This July 2017 photo shows the conical formations at Tent...

This July 2017 photo shows the conical formations at Tent Rocks National Monument in New Mexico. Credit: AP/Amir Bibawy

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument in New Mexico, which closed in March 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, is reopening later this month.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management and Cochiti Pueblo announced Thursday the monument will reopen Nov. 21. Visitors will be required to make reservations online.

The tribe will be taking on day-to-day operations of the monument, a popular geologic hiking spot midway between Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

The bureau and Cochiti Pueblo jointly agreed to maintain the closure after pandemic restrictions were lifted to renegotiate operations of the monument.

The monument was created in 2001 with a provision that said it will be managed by the federal government in close cooperation with Cochiti Pueblo.

The agreement comes as the federal government looks for more opportunities to work with tribes to co-manage public lands and to incorporate Indigenous knowledge into planning and management of these spaces.

A standoff between officials has stalled progress, eroded community patience and escalated the price tag for taxpayers. Newsday investigative editor Paul LaRocco and NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie report. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost,Kendall Rodriguez, Alejandra Villa Loarca, Howard Schnapp, Newsday file; Anthony Florio. Photo credit: Newsday Photo: John Conrad Williams Jr., Newsday Graphic: Andrew Wong

'A spark for them to escalate the fighting' A standoff between officials has stalled progress, eroded community patience and escalated the price tag for taxpayers. Newsday investigative editor Paul LaRocco and NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie report.

A standoff between officials has stalled progress, eroded community patience and escalated the price tag for taxpayers. Newsday investigative editor Paul LaRocco and NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie report. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost,Kendall Rodriguez, Alejandra Villa Loarca, Howard Schnapp, Newsday file; Anthony Florio. Photo credit: Newsday Photo: John Conrad Williams Jr., Newsday Graphic: Andrew Wong

'A spark for them to escalate the fighting' A standoff between officials has stalled progress, eroded community patience and escalated the price tag for taxpayers. Newsday investigative editor Paul LaRocco and NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie report.

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