Session

Community Design Session

Appreciative Inquiry Session

Appreciative Inquiry Session

Appreciative Inquiry Session

Appreciative Inquiry Session

Public Comment Meeting

Public Comment Meeting

Public Comment Meeting

Public Comment Meeting

Public Comment Meeting

Public Comment Meeting

Public Comment Meeting

Meeting/Group(s) Location Date

Las Cruces, NM

El Paso, TX

Truth or Consequences, NM

Socorro, NM

Albuquerque, NM

Alcalde, NM

Santa Fe, NM

Albuquerque, NM

Espñola, NM

El Paso, TM

Sunland, NM

Socorro, NM

Albuquerque, NM

Española, NM

Albuquerque, NM

Socorro, NM

Santa Fe, NM

Las Cruces, NM

El Paso, TX

Truth or Consequences, NM

Alcalde, NM

June 13, 2001

June 14, 2001

June 18, 2001

June 19, 2001

June 22, 2001

June 25, 2001

June 28, 2001

August 22, 2001

August 23, 2001

September 19, 2001

October 15, 2001

October 16, 2001

October 17, 2001

October 20, 2001

November 6, 2002

November 7, 2002

November 8, 2002

November 21, 2002

November 22, 2002

December 5, 2002

January 6, 2003
126 CHAPTER 5 CONSULTATION/COORDINATION

B.S., Range Science

B.S., Landscape

Architecture

Ph.D., American

Studies

B.A., Anthropology

B.S., Park

Administration

M.S., Geology

International, Grants,

Partnerships

B.S., Biology

B.A., Anthropology

M.S., Environmental

Science

B.S., Recreation/

Land Management

B.S., Recreation

Management, Foresty

GIS Specialist

Table 15: North American Indian Meetings

Ysleta del Sur Pueblo

San Juan Pueblo

Santa Domingo Pueblo

Pueblo of Sandia

Santa Clara Pueblo

Laguna Pueblo

Ysleta del Sur Pueblo

Meeting/Group(s) Location Date

Ysleta del sur Pueblo, TX

San Juan Pueblo, NM

Santa Domingo Pueblo, NM

Pueblo of Sandia, NM

Santa Clara Pueblo, NM

Laguna Pueblo, NM

Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, TX

July 24, 2001

August 15, 2001

October 17, 2001

October 23, 2001

October 25, 2001

January 29, 2003

March 14, 2003

NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN CONSULTATION

Letters were sent to all of the North American Indian groups listed in Table 13 on May 18, 2001, asking

them to meet with El Camino Real planning team and participate in the NHT planning process. Faxes

were sent to all North American Indian groups in June 2001 to also invite them to the public scoping

meetings. Letters were also sent in October 2001 inviting participation in the Appreciative Inquiry

Sessions. Table 15 lists meetings with North American Indians that have occurred to date.

PREPARERS OF THE PLAN

This document was prepared by an interdisciplinary team of resource specialists from NPS and BLM.

Table 16 lists the names and qualifications of the planning team members.

Table 16: List of Preparers

Robert Alexander

John Bristol

Sharon A. Brown

Charles Carroll

Kevin Carson

Bill Dalness

Joyce Fierro

Oswaldo Gomez

Jane Harvey

Pamela Herrera Olivas

Clarence Hougland

Terry A. Humphrey

Patricio R. Martinez

Name Assignment Education

Vegetation/Weeds/Grazing (BLM-Santa Fe)

Visual Resources (BLM-Albuquerque)

Planning/Visitor Experience/Recreation 

(NPS-Santa Fe)

Planning/Environmental Planner

Visual/Recreation Resources 

(BLM-Socorro)

Energy/Minerals (BLM-Santa Fe)

International Grants and Partnerships

coordinator, BLM, NMSO

Recreation/Visual Resources 

(BLM-Las Cruces)

Writer-Editor (NPS-Santa Fe)

Wildlife/T&E (BLM-Santa Fe

Lands and Realty (BLM-Santa Fe)

Joint Team Leader (BLM-Santa Fe)

Geographic Information (BLM-Santa Fe)

BLM – 33 years

BLM/USFS – 30 years

NPS – 25 years

Environmental Science

Private Industry – 

8 years BLM – 21 years

BLM/NPS – 24 years

BLM – 30 years

BLM – 26 years

BLM/NPS – 20 years

NPS – 24 years

BLM – 6 years

BLM – 30 years

BLM/NPS/USFS –

22 years

BLM – 12 years

Related Experience*
Preparers of the Plan 127

Table 16: List of Preparers continued

Harry Myers

Ed Natay

Ramón R. Olivas

John Roney

Dave Ruppert

Joseph P. Sánchez

Sarah Schlanger

Pam Smith

J. W. Whitney

Len Brooks

John Conoboy

Sam DesGeorges

Lynn Engdahl

Stephen Fosberg

Jon Hertz

Linda Ray

Angela West

Mark Blakeslee

Name Assignment Education

Joint Team Leader (NPS-Santa Fe)

American Indian Trust Responsibilities 

(NPS-Denver/Santa Fe, Intermountain 

Regional Office Staff)

International Coordination 

(NPS-Las Cruces)

Cultural Resources (BLM-Albuquerque)

Ethnography (NSP-Denver)

Spanish Colonial Research Center 

(NPS-Albuquerque)

Joint Team Leader (BLM-Santa Fe)

Cultural Resources (BLM-Las Cruces)

Advisor (BLM-Santa Fe)

Advisor (BLM-Las Cruces)

Advisor (NPS-Santa Fe)

Advisor (BLM-Taos)

North American Indian Coordination

(BLM-Washington

Advisor (BLM-Santa Fe)

Advisor (BLM-Socorro)

Visual Information Specialist (NPS-Denver)

Advisor (BLM-Washington)

Advisor (BLM-Santa Fe)

NPS – 28 years

NPS – 30 years Indian

Assistance/Tribal Liaison

NPS – 18 years

BLM – 24 years

BLM/OFI/NPS – 20 years

University professor of 

history – 12 years

NPS – 24 years

University professor,

Archeologist, Museum

professional – 15 years

BLM – 4 years

BLM/USFS – 21 years

BLM – 34 years

Related Experience*

B.S., Recreation and

Park Administration

American Indians

Programs

Administration/

Coordination

M.S., Wildlife

Management

M.A., Anthropology

Ph.D., Cultural

Anthropology

Ph.D., History

Ph.D., Anthropology

B.S., Anthropology

B.S., Botany

Note: Acronyms are as follows:

BLM – Bureau of Land Management

NPS – National Park Service

OFI – Office of the Federal Inspector

USFS – USDA Forest Service
128 CHAPTER 5 CONSULTATION/COORDINATION

COMMENTS AND RESPONSES

The public comment period for the draft CMP/EIS ended on January 15, 2003. Comments

were contributed by mail, by email through the website, www.elcaminoreal.org, and

through a series of public meetings held between November 6, 2002, and January 6, 2003.

During the comment period, 47 comments were received by letter or email; an additional

four comments were received after January 15, 2003, but were accepted as late comments.

Public meetings, consisting of a two-to-three-hour informational "open house," were

held in seven communities in New Mexico and Texas, between November 6, 2002, and

January 6, 2003. A total of 40 people attended these open house events. 

During the comment period, Camino Real Administration received 10 additional requests

for information about El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail, including requests for information on the auto tour route and the availability of classroom

teaching resources. These requests are not included here as comments on the adequacy of

the draft plan.

All letters and emails submitted through the mail or through the website, and all comments contributed during the open house events were reviewed and considered in preparation of the proposed Comprehensive Management Plan and Final Environmental

Impact Statement (FEIS). Comments which addressed the adequacy of the draft CMP/EIS

received a response. Comment contributors are listed in Table 17 (Appendix J). Each

commentor contributing a unique set of comments was assigned a unique comment number. Each comment may contain a number of salient points; these are identified through

the assignment of subletter "a," "b," and so on. Eighteen identical comments were submitted by different individuals and combinations of individuals representing a number of

small businesses and private concerns. In Table 17 (Appendix J), these comments are

given a single comment number, and each contributor is noted in the table. 

Comment letters received from local, State, and other Federal agencies are printed here in

their entirety. Copies of all comment letters and emails are available for viewing at the

NPS Old Santa Fe Trail Building, Camino Real Administration Office, 1100 Old Santa Fe,

Trail, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Commentors may track their comments by identifying their comment numbers, including

subletters, in Table 17 (Appendix J), and finding the appropriate comment and response

in the text section following Table 17 (Appendix J).

As noted previously, the Preferred Alternative presented in the draft has been brought

forward, with minor modifications, as the Proposed Plan. We have continued to use the

term "Preferred Alternative" in our responses here, as well as elsewhere in this document

to stay as consistent with the language used in the draft as possible.