The State Engineer has scheduled a hearing on the San Augustin Water Grab for Tuesday, February 7, 2012. PLEASE put this on your calendar and plan to be there. Our numbers are making a difference. It's hard to ignore a crowd!
Date of the hearing: February 7, 2012
Place: Socorro District Courthouse,
200 Church Street, Socorro
Courtroom 1, second floor
Time: 10AM
The hearing is on the motions to dismiss the application.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
Catron County Gears Up For Fire Season
Contact: Zina McGuire, Catron County Fire Marshal
PO Box 507, Reserve NM 87830
(575) 533-6470
catronfire@gilanet.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CATRON COUNTY GEARS UP FOR FIRE SEASON
Are we ready for catastrophic wildfires like the Wallow Fire?
By Lif C Strand, Catron County CWPP Contractor
RESERVE, N.M. November 30, 2011. La Niña conditions, an ongoing drought, buildup of hazardous fuels conditions in the National Forests and bad memories of this year’s catastrophic Wallow Fire have prompted the Catron County Commission to take aggressive action to protect lives and property within its borders as the 2012 fire season approaches.
La Niña is a periodic and predictable weather pattern that brings warm, dry conditions to the southwest. Catron County currently is experiencing drought conditions ranging from abnormally dry to extremely dry, within the southern part of the county – the heart of the Gila National Forest – experiencing the worst drought conditions (e.g. a 13.4” precipitation deficit for the first 10 months of 2011 in Glenwood).
“We can expect to see wildfires before spring, due to these dangerous conditions, if nothing changes” said Zina McGuire, Catron County Fire Marshal. “If we learned anything from the Wallow Fire, it is that we can’t wait until we see the smoke to protect our people and property – we have to act now.”
“Catron County has been dealing with concerns of our citizens regarding hazardous fuel reductions and potential catastrophic wildland fires for a long time now,” McGuire said. “We still receive calls, emails and visits by citizens who remain concerned even after the end of the Wallow Fire, and our citizens are very worried about the upcoming fire season.”
Catron County began addressing the issues of catastrophic wildfires after the passage of Catron County’s Disaster Declaration Resolution in 2001, which is still in effect. Following the guidance of the Federal Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003, the County worked in partnership with NM State Forestry, the US Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service to create a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) for the 7000 square miles within its borders. Catron County additionally created CWPPs for eleven major Wildland/Urban Interface (WUI) areas.
The CWPPs assessed the state of the forest and woodlands and the risk to WUI areas in order to know what work needed to be done to reduce the risk of wildfire.
“The point of the CWPPs is protection of human life and property” McGuire said. “To be useful tools, the CWPPs must be reviewed and updated immediately.” The Catron County Commissioners agrees.
Accomplishment reports, of the work done by public land management agencies to implement CWPP goals to date, have been submitted to the County by these agencies and will be used to reassess fire prevention priorities.
Additionally, the County has contracted with a Fire Wise/Bio Mass contractor and obtained two chippers and a grapple truck (using all Federal funds) to help residents implement the Fire Wise program.
“Our goal is to analyze the submitted data to see if the fire risk for our communities has changed. Once analyzed, we can make a push to help protect the highest risk communities prior to fire season” McGuire said.
For more information see http://www.catronfireprevention.org/
# # #
PO Box 507, Reserve NM 87830
(575) 533-6470
catronfire@gilanet.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CATRON COUNTY GEARS UP FOR FIRE SEASON
Are we ready for catastrophic wildfires like the Wallow Fire?
By Lif C Strand, Catron County CWPP Contractor
RESERVE, N.M. November 30, 2011. La Niña conditions, an ongoing drought, buildup of hazardous fuels conditions in the National Forests and bad memories of this year’s catastrophic Wallow Fire have prompted the Catron County Commission to take aggressive action to protect lives and property within its borders as the 2012 fire season approaches.
La Niña is a periodic and predictable weather pattern that brings warm, dry conditions to the southwest. Catron County currently is experiencing drought conditions ranging from abnormally dry to extremely dry, within the southern part of the county – the heart of the Gila National Forest – experiencing the worst drought conditions (e.g. a 13.4” precipitation deficit for the first 10 months of 2011 in Glenwood).
“We can expect to see wildfires before spring, due to these dangerous conditions, if nothing changes” said Zina McGuire, Catron County Fire Marshal. “If we learned anything from the Wallow Fire, it is that we can’t wait until we see the smoke to protect our people and property – we have to act now.”
“Catron County has been dealing with concerns of our citizens regarding hazardous fuel reductions and potential catastrophic wildland fires for a long time now,” McGuire said. “We still receive calls, emails and visits by citizens who remain concerned even after the end of the Wallow Fire, and our citizens are very worried about the upcoming fire season.”
Catron County began addressing the issues of catastrophic wildfires after the passage of Catron County’s Disaster Declaration Resolution in 2001, which is still in effect. Following the guidance of the Federal Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003, the County worked in partnership with NM State Forestry, the US Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service to create a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) for the 7000 square miles within its borders. Catron County additionally created CWPPs for eleven major Wildland/Urban Interface (WUI) areas.
The CWPPs assessed the state of the forest and woodlands and the risk to WUI areas in order to know what work needed to be done to reduce the risk of wildfire.
“The point of the CWPPs is protection of human life and property” McGuire said. “To be useful tools, the CWPPs must be reviewed and updated immediately.” The Catron County Commissioners agrees.
Accomplishment reports, of the work done by public land management agencies to implement CWPP goals to date, have been submitted to the County by these agencies and will be used to reassess fire prevention priorities.
Additionally, the County has contracted with a Fire Wise/Bio Mass contractor and obtained two chippers and a grapple truck (using all Federal funds) to help residents implement the Fire Wise program.
“Our goal is to analyze the submitted data to see if the fire risk for our communities has changed. Once analyzed, we can make a push to help protect the highest risk communities prior to fire season” McGuire said.
For more information see http://www.catronfireprevention.org/
# # #
Monday, April 11, 2011
Catron County Commission Demands Wolf Incident Investigation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RESERVE, NM. “The wolf issue is one of the biggest problems the county has faced,” said Catron County Commission Chairman Hugh B. McKeen to Tod Stevenson, Director of New Mexico Department of Game & Fish at a regularly scheduled public meeting on Wednesday, April 6, 2011. With Mr. Stevenson were RJ Kirkpatrick, Assistant Director NM Game & Fish; Jim McClintic, Chairman New Mexico State Game Commission; and Dick Salopek, New Mexico State Game Commission. An audience of nearly 100 people attended the meeting.
In late January a formal complaint was filed by the county with NM Governor Martinez regarding a wolf depredation investigation that occurred on January 18, 2011. Catron County contends that NM Game & Fish wolf biologists Ellen Heilhecke and Mischa Larisch allegedly sought to influence or change the official investigation findings of Sterling Simpson and Armando Orona of US Wildlife Services during an on-site investigation as to the cause of death of a cow.
“Influencing or attempting to influence the findings of another agency’s official investigation brings up a lot of problems,” said Catron County’s Wolf Incident Investigator, Jess Carey. “The credibility of the game department wolf biologist is now lost.” Simpson and Orona did confirm that the cow was killed by wolves, with Carey concurring.
“Other findings of confirmed wolf kill have been changed to probable in the past,” Carey said. “How can you change documented evidence?”
Stevenson confirmed that Larisch did call and relay a message from Heilhecke to the Wildlife Services personnel while the investigation was in progress, but denied that any impropriety occurred.
“My staff said they did not say that Wildlife Services should modify the finding from confirmed to probable,” Stevenson said. “My folks called and said there were feral dogs in the area to take into consideration.”
“There were no feral dogs on this ranch,” Carey said. “Last year, several miles away, a neighbor was letting his house dogs run loose, but that problem was resolved. Mr. Simpson concurred: There are no feral dogs out there”.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Catron County Attorney Ron Shortes stated that he agreed with the Commissioners’ and Carey’s call for an independent, third party investigation of the incident.
“I think you have a conflict of interest when you say you have an obligation to facilitate this Mexican wolf recovery program vs. your constitutional obligation to the people of NM to protect wildlife,” Shortes said.
“While an independent investigation is needed, my ultimate feeling is that you have a bunch of good people with the New Mexico Game Commission and NM Game & Fish trying to do their best, but I’m wondering if they’re trying to do too much,” Shortes said. “They’re assisting the recovery program on one hand, trying to protect wildlife on the other – is there any possibility of trust while that’s going on?”
After a show of hands to see how people in the audience felt, the Catron County Commissioners voted unanimously to go ahead with their request of Governor Martinez for a full, independent investigation of the incident. Director Stevenson volunteered to provide a synopsis of the progress of the investigation by April 15, 2011.
“Catron County has taken a no-wolf stand,” McKeen said. “I’m requesting that you take a no-wolf stance, too. It’ll do us all good – we’re not only concerned about livestock but wildlife, too.”
Contact:
Bill Aymar, Catron County Manager
PO Box 507
Reserve NM 87830
(575) 533-6423
ccmanager@gilanet.com
# # #
RESERVE, NM. “The wolf issue is one of the biggest problems the county has faced,” said Catron County Commission Chairman Hugh B. McKeen to Tod Stevenson, Director of New Mexico Department of Game & Fish at a regularly scheduled public meeting on Wednesday, April 6, 2011. With Mr. Stevenson were RJ Kirkpatrick, Assistant Director NM Game & Fish; Jim McClintic, Chairman New Mexico State Game Commission; and Dick Salopek, New Mexico State Game Commission. An audience of nearly 100 people attended the meeting.
In late January a formal complaint was filed by the county with NM Governor Martinez regarding a wolf depredation investigation that occurred on January 18, 2011. Catron County contends that NM Game & Fish wolf biologists Ellen Heilhecke and Mischa Larisch allegedly sought to influence or change the official investigation findings of Sterling Simpson and Armando Orona of US Wildlife Services during an on-site investigation as to the cause of death of a cow.
“Influencing or attempting to influence the findings of another agency’s official investigation brings up a lot of problems,” said Catron County’s Wolf Incident Investigator, Jess Carey. “The credibility of the game department wolf biologist is now lost.” Simpson and Orona did confirm that the cow was killed by wolves, with Carey concurring.
“Other findings of confirmed wolf kill have been changed to probable in the past,” Carey said. “How can you change documented evidence?”
Stevenson confirmed that Larisch did call and relay a message from Heilhecke to the Wildlife Services personnel while the investigation was in progress, but denied that any impropriety occurred.
“My staff said they did not say that Wildlife Services should modify the finding from confirmed to probable,” Stevenson said. “My folks called and said there were feral dogs in the area to take into consideration.”
“There were no feral dogs on this ranch,” Carey said. “Last year, several miles away, a neighbor was letting his house dogs run loose, but that problem was resolved. Mr. Simpson concurred: There are no feral dogs out there”.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Catron County Attorney Ron Shortes stated that he agreed with the Commissioners’ and Carey’s call for an independent, third party investigation of the incident.
“I think you have a conflict of interest when you say you have an obligation to facilitate this Mexican wolf recovery program vs. your constitutional obligation to the people of NM to protect wildlife,” Shortes said.
“While an independent investigation is needed, my ultimate feeling is that you have a bunch of good people with the New Mexico Game Commission and NM Game & Fish trying to do their best, but I’m wondering if they’re trying to do too much,” Shortes said. “They’re assisting the recovery program on one hand, trying to protect wildlife on the other – is there any possibility of trust while that’s going on?”
After a show of hands to see how people in the audience felt, the Catron County Commissioners voted unanimously to go ahead with their request of Governor Martinez for a full, independent investigation of the incident. Director Stevenson volunteered to provide a synopsis of the progress of the investigation by April 15, 2011.
“Catron County has taken a no-wolf stand,” McKeen said. “I’m requesting that you take a no-wolf stance, too. It’ll do us all good – we’re not only concerned about livestock but wildlife, too.”
Contact:
Bill Aymar, Catron County Manager
PO Box 507
Reserve NM 87830
(575) 533-6423
ccmanager@gilanet.com
# # #
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
