The Sagebrush Rebellion in Taos:
Green Sprawl or Urban Sprawl?
By Jean-Vi Lenthe
A rebellion has broken out in Taos. Locals refer to it as The Sagebrush Rebellion, and it’s spreading like wildfire through the dry grass roots of this legendary mountain-getaway town. The cause? A proposed four-lane elevated highway system, part of which slashes right through fertile green farm and ranch lands as well as bosque/wetlands that give Taos its uniquely open, bucolic landscape.
Taoseños are rising up against developers who want to sprawl the town westward onto a large open mesa and make megabucks in the name of "workforce housing." The developers have already spent a million dollars clearing the way with the widest gravel roads (and the biggest culverts) in the entire county. And when Taos’s town councilors and county commissioners conveniently stepped back out of the way, the developers got the ear of the state’s Department of Transportation and nearly persuaded them (during nine months of private meetings) that a new “Bypass/Relief” route would reduce downtown congestion. But listen to the words of these "New Writers of the Purple Sage":
Neal Ogden, a member of the Technical Advisory Committee for a previous Relief Route Study concluded in 2004:
Many people believe that a western bypass would alleviate congestion through downtown Taos. They assume that if outsiders would just drive around town instead of through town, there would be a lot less traffic in town, congestion would be eliminated,, and they could get to work/the store/the doctor much quicker. Or they think that heavy trucks could use the bypass and not go through town. But there are some facts they don’t understand that were established by the 2004 Molzen-Corbin Study.
- Downtown congestion is NOT caused by through traffic. Only 10% of cars are driving through. 90% are driving to, from, or within the congested area. In other words, traffic in the congested area is predominately local traffic, not strangers on the way to somewhere else.
- Trucks in the congested area have a reason to be there. They’re not passing through either! They’re either local delivery trucks or distributors’ trucks from the south making local deliveries. They’re not long-haul 18-wheelers.
- A westerly bypass would not relieve downtown congestion. Quite the opposite: it would soon make congestion worse than otherwise (within 3-5 years). Traffic science says that new or improved transportation corridors inevitably promote the very congestion they are supposed to alleviate. There’s a name for this: urban sprawl, and cities throughout America have fallen prey to it. The truth is, "If you build it, they will come."
Suzanne Wollter, an emerita university professor and a retired Taos educator; she is developing a farm in the Ranchitos Valley and is a writer:
- A number of acequias cross this agricultural corridor, and it is dotted with natural springs. It is a flyway for an incredible number of bird species who use the water and wetlands for migration and nesting. During the drought, these wetlands have become even more crucial for birds and animals, including bald eagles that now winter over there. Many local families help supplement their incomes by raising cows and horses and farming on these lands. A highway bisecting this corridor would begin a process of disintegration that would destroy one of the historical ranch and farm areas that help give Taos its rural character and tourist appeal.
- A trip to Taos is a trip back in time. In addition to its smallness and unhurried atmosphere, Taos possesses vast open spaces and fresh air. There’s no place like it in our entire country. Why change it? Energy and money needs to go instead to develop new solutions that will put Taos on the map as an innovative community instead of just one more town with lots of potential that was sacrificed for the short-sighted financial gain of a few. Locals want bike paths and better pedestrian safety for tourists and residents, especially children. They want public transit with better, deeper routes into neighborhoods and frequent, dependable schedules. They want wider, better maintained roads.
- A freeway through and around Taos will destroy much that Taos citizens love. It is their hope to stop this project in its tracks and boot it straight back to Day One, so that Taoseños’ voices will be heard during every step of the process from here on.
Jeffrey Cox, a local property owner whose house is within 100 feet of this proposed new highway; he is heartbroken at the prospect of losing his green haven/heaven and exhorts his fellow Taoseños to wake up, educate themselves, and resist:
- The thoughtless, scheming developers behind this project are so intoxicated with their potential windfall that they are willing to destroy the views and inherent beauty of the landscape between town and their prize. These people can take a part of my land away from me. They can take part of your land away from you. Residents all around me will be impacted by this careless, money-driven raping of the land.
- Please take some time to talk about and educate yourselves on this massive and potentially historic boondoggle that is being escorted right under our noses. It is not in these people’s interests for you to be aware of their plans. Make this a priority in your life today so that it won’t become a burden and destructive element, a horrible scar on the landscape and beauty of our precious and beloved town of Taos. We have the power and ability to stop this if we act together and in unison. Please, for the sake of this town and our children and our children’s children, speak up and participate. They’re going to do this, unless we speak now.
- Let’s be clear: there will come a tax burden, one that you and I will be paying for decades to come. There will be costs that we can only imagine at this point if developers are allowed to bully their way past our wishes and visions for this beautiful town.
Taos's Sagebrush Rebellion has only just begun. Log on to our website Taosenos For Real Traffic Relief if you want to aid and abet this grass roots effort to keep small-town Taos small—and green.
You can also email Neal Ogden, Suzanne Wollter or Mike Petree
On June 29th, over 250 Taoseños showed up at the one and only meeting for public comment on the proposed "Bypass/Relief" routes. Almost all participants who spoke were opposed to them. From these and other dissenting voices, a new ad hoc citizen action committee has formed, calling itself Taoseños for Real Traffic Relief. With enough interest, donations, and new blood, this committee intends to become a nonprofit and fight the good, long fight to prevent these freeways from being built. Committee members have written editorials and letters to the local papers and spoken with numbers of local residents and merchants about the congestion issues. They are also gathering signatures to oppose the “Bypass/Relief” routes. They are asking NMDOT engineers and planners to consider alternative downtown traffic fixes discussed in the 2004 Molzen-Corbin Study and the 2006 Smart Growth Taos Study. They’re also asking for improvement of existing county roads rather than building the controversial freeways. A number of local Neighborhood Associations are getting fired up as well and are encouraging local officials to look at the entire city and county planning process.
