Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Feds list prairie chicken as threatened
Vol. 123, No. 76 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
JILL MCLAUGHLIN RECORD STAFF WRITER
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the lesser prairie chicken as a threatened species Thursday in a move that could further impact agriculture, oil and gas and other activities in Southeast New Mexico. Many industry leaders and landowners hoped the agency would not list the bird, following months of negotiating and spending millions on conservation agreements and scientific study. Dan Ashe, the agency’s director, said he knew the decision would be unpopular with Gov. Susana Mar-
tinez and four other governors who worked with a variety of groups to develop the conservations plans. “The lesser prairie chicken is in dire straits,” Ashe said. The agency’s determination was that the prairie chicken warranted a listing as a threatened species with a special rule under the Endangered Species Act. It allows more flexibility under the act and will limit regulatory impacts on landowner and businesses. The listing is one level below the status of “endangered.” Ashe said unprecedented partnership ef forts and leadership of the five range states for management of the species led to the listing
Birds of prey
March 28, 2014
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designation. The listing restricts use on private, state and federal land on the bird’s 40million acre habitat in Oklahoma, Colorado, Texas, New Mexico and Kansas. Restrictions will take af fect in about 30 days. Local officials and industry experts were disappointed in the agency’s decision. “We’re sorry the (FWS) didn’t see fit to pay attention to the overwhelming evidence that we presented and science we presented, that there was absolutely no basis for a listing of any kind,” said Dan Girand, of Roswell, past president of Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico.
FRIDAY
To date, oil and gas companies, ranchers and other landowners have signed range-wide conservation plan agreements to participate on more than 3 million acres. The special decision includes allowing states and private landowners to conservation manage efforts.
Private industry contributed to a $26 million five-state conservation plan, adopted last year by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. That plan that aimed to increase the population of the species, from an estimated 18,000 to 67,000 See CHICKEN, Page A3
Mark Wilson Photo
AP Photo
Crews prepare to enter WIPP This March 2007 photo provided by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department shows a male lesser prairie chicken in a mating stature in the Texas panhandle.
CARLSBAD (AP) — The Department of Energy said Thursday it expects to get underground next week to begin investigating the cause and extent of a mysterious radiation leak from the government’s nuclear waste dump in southeastern New Mexico. Officials said the inspections of the shafts that workers will use to access the half-mile-deep repository are complete and they are preparing to send an initial crew of eight into the mine early next week. The dump has been shuttered since mid-February, when radiation was released above ground and into the air around Carlsbad, contaminating at least 17 workers with low doses of radiation. Four more workers are undergoing additional tests to see if they were exposed, the
DOE said. Also Thursday, the DOE said it will expand its environmental monitoring to 10 more stations that will test air, soil and vegetation around Hobbs, Artesia, Loving, Eunice and other nearby communities. To date, samples taken around Carlsbad have shown only radiation levels well below those deemed unsafe. The leak came nine days after a truck hauling salt underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant caught fire. It’s unclear if the incidents were related. A report on the fire cited a series of safety shortcomings at the plant, which until last month operated for 15 years without a serious incident. And the head
Ruling may lead to New Mexico chile numbers down for 2013 refunds for hunters Vultures soar over the historic district near downtown Roswell late Thursday afternoon.
SANTA FE (AP) — The New Mexico Game and Fish Department will be giving r efunds to those who apply but fail to draw licenses to hunt bighorn sheep, oryx or ibex this coming season.
The department’s announcement is in response to a federal court ruling this week that cleared the way for the state to give preference to r esidents when allocating licenses for the three species. For decades, an injunc-
tion had prevented the state from applying the preferential quotas. That gave nonresident hunters equal odds at winning a chance to hunt bighor n sheep, oryx and ibex. Now, 84 percent of the licenses will go to resident hunters.
The court ruling has also prompted the department to delay this year’s drawing by about one week. Drawing results will be available no later than April 30.
LAS CRUCES (AP) — A combination of dwindling water supplies in southern New Mexico and the availability of farm labor are taking their toll on one of New Mexico’s most famous crops: chile. Statistics released Thursday by state and federal agriculture agencies show the amount of hot peppers planted, harvested and produced in the drought-stricken state in 2013 was down from the previous year. There were 65,000 tons of chile produced last year. That’s about 16 percent less than the nearly 78,000 tons produced the year before and significantly less than a decade ago, when production topped more than 100,000 tons. Fewer acres were grown in 2013, and officials said yields were lower
for most varieties, including hot and mild long green chilies. “Certainly the drought has an effect,” said Stephanie Walker, a vegetable specialist at New Mexico State University. Walker explained that farmers have had to rely more heavily on groundwater pumping to irrigate their crops because of the low river and reservoir levels that have plagued the state in recent years. That pumping has resulted in more salinity, which affects the yield of the chile plants. New Mexico is also losing acreage to west Texas and Mexico, partly because of the cost and availability of labor. In 2013, 9,000 acres of chile were planted in New Mexico, down from the 10,000 planted in
Colorado River begins flooding Mexican delta LOS ALGODONES, Mexico (AP) — Colorado River water has begun pouring over a barren delta near the U.S.-Mexico border, the result of a landmark bi-national agreement being celebrated Thursday. The gush of water in Mexico is an ef fort to revive the last 70-mile stretch of the river into the Sea of Cortez. The delta dried up decades ago. Conservationists hope the water will bring back trees, wildlife and aquatic
life that were once abundant in the region when it was teeming with water decades ago. The river’s most southern dam — Mexico’s Morelos Dam, near Yuma, Ariz. — on Sunday began unleashing 105,392 acrefeet of water, enough to supply more than 200,000 homes for a year. The onetime release is expected to last until May 18. The flow was expected to intensify and reach a peak Thursday of an additional 4,200 cubic feet per second.
HIGH 76 LOW 44
TODAY’S FORECAST
“You just see visually quite clearly a much larger volume of water in the river and there’s quite a buzz about it,” said Terry Fulp, regional director of the Lower Colorado Region for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. A handful of of ficials from the U.S. and Mexico gover nments were on hand to celebrate the flow Thursday just across the border from Yuma. An estimated 400 people attended the event, said Jack Simes of the Bureau of Reclamation.
• DELORES “DG” CRIBBS • ARTHUR JOE WALTRIP • YNEZ TAYLOR
“The pulse flow now underway is the first major step in a series of anticipated actions and cooperative measures outlined between our two countries,” said Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science Anne Castle. “Today’s event celebrates our shared vision to work together as partners to address the resources of the Colorado River and its parched delta.” See FLOOD, Page A3
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE A7
See WIPP, Page A3
2011. New Mexico State University researchers are trying to solve the labor issue through the development of machines that can harvest the crop. Walker said one focus is on the development of a one-row harvester and finding out which chile varieties would work best with mechanized harvesting. Some small companies are getting closer to developing a machine for de-stemming green chilies, she said. Those technological developments could be game-changers for New Mexico’s chile industry, Walker said. Chile has been a staple of New Mexico cuisine for centuries, and the Hatch region has become world famous for the flavorful hot peppers grown there.
AP Photo
Water flows in a usually dry riverbed Wednesday, in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico. Colorado River water has begun pouring over a barren delta near the U.S.-Mexico border, the result of a landmark bi-national agreement being celebrated Thursday.
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