The Baca National Wildlife Refuge is a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge System is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the system of public lands and waters set aside to c ...

located in southern

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. It is within the

Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area is a federally designated National Heritage Area in the south central portion of the U.S. state of Colorado. The heritage area includes the San Luis Valley and portions of the Sangre de Cristo Range. The reg ...

Fauna

Many bird species such as the

kestrel The term kestrel (from french: crécerelle, derivative from , i.e. ratchet) is the common name given to several species of predatory birds from the falcon genus ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviou ...

great horned owl The great horned owl (''Bubo virginianus''), also known as the tiger owl (originally derived from early naturalists' description as the "winged tiger" or "tiger of the air"), or the hoot owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an extrem ...

northern flicker The northern flicker or common flicker (''Colaptes auratus'') is a medium-sized bird of the woodpecker family. It is native to most of North America, parts of Central America, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands, and is one of the few woodpecker spec ...

, robin,

yellow warbler The yellow warbler (''Setophaga petechia'') is a New World warbler species. Yellow warblers are the most widespread species in the diverse genus ''Setophaga'', breeding in almost the whole of North America, the Caribbean, and down to northern S ...

, and

Bullock's oriole Bullock's oriole (''Icterus bullockii'') is a small New World blackbird. At one time, this species and the Baltimore oriole were considered to be a single species, the northern oriole. This bird is named after William Bullock, an English amateur ...

roam in the riparian areas of this refuge. Waterfowl that inhabit here include

mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...

, pintail,

teal alt=American teal duck (male), Green-winged teal (male) Teal is a greenish-blue colour. Its name comes from that of a bird — the Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca'') — which presents a similarly coloured stripe on its head. The word is ofte ...

Canada goose The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), or Canadian goose, is a large wild goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North America, and it is o ...

avocet The four species of avocets are a genus, ''Recurvirostra'', of waders in the same avian family as the stilts. The genus name comes from Latin , 'curved backwards' and , 'bill'. The common name is thought to derive from the Italian ( Ferrarese) w ...

killdeer The killdeer (''Charadrius vociferus'') is a large plover found in the Americas. It was described and given its current scientific name in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. Three subspecies are described. Th ...

white-faced ibis The white-faced ibis (''Plegadis chihi'') is a wading bird in the ibis family, Threskiornithidae. This species breeds colonially in marshes, usually nesting in bushes or low trees. Its breeding range extends from the western United States south ...

egret Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same build ...

, and

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...

Geography

The

wildlife refuge A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

is located on the lands of the

Luis Maria Baca Grant No. 4 The Luis Maria Baca Grant No. 4, south of Crestone, Colorado, was a large land grant made in 1860 by the United States to the heirs of the original Vegas Grandes Grant to Baca family of New Mexico at Las Vegas, New Mexico. Title to the grant at Las ...

near

Crestone, Colorado Description The Town of Crestone is a Statutory Town in Saguache County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 141 at the 2020 United States Census. Crestone is a small village at the foot of the western slope of the Sangre de Cri ...

in the

San Luis Valley The San Luis Valley is a region in south-central Colorado with a small portion overlapping into New Mexico. The valley is approximately long and wide, extending from the Continental Divide on the northwest rim into New Mexico on the south. It co ...

in southern Saguache and northern

Alamosa Alamosa is a home rule municipality and the county seat of Alamosa County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 9,806 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is the commercial center of the San Luis Valley in south-central Colora ...

counties, about northeast of the town of

, on the west side of the

Sangre de Cristo Range , country= United States , subdivision1= Colorado , subdivision2_type= Counties , subdivision2= , parent= Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Rocky Mountains , borders_on= , geology= , age= , orogeny= Fault-block mountains , area_mi2= 1 ...

. The site was authorized by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

in 2000 as part of legislation that also authorized the nearby

Great Sand Dunes National Park Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is an American national park that conserves an area of large sand dunes up to tall on the eastern edge of the San Luis Valley, and an adjacent national preserve in the Sangre de Cristo Range, in sou ...

. It was formally established in 2003 when administration began under the

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

. It is administered jointly with the nearby

and Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuges, as part of the Alamosa/Baca/Monte Verde Complex. BacaRefuge

Description

The Baca National Wildlife Refuge consists of

rangeland Rangelands are grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, wetlands, and deserts that are grazed by domestic livestock or wild animals. Types of rangelands include tallgrass and shortgrass prairies, desert grasslands and shrublands, woodlands, savannas ...

and some

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks ar ...

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s. The original ranch headquarters and other buildings are on the wildlife refuge. As is usual on federal wildlife refuges, grazing and hay production continue on a limited basis. It includes several thousand acres of

irrigated Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

hay meadows. Several streams arising in the nearby Sangre de Cristos flow onto the Refuge. Crestone Creek in its lower reaches is a spring-fed perennial stream inhabited by four native fish species: Rio Grande sucker ( Catostomus plebeius), Rio Grande chub (

Gila pandora The Rio Grande Chub (''Gila pandora'') is a cyprinid fish endemic to the United States. It inhabits the upper Rio Grande and Pecos River systems in Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. The Rio Grande Chub is native to most of its current range includ ...

), fathead minnow (

Pimephales promelas Fathead minnow (''Pimephales promelas''), also known as fathead or tuffy, is a species of temperate freshwater fish belonging to the genus ''Pimephales'' of the cyprinid family. The natural geographic range extends throughout much of North Amer ...

), and longnose dace (

Rhinichthys cataractae The longnose dace (''Rhinichthys cataractae'') is a freshwater minnow native to North America. ''Rhinicthys'' means snout fish (reference to the long snout) and ''cataractae'' means of the cataract (first taken from Niagara Falls). Longnose dace ...

)

History

The establishment of the refuge and national park was part of complex land transfers undertaken by the federal government in cooperation with

the Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Natu ...

and the

State of Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

. Approximately of the land was previously under the management of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and was transferred to the Fish and Wildlife Service. Approximately of the land for the refuge and park was part of the historic

Baca Ranch Baca may refer to: * Baca (surname), including a list of people with the name *Baca, Hungarian name of , a village in Romania * Baca, Yucatán, seat of Baca Municipality, Mexico *Baca County, Colorado * Baca Municipality, Yucatán, Mexico *Baca, t ...

and was purchased by the Nature Conservancy before its transfer to the federal government. The refuge forms part of complex of wetlands in the San Luis Valley consists of lands of nearby landowners, including the Colorado Board of Land Commissioners, the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

, and the Nature Conservancy.

Oil and gas exploration

The mineral rights to the lands of the Baca NWR are owned by a third party, Lexam Explorations (U.S.A.) Inc. (Lexam). There is believed to be a small chance that commercial quantities of

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

may be discovered (An existing

artesian well An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater under positive pressure. An artesian aquifer has trapped water, surrounded by layers of impermeable rock or clay, which apply positive pressure to the water contained within th ...

on the land, called "the gas well", produced enough gas to heat one home).

Draft environmental assessment

Litigation by the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council contesting the

environmental assessment Environmental Impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the term "environmental imp ...

with respect to the drilling of two exploratory wells resulted in a settlement in September, 2010 requiring preparation of a new assessment by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Completion of a draft environmental assessment was announced by the Fish and Wildlife Service on January 7, 2011 and was made available for download or viewing a
the refuge's website
Proposed executive summary:

Implementation of the Preferred Alternative – the Service is requiring that specific protective measures and standards are followed during all phases of oil and gas exploration being proposed by Lexam, including the intended drilling of two exploratory gas wells on the Refuge, to ensure maximum protection of the surface estate (including all surface and subsurface natural resources not considered minerals) of the Refuge and associated cultural, socioeconomic, and aesthetic resources from unreasonable degradation or impacts. With these requirements incorporated into Lexam’s Plan of Operations, potential impacts are expected to be less than significant in regards to NEPA. Information gathered in this Draft EA indicates that the temporary nature of the proposed exploration (<180 days), along with implementation of the preferred alternative, will not unreasonably degrade or result in significant impacts to the surface estate (including all surface and subsurface natural resources not considered to be minerals) of the Refuge and associated cultural, socioeconomic, and aesthetic resources.

Public review

A public meeting was held in January 2011 at the Colorado College Baca Campus Conference Center in Crestone, Colorado. It was an informational open house with a presentation by the Fish and Wildlife Service followed by a question-and-answer session. Written comments regarding the environmental assessment were accepted at this meeting.

"There’s no legal way to say ‘no’ for that mineral owner to access those minerals," ike Blenden, Project Leader, San Luis Valley NWR Complexsaid.

Comments can also be sent via mail to David Lucas, Chief, Division of Refuge Planning, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Refuge Planning, P.O. Box 25484, Denver, CO 80225-0486 or via email to: BacaDraftEAComments at fws.gov and must be received no later than February 7, 2011. The draft assessment includes consideration of the option of purchasing the mineral rights but rejects the $8.4 million demanded by Lexam as not a fair market price. By the terms of a Federal District Court settlement the final environmental assessment is due April 1, 2011.

Gallery

File:BacaFish.JPG, Fish in Crestone Creek File:BacaFlowingWell.JPG, Capped

File:LowerCrestoneCreek.JPG, Crestone Creek

Notes

External links

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Baca National Wildlife Refuge website

NPR Morning Edition — "Drilling Envisioned in Colorado Wildlife Refuge"
— ''radio report by Jeff Brady ( January 10, 2008).''
Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan

178mb PDF file
*
Summary
*
Chapter 1, Introduction
*
Chapter 2, The Refuge Complex
*
Chapter 3, Alternatives
{{authority control National Wildlife Refuges in Colorado San Luis Valley of Colorado Protected areas of Alamosa County, Colorado Protected areas of Saguache County, Colorado Protected areas established in 2003 Bureau of Land Management areas in Colorado Sangre de Cristo National Heritage Area Wetlands of Colorado Landforms of Alamosa County, Colorado Landforms of Saguache County, Colorado