Abo Canyon is a highway and railroad pass at the southern end of the Manzano Mountains connecting Belen with Mountainair. The Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railroad's (BNSF) line through the canyon is one track wide and they would like to add a second track.

Opposition to the approach favored by BNSF is being led by property owners Luis Rosas and Jean Sawyer-Rosas.

By Paul Braiman

From the Rio Grande Sierran, May/June 2006.

Abo Canyon. Yet another precious New Mexico habitat, rich in natural beauty, rich in wildlife, rich in our state’s history, but like all too many such places in our state, is now threatened by the ever-increasing need to move more freight around the country. The Dripping Springs Ranch, 7000 acres including land leased from the BLM, is located in part of that canyon, and has been home to Luis and Jean Rosas for 16 years.

The adjacent canyon land is a 14,000-acre recreational area for landowners of Tierra Grande Improvement Association. A small sliver of BLM land lies between the 2 properties. The Rosas are fighting to get the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF) to expand their rail line in an environmentally responsible manner. The Central Group is pleased to pass on their message and invite you to learn more.

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From the Rio Grande Sierran, May/June 2006.

Dear New Mexico Sierra Club Members,

I am writing this Sierra Club Alert on behalf of Abo Canyon, part of the Historical Abo Pass Trail located in central New Mexico. Our family owns a portion of Abo Canyon, and for the past 26 months we have been working on ensuring that Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF) installs its proposed Double Track Project through this area in an environmentally responsible way. BNSF insists on blasting its track through the very heart of the canyon, but we have engaged our own experts, who have designed a tunnel alternative that would preserve and even allow restoration of the canyon while better serving BNSF’s long-term needs. BNSF, however, continues to ignore our alternative, as well as our call for a full environmental impact statement (EIS).

We are at a very critical stage in our effort to save Abo Canyon and that is essentially why we are asking for your help. Our website at www.abocanyon.com contains a link for “New Developments 2006” that will help you better understand our situation. Then when you get to the “What You Can Do To Help,” take time to review this info which will help you in drafting a very much needed letter (or letters) to the listed entities.

Remember, there is a feasible alternative to BNSF’s plan, in the form of the Nemati Tunnel. You should be asking BNSF why they’re even thinking of building through the canyon, rather than taking out what’s there and putting a good modern set of tracks through a tunnel. This approach would solve BNSF’s needs for track expansion to haul more freight, while preserving the canyon, its history, culture, and a precious wildlife habitat.

Thanks for your time and energy to help save Abo Canyon.

Sincerely,

Luis Rosas & Jean Sawyer-Rosas luis@drippingspringsranch.com
jean@drippingspringsranch.com
Toll Free 1-866-377-2624

P.S. To see what the proposed project will look like after construction, please go to “View the Movie” (on the website above) then click on “Movie” at the top of the page. There are also still photos with detailed info on the same page.

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From the Rio Grande Sierran, Sept./Oct. 2006.

August 23, 2006

Dear Editor:

In response to the letters about Abo Canyon in the May/June issue of Rio Grande Sierran, BNSF Railway Company has been operating a rail line in Abo Canyon for the last 100 years. Currently, we have on average about 80 trains running on the track there every day. Like highways, railroads can become capacity constrained and Abo Canyon has become a major chokepoint on our 28 state rail network.

From an environmental perspective, rail transportation is two to three times less polluting than trucks handling equivalent loads. For each gallon of fuel used, a train moves the same ton of freight two to four times as far as a truck. One intermodal train can take the equivalent volume of 280 trucks off our highways.

After a great deal of study, BNSF proposed the route through Abo Canyon for its second main line track. Our design avoids, minimizes, or mitigates potential environmental impacts to rock art, pictographs and other historic properties in Abo Canyon. In addition, in cooperation with the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, we intend to include as part of the proposed project a game fence to protect wildlife, including especially the Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep that the State has introduced to the Canyon.

Further, BNSF is actively working with many federal and State agencies, including the Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico State Historic Preservation Office, and other public and private stakeholders who have expressed interest in the project. There is an ongoing environmental review process under the National Environmental Policy Act which includes a comprehensive assessment of the potential impacts of our proposed second track on both the natural and human environment. There also is another process underway under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act with respect to the potential impacts of the project on historic and archeological resources.

One question that has been raised is whether the second main line route could be put into a tunnel rather than constructed at-grade roughly alongside our existing main line. We did study a tunnel alternative as part of our engineering and design efforts. Another tunnel option has been presented to the agencies for consideration by a private landowner, which uses Abo Canyon for cattle grazing. It is BNSF’s position, after a thorough review, that the tunnel options would have their own environmental drawbacks, would be impractical and infeasible to construct and maintain, would significantly increase project costs, and create a new major chokepoint for our rail system.

Please also keep in mind that project alternatives will be considered as part of the agencies review of the proposed project.

Sincerely,

Lena Kent

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From the Rio Grande Sierran, Sept./Oct. 2006.

The Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF) wants to improve its freight rail service between the midwest and the west coast. Most of the way they have at least two tracks, but in New Mexico’s rugged Abo Canyon they are pinched down to one track. As a result, trains regularly queue up on either end of the canyon awaiting their turn to go through on several miles of single track.

From a naturalist’s perspective the canyon is a treasure trove of wildlife (including Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep), geology and hydrology (drought-resistant springs and riparian areas). It also is part of an important region of historic as well as ancient cultural significance.

From a clean air and fuel efficiency perspective the project would allow much more freight to move across the country by rail and thereby reduce the number of less efficient, dangerous and highly polluting semitrucks on our highways.

The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for reviewing BNSF’s permit application for this proposal, and issuing or denying the permit. Because of the extreme impact most of the alternative engineering approaches to accomplishing this system upgrade would have on this resource-enriched canyon, your Rio Grande Chapter is insisting on a full environmental review of the project. Despite some efforts to ‘streamline’ the environmental review process for the Abo Canyon proposal, we are convinced that a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is critical to the responsible commission of the Corps of Engineer’s mandate under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

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