View of Valle Toledo, which is currently being cut through by the gas pipeline road. NPS/D. Krueger
PRESS RELEASE ON VALLES CALDERA
Final phase of decommissioning of natural gas pipeline begins
Work has begun on the third and final phase of decommissioning the abandoned natural gas pipeline that runs through the northern sections of Valles Caldera National Preserve. This phase will restore natural ecological processes to a 14.5-kilometer section disturbed by the pipeline corridor. This includes reducing erosion, reconnecting wetlands, redesigning to encourage natural revegetation, and removing traces of the access road. During this rehabilitation work, the project area and trail access from the eastern boundary of the park will be closed for the remainder of the year.
The pipeline – built in the 1940s by the U.S. Department of Energy to transport natural gas to Los Alamos National Laboratory – was decommissioned in 2022 and rehabilitation work began the same year.
The National Park Service (NPS) and New Mexico Gas Company jointly developed the restoration plan. This phase includes landscape restoration along the middle and eastern nine miles of the pipeline route within the park, from the San Antonio Cabin area to the park’s eastern boundary. Restoration efforts, funded entirely by New Mexico Gas Company, include smoothing the old roadbed, removing embankments, installing water barriers and plugs, removing culverts, reconnecting wetlands intersected by the route, plowing and harrowing soil in the reclaimed sections, and replanting with native plant seeds.
The entire stretch of the old pipeline corridor will be closed to all visitors to allow vegetation to regrow. The NPS is working on a trail reroute for the 2025 season and will announce details early next year.
Work is expected to be largely completed by early November. The NPS will monitor restoration efforts to evaluate vegetation development and ensure erosion mitigation efforts are successful.
