Just the Facts ... and Then Some

JUST THE FACTS ... & THEN SOME

by Caren Cowan, Publisher New Mexico Stockman

Writer’s Cramp

Or, I guess you could be looking for carpal tunnel syndrome if you plan to exercise your rights as a citizen. But it is your mind that will be reeling once you read this “short” list of federal and state documents that require comments in the next 60 days.

You missed your opportunity to comment on the new proposed rule on the Mexican Wolf. In a court case that has been ongoing since late 2014 or early 2105, the Tucson-based federal district judging is requiring the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to redraft the rule regarding management of the wolves.

The deadline for comment was in late January. The Arizona / New Mexico Coalition of Counties probably put the sharpest pen to the issue, turning in some 477 pages of comments — that is nearly a full ream of paper — that had to be uploaded in two or three batches on the comment site.

These comments also represented the New Mexico Federal Lands Council, Protect Americans Now, and the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association. There were many, many others in the New Mexico and Arizona livestock communities who also weighed in on the subject.

Hopefully these comments will make a difference in the outcome of these new rules, but don’t hold your breath. They were submitted up against comments from literally around the world.

WOTUS

Next up will be comment on the federal Waters of the United States (WOTUS) new/ old rules that are due on February 7. You can bet that most of the same groups mentioned are working on comments as I write this column.

After all the work that was done to make WOTUS rules ensure that ranchers and farmers could manage their businesses of feeding the world without additional permits and government interference, it could very well be that the nation will revert to old rules that want to regulate every dry arroyo and prairie pothole in the country.

There is a little good news on this front. Over the years that litigation has been going on in this realm, probably at least seven, there has been enough controversy among the federal courts of appeal around the country that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up the issue.

The high court has already ruled at least once on this issue. Hopefully they will be of the same mind when they take this look — that could take another two or three years to get through.

Comments on the portions of the National Handbook of Conservation Practices are due on February 18. The Federal Register notice warns that the amount of proposed changes varies considerably for each conservation practice standards in the notice. Thus they encourage the public to understand the proposed changes by comparing the changes within this notice with the current handbook which can be found at a Natural Resources Conservation Service website: www/nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/ nrcs/detailfull/national/technical/cp/ ncps/?cid=nrcs143_026849

There are only 170 different practices listed.

America the Beautiful

There isn’t much of a break until the America the Beautiful (aka 30x30 or 50x50) comments are due. The federal government is inviting input on the development of an American Conservation Stewardship Atlas, a new tool that will be used to reflect a baseline information on the lands and waters that are conserved or restored.

Keep in mind that this initiative is a locally led and voluntary effort that aims to conserve, connect and restore 30 percent of the country’s (or your) lands and waters by 2030. Comments are due by March 4, 2022.

Just a few days later the state of New Mexico is wanting comments on its Wildlife Corridor Plan. The intent of public outreach is to raise support for and consensus in the identification of priority wildlife corridors and priority projects across New Mexico and solicit input from the public, tribal governments and interested stakeholders. Comments are due on March 12, 2022.

Endangered Species

Then we have federal endangered species actions. The FWS has developed a critical habitat plan for the New Mexico Meadow Jumping mouse that is found in the Jemez and Sacramento Mountains. This is another issue that has been on the docket for years and has interrupted livestock grazing and livestock’s ability to access water. The plan is laid out in the Federal Register where one of the goals is to develop objective, measurable criteria that, when met, would support … the species removal from the List of Endangered and Threatened Species…

Sorry, this gets more absurd as I go. Comments on the mouse are due on March 14.

The last one for today is the proposal to list the Sacramento Mountain’s checkerspot butterfly as an endangered species. Adding insult to injury is that a FWS designation of critical habitat is “not determinable at this time.” Comments are due on March 28.

An aside for our Texas readers is a story on January 17 in The Eagle, a Texas A&M paper, noting that Texas A&M AgriLife researchers, along with many others, are investigating the potential for reintroducing wild ocelot populations to areas of the state where the native cat once roamed.

So Texas may soon have its own list of things to comment on in the hopes of staying on the ground.

Do I really think any reader will jump up and start writing comments? Probably not. But I hope you do realize how many of these issues are being addressed by the groups you belong to. You might consider making a larger donation to them.

If you don’t belong to any, make a list and start ponying up. ▫