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NEWS:
Volume 2, Number 234
January 22, 2008
January 22, 2008
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& suggestions are welcome.
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Special weather information
provided by:
Wendell L. Malone,
Area Skywarn Coordinator
Eddy & Culberson counties
provided by:
Wendell L. Malone,
Area Skywarn Coordinator
Eddy & Culberson counties
| THE WEATHER BOX www.eddycountyskywarn.blogspot.com Today: Partly sunny, with a high near 54. North wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southeast. Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 26. South wind between 5 and 10 mph. Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 56. East wind between 5 and 10 mph. Wednesday Night: A slight chance of rain before 11pm, then a slight chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 27. East wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Thursday: A chance of rain, snow and sleet. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 34. Southeast wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Thursday Night: A chance of snow, freezing rain and sleet. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 32. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Friday: A slight chance of rain, freezing rain and sleet before 11am, then a slight chance of rain showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 49. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Friday Night: A slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 36. Saturday: A slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 59. Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 34. Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 63. Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 32. Monday: Sunny, with a high near 62. |
| The United States government's national threat level is Elevated, or Yellow. The U.S. threat level is High, or Orange, for all domestic and international flights. Only small amounts of liquids, aerosols and gels are allowed in carry-on baggage. See the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) website for up-to-date information on items permitted and prohibited on airlines. |
The Eagle has added
FORT WORTH – American Eagle, the regional affiliate of American Airlines,
will increase its service to Roswell, N.M., beginning April. 7 by adding a third
daily round trip between Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Roswell
International Air Center, using 50-seat ERJ-145 aircraft.
“We are pleased that we are able to add another flight to Roswell,” said
American Eagle President and CEO Peter Bowler. “The community has
been extremely supportive of our service since it first started last
September. Customers have been connecting in Dallas/Fort Worth to travel
destinations all over the world.”
“This is a wonderful addition and I felt all along that this is a viable market
for American Airlines,” said Mayor Pro-Tem Phil Burch of Artesia, N.M. “We
can only look forward to bigger and better things in the near future.”
“This is great news for Roswell and all the community partners,” added
Roswell Mayor Sam LaGrone. “Our success has been phenomenal and I
encourage our citizens to keep using this jet service.”
“The American Eagle flights have been a great step forward in economic
development for this area,” said Chaves County Commission Chairman
Dick Taylor. “The addition of the third flight is one more step to improving
our communities.”
“The Hike It & Spike It Tournament is an event that brings thousands of
tourists to Roswell, and the American Eagle jet service has become a major
asset in the continued growth of our tournament,” said Jim Matteucci,
Chairman of the Board for the Bank of the Southwest and local organizer
for The Hike It & Spike It Gridiron Tournament which benefits the United
Way of Chaves County.
For more information, visit Fly Roswell.
DHS ENDS ORAL DECLARATIONS AT BORDERS
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
reminds travelers that beginning January 31, 2008, border crossers will be
asked to present documents denoting citizenship and identity when
entering the United States through land and sea ports of entry. This
change primarily affects United States and Canadian citizens, who have
previously been permitted entry by oral declaration alone, and marks the
transition toward standard and consistent documents for all travelers
entering the country. It is also the start of a more robust and concerted
public education campaign, intended to inform travelers of document
requirements which will be implemented next year.
“For the safety of the American people, the United States cannot have an
honor system at the border,” said Homeland Security Secretary Michael
Chertoff. “Requiring secure and reliable documentation at our borders will
drastically reduce security vulnerabilities posed by permitting entry based
on oral declarations alone. As travelers become accustomed to carrying
documents to cross the border, and as we move to more stringent
documentation requirements, our border officers will be able to more
quickly and confidently identify cross-border travelers.”
Beginning Jan. 31 of this year, U.S. and Canadian citizens ages 19 and
older should no longer expect that an oral declaration alone will be
sufficient to prove identity and citizenship for entry into the country.
Instead, travelers will be asked to present documentation from a specified
list of acceptable documents when entering the U.S. at land and sea ports
of entry. Examples include birth certificates and driver’s licenses. A
complete list of acceptable documents is available to travelers at ports of
entry and is also available at www.cbp.gov. Travelers who do not present
one of these documents may be delayed while U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) officers attempt to verify their identity and citizenship.
Children ages 18 and under will only need to present a birth certificate.
In order to further secure our borders against illegal entry, the U.S. will no
longer be able to admit travelers based on nothing more than a person’s
oral assertion of citizenship. During October to December 2007 alone, CBP
officers reported 1,517 cases of individuals falsely claiming to be U.S.
citizens. Last month, CBP officials determined that an individual falsely
claiming to be a U.S. citizen was wanted for homicide in California . This
individual was paroled for entry into the U.S. and transported into the
custody of the San Diego Sheriff’s Department. Separately, multiple
Government Accountability Office and Inspector General reports have
highlighted weaknesses associated with oral declarations and substandard
documentation.
Standard and consistent documentation is critical for border officials to
accurately determine admissibility into the United States . The Jan. 31
change is a step forward from the largely subjective standard that allowed
travelers to present an almost limitless array of documents, such as
baptismal certificates, to satisfy CBP officers of their citizenship. This
change will allow frontline officers to standardize inspections against a
narrower class of documents, and CBP has protocols in place to verify the
authenticity of suspicious driver licenses and guard against the use of
counterfeit or altered licenses.
DHS has maintained a consistent public awareness and information
campaign to ensure that the traveling public is aware of the new travel
documentation requirements under the Western Hemisphere Travel
Initiative (WHTI). The transition beginning Jan. 31 will allow travelers to
become accustomed to the need to present appropriate documents.
Travelers who apply for a passport card, passport, Trusted Traveler
Program cards, or other secure documentation denoting both citizenship
and identity in response to the Jan. 31 change will not need to take
additional steps to meet the final WHTI requirements upon full
implementation in June 2009.
U.S. citizens may begin applying in advance for the new U.S. Passport Card
on Feb. 1, 2008, in anticipation of land border travel document
requirements. The U.S. Department of State expects that cards will be
available and mailed to applicants in spring 2008.
Although DHS was on schedule to begin implementation of the new
requirements as early as summer 2008, the fiscal year 2008 Appropriations
Bill passed by Congress last month restricts the department from
implementing these new requirements until June 2009.
For more information, visit www.dhs.gov or www.travel.state.gov.
Traditions flourish at exhibit
ARTESIA - The Artesia Historical Museum & Art Center is getting ready to
present “Our Traditions”, a community program for everyone, on Saturday
January 26, 2008 at 2:00-4:00 pm in the Museum’s Art Annex at 503 West
Richardson Ave. in Artesia.
“Our Traditions” is part of our Smithsonian exhibit “Key Ingredients” public
programs, and will give visitors a chance to not only check out our exhibit
but to learn about a variety of traditional food growing & preservation
methods that are still being practiced today. Some of these methods
evolved through necessity, such as the need to preserve food without
electricity and refrigeration. Others have survived the test of time simply
because they’re still the best way to do things!
The “Our Traditions” program will be presented in an informal, come & go
format. Visitors are invited to come by and learn about traditional methods
of gardening & composting (which was originally a way to recycle kitchen
waste) from Eddy County Gardener of the Year Mary Fanning. Jimi &
Theresa Genzling of Desert Eagle Farms in Lakewood will be on hand to
demonstrate food dehydration techniques and to give leads on local
sources for heirloom crops. Susie Taylor of Loco Hills will also be here to
talk about traditional canning and other food preservation & cooking
methods that don’t require refrigeration or electricity. In other words, this is
everyone’s chance to ask questions, try some hands-on demonstrations,
and pick the brains of experts! Handouts will also be available for everyone
to take home.
But what would a food-related program be without food?! We’ll have
miniature jam/jelly tarts, veggies marinated in a variety of herb-flavored
vinegars, pickles, and lots of different dehydrated veggies to munch on. We’
ll also have recipes for everything available, plus some new vintage
recipes. If you haven’t participated in our recipe swap meet yet, please
consider doing so: just bring us a copy of your favorite recipe(s) and we’ll
make copies and put them out for everyone to pick up and enjoy!
Everyone is invited to attend our program—for more information call (575)
748-2390 or visit www.artesiamuseum.org.
ENMU production this week
PORTALES—The Department of Theatre and Dance at Eastern New
Mexico University in Portales will present "Perla de Luna" at 7 p.m. nightly
from Wednesday, Jan. 23, through Saturday, Jan. 26, in the University
Theater Center, Studio.
The show begins at 7 p.m. each night. General admission is $4.
Directed by Felipe Macias, professor of theatre at ENMU, the play is part of
a series of Portales "porch" plays currently in development by ENMU alumni
and Portales native Leonard Madrid. A one-act version was presented as a
reading at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region
VI in Tulsa, Okla., in March 2007. The play was subsequently juried and
invited to the 2008 regional festival in Huntsville, Texas, as a fully realized
production.
"The Department of Theatre and Dance is proud to present Mr. Madrid’s
work not only because he is a graduate of our program but, more
importantly, because he is one of a handful of young playwrights working to
establish a cultural voice specific to New Mexico in the world’s dramatic
community," said Macias.
The play features Hillary Livingston from Portales as Perla de Luna whose
performance is done for partial completion of the Bachelor of Fine Arts
degree, Laura Holder from Artesia as Cruz, DeDe Gonzales as Mariposa
from Portales, Alberto J. Hernandez from Los Angeles as Calletano, Julie
Amber Dorado as Estrella from Carlsbad, and Mike Jimenez as Oro from
Roswell.
For more information, call the Department of Theatre and Dance at
575.562.2711, or the Box Office at 575.562.2710.
FORT WORTH – American Eagle, the regional affiliate of American Airlines,
will increase its service to Roswell, N.M., beginning April. 7 by adding a third
daily round trip between Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Roswell
International Air Center, using 50-seat ERJ-145 aircraft.
“We are pleased that we are able to add another flight to Roswell,” said
American Eagle President and CEO Peter Bowler. “The community has
been extremely supportive of our service since it first started last
September. Customers have been connecting in Dallas/Fort Worth to travel
destinations all over the world.”
“This is a wonderful addition and I felt all along that this is a viable market
for American Airlines,” said Mayor Pro-Tem Phil Burch of Artesia, N.M. “We
can only look forward to bigger and better things in the near future.”
“This is great news for Roswell and all the community partners,” added
Roswell Mayor Sam LaGrone. “Our success has been phenomenal and I
encourage our citizens to keep using this jet service.”
“The American Eagle flights have been a great step forward in economic
development for this area,” said Chaves County Commission Chairman
Dick Taylor. “The addition of the third flight is one more step to improving
our communities.”
“The Hike It & Spike It Tournament is an event that brings thousands of
tourists to Roswell, and the American Eagle jet service has become a major
asset in the continued growth of our tournament,” said Jim Matteucci,
Chairman of the Board for the Bank of the Southwest and local organizer
for The Hike It & Spike It Gridiron Tournament which benefits the United
Way of Chaves County.
For more information, visit Fly Roswell.
DHS ENDS ORAL DECLARATIONS AT BORDERS
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
reminds travelers that beginning January 31, 2008, border crossers will be
asked to present documents denoting citizenship and identity when
entering the United States through land and sea ports of entry. This
change primarily affects United States and Canadian citizens, who have
previously been permitted entry by oral declaration alone, and marks the
transition toward standard and consistent documents for all travelers
entering the country. It is also the start of a more robust and concerted
public education campaign, intended to inform travelers of document
requirements which will be implemented next year.
“For the safety of the American people, the United States cannot have an
honor system at the border,” said Homeland Security Secretary Michael
Chertoff. “Requiring secure and reliable documentation at our borders will
drastically reduce security vulnerabilities posed by permitting entry based
on oral declarations alone. As travelers become accustomed to carrying
documents to cross the border, and as we move to more stringent
documentation requirements, our border officers will be able to more
quickly and confidently identify cross-border travelers.”
Beginning Jan. 31 of this year, U.S. and Canadian citizens ages 19 and
older should no longer expect that an oral declaration alone will be
sufficient to prove identity and citizenship for entry into the country.
Instead, travelers will be asked to present documentation from a specified
list of acceptable documents when entering the U.S. at land and sea ports
of entry. Examples include birth certificates and driver’s licenses. A
complete list of acceptable documents is available to travelers at ports of
entry and is also available at www.cbp.gov. Travelers who do not present
one of these documents may be delayed while U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) officers attempt to verify their identity and citizenship.
Children ages 18 and under will only need to present a birth certificate.
In order to further secure our borders against illegal entry, the U.S. will no
longer be able to admit travelers based on nothing more than a person’s
oral assertion of citizenship. During October to December 2007 alone, CBP
officers reported 1,517 cases of individuals falsely claiming to be U.S.
citizens. Last month, CBP officials determined that an individual falsely
claiming to be a U.S. citizen was wanted for homicide in California . This
individual was paroled for entry into the U.S. and transported into the
custody of the San Diego Sheriff’s Department. Separately, multiple
Government Accountability Office and Inspector General reports have
highlighted weaknesses associated with oral declarations and substandard
documentation.
Standard and consistent documentation is critical for border officials to
accurately determine admissibility into the United States . The Jan. 31
change is a step forward from the largely subjective standard that allowed
travelers to present an almost limitless array of documents, such as
baptismal certificates, to satisfy CBP officers of their citizenship. This
change will allow frontline officers to standardize inspections against a
narrower class of documents, and CBP has protocols in place to verify the
authenticity of suspicious driver licenses and guard against the use of
counterfeit or altered licenses.
DHS has maintained a consistent public awareness and information
campaign to ensure that the traveling public is aware of the new travel
documentation requirements under the Western Hemisphere Travel
Initiative (WHTI). The transition beginning Jan. 31 will allow travelers to
become accustomed to the need to present appropriate documents.
Travelers who apply for a passport card, passport, Trusted Traveler
Program cards, or other secure documentation denoting both citizenship
and identity in response to the Jan. 31 change will not need to take
additional steps to meet the final WHTI requirements upon full
implementation in June 2009.
U.S. citizens may begin applying in advance for the new U.S. Passport Card
on Feb. 1, 2008, in anticipation of land border travel document
requirements. The U.S. Department of State expects that cards will be
available and mailed to applicants in spring 2008.
Although DHS was on schedule to begin implementation of the new
requirements as early as summer 2008, the fiscal year 2008 Appropriations
Bill passed by Congress last month restricts the department from
implementing these new requirements until June 2009.
For more information, visit www.dhs.gov or www.travel.state.gov.
Traditions flourish at exhibit
ARTESIA - The Artesia Historical Museum & Art Center is getting ready to
present “Our Traditions”, a community program for everyone, on Saturday
January 26, 2008 at 2:00-4:00 pm in the Museum’s Art Annex at 503 West
Richardson Ave. in Artesia.
“Our Traditions” is part of our Smithsonian exhibit “Key Ingredients” public
programs, and will give visitors a chance to not only check out our exhibit
but to learn about a variety of traditional food growing & preservation
methods that are still being practiced today. Some of these methods
evolved through necessity, such as the need to preserve food without
electricity and refrigeration. Others have survived the test of time simply
because they’re still the best way to do things!
The “Our Traditions” program will be presented in an informal, come & go
format. Visitors are invited to come by and learn about traditional methods
of gardening & composting (which was originally a way to recycle kitchen
waste) from Eddy County Gardener of the Year Mary Fanning. Jimi &
Theresa Genzling of Desert Eagle Farms in Lakewood will be on hand to
demonstrate food dehydration techniques and to give leads on local
sources for heirloom crops. Susie Taylor of Loco Hills will also be here to
talk about traditional canning and other food preservation & cooking
methods that don’t require refrigeration or electricity. In other words, this is
everyone’s chance to ask questions, try some hands-on demonstrations,
and pick the brains of experts! Handouts will also be available for everyone
to take home.
But what would a food-related program be without food?! We’ll have
miniature jam/jelly tarts, veggies marinated in a variety of herb-flavored
vinegars, pickles, and lots of different dehydrated veggies to munch on. We’
ll also have recipes for everything available, plus some new vintage
recipes. If you haven’t participated in our recipe swap meet yet, please
consider doing so: just bring us a copy of your favorite recipe(s) and we’ll
make copies and put them out for everyone to pick up and enjoy!
Everyone is invited to attend our program—for more information call (575)
748-2390 or visit www.artesiamuseum.org.
ENMU production this week
PORTALES—The Department of Theatre and Dance at Eastern New
Mexico University in Portales will present "Perla de Luna" at 7 p.m. nightly
from Wednesday, Jan. 23, through Saturday, Jan. 26, in the University
Theater Center, Studio.
The show begins at 7 p.m. each night. General admission is $4.
Directed by Felipe Macias, professor of theatre at ENMU, the play is part of
a series of Portales "porch" plays currently in development by ENMU alumni
and Portales native Leonard Madrid. A one-act version was presented as a
reading at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region
VI in Tulsa, Okla., in March 2007. The play was subsequently juried and
invited to the 2008 regional festival in Huntsville, Texas, as a fully realized
production.
"The Department of Theatre and Dance is proud to present Mr. Madrid’s
work not only because he is a graduate of our program but, more
importantly, because he is one of a handful of young playwrights working to
establish a cultural voice specific to New Mexico in the world’s dramatic
community," said Macias.
The play features Hillary Livingston from Portales as Perla de Luna whose
performance is done for partial completion of the Bachelor of Fine Arts
degree, Laura Holder from Artesia as Cruz, DeDe Gonzales as Mariposa
from Portales, Alberto J. Hernandez from Los Angeles as Calletano, Julie
Amber Dorado as Estrella from Carlsbad, and Mike Jimenez as Oro from
Roswell.
For more information, call the Department of Theatre and Dance at
575.562.2711, or the Box Office at 575.562.2710.
Council meeting Tuesday
ARTESIA - The regularly scheduled meeting of
the Artesia City Council will be held in the
Council Chambers at City Hall, 511 W. Texas
Avenue, at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday evening.
Click to view the agenda or the consent
agenda. Hard copies of the final agendas will
be available at City Hall on Tuesday. The
meeting is open to the public and the public is
invited and encouraged to attend.
‘Excellence in Range Management’ Award
Las Cruces – The New Mexico Section of the
Society for Range Management (SRM)
presented its Excellence in Range Management
award to the Bureau of Land Management for
the agency’s work to restore degraded
rangelands and wildlife habitat in southeastern
New Mexico. Linda Rundell, State Director for
the BLM in New Mexico, accepted the award on
behalf of the BLM’s state management team
and the agency’s Pecos District Office in
Roswell.
The BLM worked with a variety of partners to
restore more than 250,000 acres of degraded
rangelands in New Mexico in 2007, far
surpassing the 2006 total of 145,000 acres.
What started out as a concept to restore and
enhance landscapes three years ago has grown
into Restore New Mexico, an effort involving the
BLM, ranchers, agencies, organizations and the
energy industry. The partnership will restore its
500,000th acre this year.
“The BLM under Linda Rundell has
demonstrated that it won’t be satisfied with
being a custodial land manager,” said Dr. Karl
Wood, President of the SRM’s New Mexico
Section. “Linda and her management team are
getting the word out about the condition of New
Mexico’s rangelands and forming innovative
partnerships to restore them.”
BLM management honorees include:
- Linda Rundell, New Mexico State Director
- Jesse Juen, Associate State Director
- Ron Dunton, Deputy State Director -
Resources
Field honorees include:
- Ray Keller, Rangeland Management
Specialist, Carlsbad
- Dave Evans, Chief of Operations, Carlsbad
- Russell Fox, Rangeland Management
Specialist, Roswell
Habitat fragmentation, erosion and the spread
of invasive plants have resulted from decades
of human impacts and natural ecological
processes. Because fire has largely been
excluded from the landscape, there’s been a
dramatic shift over the past 150 years from
desert grasslands with scattered shrubs to
vegetative communities extensively dominated
by invasive shrubs; this has occurred on more
than 6 million acres in New Mexico. The result
has been reduced grass and herbaceous cover
and a significant increase in the amount of bare
ground. These factors have in turn severely
reduced their biological productivity, while
increasing their susceptibility to erosion and
reducing the quantity and quality of
groundwater.
“Regardless of how people feel about land uses
or management priorities, everyone agrees we
need to look at the land differently than we have
in the past,” said Rundell. “We are now
beginning to restore entire landscapes. It’s
amazing what can happen when folks have a
shared vision.”
The BLM is expanding its efforts with partners
this year to restore rangelands to a healthy and
productive condition throughout New Mexico.
Efforts are focusing on landscapes dominated
by mesquite, creosote, juniper and other
invasive species to restore native vegetation,
which also benefits watersheds and wildlife
habitat.
Starting this year, the BLM and its partners will
also begin attacking cheatgrass, an exotic
species that has taken over huge areas of
Nevada, Utah and other Great Basin states.
Partners under the program are also identifying
and reclaiming orphaned oil and gas wells,
pads, and roads in the Permian and San Juan
Basins.
The goal of brush treatments is to reduce the
incidence of brush in rangelands to historic
levels; in many areas, the percentage of brush
in a landscape has increased from 10 to 90
percent or more over the past 150 years,
radically reducing the biological productivity of
these areas.
Restore New Mexico partners include ranchers,
the Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS), New Mexico State Land Office, New
Mexico Department of Game and Fish, New
Mexico Association of Conservation Districts,
several Soil and Water Conservation Districts,
New Mexico State University, and the BLM.
ARTESIA - The regularly scheduled meeting of
the Artesia City Council will be held in the
Council Chambers at City Hall, 511 W. Texas
Avenue, at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday evening.
Click to view the agenda or the consent
agenda. Hard copies of the final agendas will
be available at City Hall on Tuesday. The
meeting is open to the public and the public is
invited and encouraged to attend.
‘Excellence in Range Management’ Award
Las Cruces – The New Mexico Section of the
Society for Range Management (SRM)
presented its Excellence in Range Management
award to the Bureau of Land Management for
the agency’s work to restore degraded
rangelands and wildlife habitat in southeastern
New Mexico. Linda Rundell, State Director for
the BLM in New Mexico, accepted the award on
behalf of the BLM’s state management team
and the agency’s Pecos District Office in
Roswell.
The BLM worked with a variety of partners to
restore more than 250,000 acres of degraded
rangelands in New Mexico in 2007, far
surpassing the 2006 total of 145,000 acres.
What started out as a concept to restore and
enhance landscapes three years ago has grown
into Restore New Mexico, an effort involving the
BLM, ranchers, agencies, organizations and the
energy industry. The partnership will restore its
500,000th acre this year.
“The BLM under Linda Rundell has
demonstrated that it won’t be satisfied with
being a custodial land manager,” said Dr. Karl
Wood, President of the SRM’s New Mexico
Section. “Linda and her management team are
getting the word out about the condition of New
Mexico’s rangelands and forming innovative
partnerships to restore them.”
BLM management honorees include:
- Linda Rundell, New Mexico State Director
- Jesse Juen, Associate State Director
- Ron Dunton, Deputy State Director -
Resources
Field honorees include:
- Ray Keller, Rangeland Management
Specialist, Carlsbad
- Dave Evans, Chief of Operations, Carlsbad
- Russell Fox, Rangeland Management
Specialist, Roswell
Habitat fragmentation, erosion and the spread
of invasive plants have resulted from decades
of human impacts and natural ecological
processes. Because fire has largely been
excluded from the landscape, there’s been a
dramatic shift over the past 150 years from
desert grasslands with scattered shrubs to
vegetative communities extensively dominated
by invasive shrubs; this has occurred on more
than 6 million acres in New Mexico. The result
has been reduced grass and herbaceous cover
and a significant increase in the amount of bare
ground. These factors have in turn severely
reduced their biological productivity, while
increasing their susceptibility to erosion and
reducing the quantity and quality of
groundwater.
“Regardless of how people feel about land uses
or management priorities, everyone agrees we
need to look at the land differently than we have
in the past,” said Rundell. “We are now
beginning to restore entire landscapes. It’s
amazing what can happen when folks have a
shared vision.”
The BLM is expanding its efforts with partners
this year to restore rangelands to a healthy and
productive condition throughout New Mexico.
Efforts are focusing on landscapes dominated
by mesquite, creosote, juniper and other
invasive species to restore native vegetation,
which also benefits watersheds and wildlife
habitat.
Starting this year, the BLM and its partners will
also begin attacking cheatgrass, an exotic
species that has taken over huge areas of
Nevada, Utah and other Great Basin states.
Partners under the program are also identifying
and reclaiming orphaned oil and gas wells,
pads, and roads in the Permian and San Juan
Basins.
The goal of brush treatments is to reduce the
incidence of brush in rangelands to historic
levels; in many areas, the percentage of brush
in a landscape has increased from 10 to 90
percent or more over the past 150 years,
radically reducing the biological productivity of
these areas.
Restore New Mexico partners include ranchers,
the Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS), New Mexico State Land Office, New
Mexico Department of Game and Fish, New
Mexico Association of Conservation Districts,
several Soil and Water Conservation Districts,
New Mexico State University, and the BLM.