New meeting planned for Mount Taylor

By Helen Davis
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — In response to an overwhelming number of citizens wishing to express concern about the emergency cultural preservation status awarded to parts of Mount Taylor at the last Cibola County Commission meeting, another meeting has been called.

County Manager and state Sen. David Ulibarri, D-Grants, said the county will hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 29, in the convention room of the county complex in Grants. Citizens are invited to express concerns about the possible illegality of the State Historic Preservation meeting held in February and about access and use on Mount Taylor.

The preservation meeting occurred without clear and timely notice to residents of the county and those closest to the widely used mountain. Although authorities in the historic preservation office stated in March that the committees decision to put approximately 600 square miles of Mount Taylor under a one-year protection status would not close off access or affect use beyond adding an additional review process, people are concerned about the action.

“The stakeholders were not at the table. We don’t know what this means,” Ulibarri said. He added that citizens in the county, and people who come from other areas to use Mount Taylor, feel left out. “We weren’t allowed transparency,” he said.

The Tuesday meeting will create local transparency and give the state the transparency they did not provide county residents, he said.

In February, Ulibarri filed a complaint with the New Mexico Attorney General’s office and asked for an investigation to determine if the meeting was called illegally, without due process and appropriate notice. Almost no one in the area knew about the meeting until the results were announced; Ulibarri said he is still receiving calls complaining about the lack of notice.

Local media was not notified of the emergency meeting.
Public comment gathered at the next week’s meeting will be provided to SHPO and the AG’s office in aid of efforts to give voice to Cibola residents and to provide evidence to the AG’s investigation. No ruling has been made yet on the legality of the February meeting.

Ulibarri said he asked Katherine Slick of the SHPO to attend the meeting, but had not received a confirmation from her yet. The county manager’s office has notified the tribes of Laguna, Acoma, Zuni and the Navajo Nation in Window Rock of the meeting. Attempts to reach the Hopi tribal headquarters had not been successful by the end of the day yesterday, Ulibarri said.