Greetings Friends of Bandelier!
Looking back to 2024 I am very proud of our progress toward achieving our strategic goals identified in our 2022 Strategic Action Plan, and the many other accomplishments by our staff and our partners. I am particularly proud of this given the many challenges and unanticipated events that we were faced with. 2024 brought several snow closures, challenges with operating the park shuttle, and a late season flood that forced the closure of Alcove House and the Frijoles Canyon Trail for 3 months in the fall.
Despite those challenges, 2024 was also a year of substantial progress, special events, and improved service to our visitors. The retooled Fall Fiesta brought record crowds to see over 40 native American craftsmen and performances by dancers from our local Pueblos. On Public Lands Day, we showcased several federal agencies, cooperating organizations, and featured conservation efforts from across the region.
We re-opened the Tsankawi Unit after a year’s closure due to construction on NM Highway 4, featuring a new parking area, new interpretive signs, and a realigned trail that fulfilled some of the park’s goals from the Tsankawi Unit Management Plan. The site was re-opened with a blessing and youth dancers from San Ildefonso Pueblo. The park hosted our first community engagement day with San Ildefonso Pueblo. Pueblo members had the opportunity to engage with their ancestral and traditional lands and sites without interference from other visitors, and generously shared their stories and experiences with park staff.
In this first year utilizing the national reservation system for the park’s campgrounds, reservations and user nights reached record levels. (www.recreation.gov)
We continue to strive to be the premier park for showcasing the ancestral and ongoing connections between the outstanding cultural and natural resources contained in Bandelier, the Pueblos, and with you.
I continue to be humbled by the support we have from the community and from our partners. I hope that all our partners and visitors will see their contributions to our accomplishments in this report, and I hope that you will continue to support us as we work to achieve our goals for 2025. I could not be prouder of our team and our partners. I am excited to see what we can accomplish in 2025 with the support of the park staff, our partners, and our visitors. Onward together!
You can see our full 2024 Annual Report at:
https://www.nps.gov/band/learn/management/upload/BAND-FY2024-Annual-Report-v2-508.pdf
Sincerely,
Patrick Suddath, Superintendent