Tierra’s Environmental Planning and Cultural Resources Division completed Environmental Assessments for the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Taos Field Office and the Carson National Forest. Required consultations were completed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the New Mexico Game and Fish Department, the New Mexico State Historic Preservation Office, and the National Park Service in connection with the newly established Rio Grande del Norte National Monument.
Tierra’s New Mexico Right of Way Division acquired more than 2,000 permits from the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) for aerial and underground road crossings and linear installations of fiber-optic line, as well as numerous County road crossing permits. Our team negotiated agreements with the New Mexico State Land Office for parts of the route on State trust lands and is in the process of negotiating grants of easement with the BLM’s Taos Field Office. Tierra is also assisting KCEC with Tribal liaison and performing consultation with the Taos and Picuris Pueblos.
Tierra’s GIS Department designed and developed all georeferenced base maps in support of the BLM and USFS Environmental Assessments, agency and Tribal consultations, and right of way permitting, as well as all mapping required for NMDOT permit applications.
Thie Taos Broadband Project has received strong support from Taos County citizens and the surrounding communities, as well as from State and Federal agencies operating within New Mexico.
The fiber will be installed either by direct burial and bore crossings of highways or aerial installation on existing 115kV and 69 kV transmission lines, as well as Single-Phase and 3-Phase distribution lines throughout KCEC service territory.
