Clinton signs bill for New Mexico preserve

The federal government has bought the Baca Ranch in New Mexico, 95,000 acres of plains and mountains, for $101 million

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- President Clinton signed into law Tuesday a measure designating 90,000 acres in northern New Mexico, including the collapsed crater of an ancient volcano, as the Valles Caldera National Preserve.

Federal purchase of the territory on the Baca Ranch in the Jemez Mountain region west of Santa Fe was made possible with $101 million in conservation funding sought by Clinton and approved by the Republican-led Congress.

The land sustains one of the country's largest wild elk herds and provides habitat for other wildlife including 17 threatened or endangered species. It also is home to the black bear, mountain lion, goshawk, peregrine falcon and Rio Grande cutthroat trout.

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The preserve includes most of the Valles Caldera, a massive crater more than a half-mile deep and 15 miles wide that was created by a volcanic eruption more than 1 million years ago.

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Update on the Federal Acquisition of the Valles Caldera

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