The Tularosa Downwinders Have Waited 75 Years for Justice

 

"It’s been over 75 years—we can’t wait anymore,” states Tina Cordova, cofounder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium. The group, which came together in 2005, is seeking environmental justice for the victims and survivors, called Downwinders, who were contaminated by the testing of the world’s first nuclear bomb on July 16, 1945. Its goal is to extend and expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA).

The RECA, which passed in 1990, will sunset in July of 2022. The act provides compensation and health benefits to uranium miners who worked in the industry prior to 1971 and former residents in parts of Nevada, Utah, and Arizona who lived downwind of the Nevada Test Site. However, even though the Trinity site—adjacent to White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico—was the first test of a nuclear bomb, the contamination of New Mexicans has never been recognized. The expansion of RECA would include New Mexico, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Guam, as well as the post-1971 uranium workers.

...The Tularosa Basin in south central New Mexico lies between several mountain ranges to the east and west. It is an endorheic basin—meaning very little water flows out of it. For decades, residents in the area had traditionally harvested water in outdoor cisterns that they used for their animals as well as their daily needs.

...The scientists working on the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, N.M., including their scientific leader Robert Oppenheimer, had underestimated the power they had created until after its detonation at the test site. The contamination from overexposure to the high levels of ionizing radiation has resulted in multigenerational cancers in the surrounding ranching families and residents of Carrizozo, Socorro, San Antonio, Tularosa, Roswell, and the broader Tularosa Basin...MORE

Origins of the Santa Fe Trail re-created on 200th anniversary

WEST

Many of the people standing on the Plaza took out their cellphones to do something their antecedents could not do 200 years ago.

Record history.

Or, at least, record a re-creation of history, as modern-day horsemen played the role of the 19th century trader William Becknell and compatriots and rode into the Plaza on Sunday morning to mark a major historical event that, some say, redefined not only New Mexico but much of the United States: the start of the Santa Fe Trail.

This past weekend marked the 200th anniversary of Becknell’s arrival in Santa Fe, where he was greeted by Gov. Facundo Melgares, the first Mexican governor of New Mexico, after that nation won its independence from Spain and in turn opened the doors to trade with other countries — a practice the Spanish government prohibited.

The opening of that trade trail from Missouri to New Mexico in 1821 left an indelible impression upon the Southwest, historians say. Besides building an economic bridge between a nation still celebrating a relatively new independence from Great Britain and a nation that won that independence just months before, the trail opened up the pathways to the West...MORE 

Reopenings to put the pie back in Pie Town

 

And then when the owners of The Gatherin’ Place decided to retire at the end of 2020, it looked like tiny Pie Town would be left pie-less.

The thought of a town named after pie bereft of its namesake compelled Sarah Chavez, a pie baker at The Gatherin’ Place, to make a decision.

To keep the pie in Pie Town, she and her husband, Danny, acquired The Gatherin’ Place in January 2020. “We changed the name to Pie Town Pies earlier this year.”

Fast forward to July, and a chance conversation between Chavez and Knapp developed into an agreement that Chavez would reopen the Pie-O-Neer.

“Kathy and I spoke. I did a little soul searching,” Chavez said. “So, I thought about it. My husband still thinks I’m crazy, but you know, that’s what keeps it all exciting. When we really started talking about it I said, ‘Well, why don’t we do this?’ ”

She had already started making changes at The Gatherin’ Place, changing the name, for instance, to Pie Town Homestead to incorporate the vintage and secondhand business next door, and recruiting friends and neighbors to work part-time.

“I am fortunate to have a small army of local pie bakers who will work at one, or both places,” she said. “I do not take it for granted. It is going to be a tough transition in the sense of living up to the reputation created for that little spot, the Pie-O-Neer. We will bake pies for both places at the Pie-O-Neer. But the food will stay down at Pie Town Pies, now Pie Town Homestead.”

Knapp has gifted her with all of her pie recipes...MORE

‘Why don’t they tell us the truth?’: Government UFO report falls flat in Roswell

ROSWELL, New Mexico — The federal government’s recent landmark UFO study failed to offer the clear answers many hoped for.

In fact, Joyce Rowell was left with the same question she’s always had.

“Why don’t they tell us the truth?” Ms. Rowell, 75, said Friday as she and her daughter, Debra Tucker, searched for the next clue on an alien-themed scavenger hunt inside a cozy coffeehouse in downtown Roswell. 

...Ms. Tucker and Ms. Rowell are among the thousands who came to Roswell this weekend for the seemingly endless agenda of alien-themed concerts, games, outdoor movie showings, yoga, and a host of other events. But beneath the family-friendly atmosphere are serious questions about just how much information the government is withholding from the American people.

...The recent UAP report, released by the Pentagon and Office of the Director of National Intelligence, examined 144 military encounters with unidentified craft and could only explain one, which was believed to be a deflating balloon.

UFOs, the study said, could represent a major national security threat to the U.S. and may involve so-called “breakthrough technologies” that cannot be explained using today’s scientific knowledge.

...The Pentagon is in the early stages of revamping the reporting and data-collection systems around UFO sightings in the hopes of gaining a better understanding of the phenomenon, government officials said.

Those high-stakes questions serve as the backdrop for this weekend’s festival. Many in attendance say they made the trip to New Mexico partly because of their fascination with the paranormal and partly because the event offered a unique summer vacation...MORE

 

 

Study says future of New Mexico may include fewer people

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Flanked by booming economies and community growth, New Mexico is likely to watch its population count plateau in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic and then slowly decline with a pronounced drop in school- and working-aged residents and a drain on rural areas, authors of a report on demographic trends announced Thursday. The report from the Legislature’s budget and accountability office adds to indications in the 2020 census of a slowdown in population growth across large swaths of the high-desert state. It suggests that schools and universities in particular may want to plan accordingly to conserve resources and adapt.Flanked by booming economies and community growth, New Mexico is likely to watch its population count plateau in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic and then slowly decline with a pronounced drop in school- and working-aged residents and a drain on rural areas, authors of a report on demographic trends announced Thursday. The report from the Legislature’s budget and accountability office adds to indications in the 2020 census of a slowdown in population growth across large swaths of the high-desert state. It suggests that schools and universities in particular may want to plan accordingly to conserve resources and adapt. At the same time, an increase in the number of elderly residents will place a greater financial strain on programs such as Medicaid and Medicare. There about 2.1 million residents in the state with a land area similar in size as Italy. “In about a decade, New Mexico is projected to start seeing overall declines in population. … Declines in younger ages and rural areas will continue and likely be exacerbated by Covid-19,” states the report from staff at the Legislative Finance Committee. “Given the status quo, New Mexico is heading toward having more, older New Mexicans using relatively expensive public services and fewer, younger New Mexicans in school and working.” Authors told a panel of state legislators on Thursday that the projections, based on the 2010 census and interim surveys, are likely to be revised based on the results of the 2020 census. The first available numbers this week from the 2020 census show New Mexico’s population grew by 2.8% over the last decade, making it one of the slowest-growing states in the West. In the West, only Wyoming had a slower growth rate.,,MORE

'Godzilla' shark discovered in New Mexico gets formal name

The 300-million-year-old shark's teeth were the first sign that it might be a distinct species. The ancient chompers looked less like the spear-like rows of teeth of related species. They were squatter and shorter, less than an inch long, around 2 centimeters. "Great for grasping and crushing prey rather than piercing prey," said discoverer John-Paul Hodnett, who was a graduate student when he unearthed the first fossils of the shark at a dig east of Albuquerque in 2013. This week, Hodnett and a slew of other researchers published their findings in a bulletin of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science identifying the shark as a separate species. He named the 6.7-foot (2 meter) monster Dracopristis hoffmanorum, or Hoffman's Dragon Shark, in honor of the New Mexico family that owns the land in the Manzano Mountains where the fossils were found. Hodnett says the area is rife with fossils and easy to access because of a quarry and other commercial digging operations...MORE

This NM Place Has Picked Every President Since 1952. Is Its Streak About to End?

You know what they say: “As Valencia County goes, so goes the nation.” What? You’ve never heard that? You’ve never even heard of Valencia County? Well, I suppose that’s not altogether surprising. Tucked into the sublime, mountain-ringed deserts south of Albuquerque, Valencia County has a population of 76,688 people. It’s the sixth-most populous county in New Mexico, a state not exactly known for its populous counties. It’s probably not a place you’ve visited. It’s surely not a place you’d assign any political significance. Except that Valencia County has the longest streak of picking presidents of any county in the United States. It started in 1952, when Dwight D. Eisenhower ended the Democratic Party’s two-decade-long occupation of the White House. In every election since, the candidate who has carried Valencia County has also won the presidency. As if that weren’t impressive enough, the candidates’ vote share here has often mirrored (or come very close to mirroring) their performances nationally, making this county the unlikeliest microcosm of American elections. That’s right. Forget Ohio. Forget Pennsylvania. Forget Florida, Florida, Florida. The true bellwether of presidential politics is a rectangle-shaped 1,068 square miles of cattle ranches, Native American reservations and commuter suburbs, an obscure county in a small Southwestern state that hasn’t been nationally competitive since 2004. Political scientists will tell you that using one place to gauge the broader behaviors of America is dangerous; that voters have self-selected—culturally, economically, geographically—in ways that breed mass polarization, turning red areas redder and blue areas bluer, all while making national campaigns less about persuasion than about pure base mobilization. But that’s precisely why Valencia County’s 68-year streak is so remarkable: In an era when partisan loyalties have hardened, a tiny subgroup of New Mexicans has defied definition in a way that no other community of voters can claim. So, what gives? What makes Valencia County the most accurate voting jurisdiction in America?...MORE

On first day of new term, Supreme Court seems skeptical of Texas’ arguments in interstate water dispute with New Mexico

Reed Benson

On the opening day of its new term, an eight-member Supreme Court – with one vacancy following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg – heard argument Monday in Texas v. New Mexico, a new dispute in a long-dormant Supreme Court case over the waters of the Pecos River. The Pecos River Compact, approved by Congress in 1949, apportions these waters between upstream New Mexico and downstream Texas. Legal and technical disputes over New Mexico’s obligations led to landmark Supreme Court decisions in the 1980s and a decree requiring New Mexico to increase its deliveries of water to the Texas state line. The court also appointed a “river master” to perform the calculations needed to determine New Mexico’s ongoing compliance.

The Pecos River master is one of only two such officials in the nation, appointed by the court to oversee one of its interstate water decrees. Only the Supreme Court can review a river master decision, but the court has never taken up a state’s challenge to such a decision until now. Thus, this latest round in Texas v. New Mexico is a first in the court’s interstate water jurisprudence dating back to the early days of the 20th century.

The current dispute originated with a tropical storm that dumped heavy rains on the Pecos Basin in September 2014. That water was stored in a federal reservoir, Brantley, located on the Pecos in New Mexico and operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The bureau originally retained the high flows in Brantley for flood control purposes, but soon Texas asked that they be held in the reservoir and released later so that Texas could use them during the next irrigation season. Weather conditions in Texas did not cooperate, however, and in the end the bureau released the water the following summer at a time when Texas was unable to use it. During the months the water was held in Brantley, however, over 20,000 acre-feet of water evaporated.  (An acre-foot is a measure of water volume, slightly less than one-third of a million gallons.)

After initially seeming close to an agreement on the accounting treatment of these losses, the two states reached an impasse, and the river master was forced to decide how to allocate them. He eventually decided that Texas should bear most of the evaporation losses, and all of them after March 1, 2015, when there was no longer a flood-control reason to keep the water in Brantley. He based this decision on a provision of the “River Master’s Manual,” which is incorporated by reference in the Supreme Court’s decree that resolved the earlier litigation. Texas challenged this determination, and the Court agreed to review it under a provision of the decree providing for such decisions to be reviewed under a “clearly erroneous” standard.

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New Mexico and The Bomb

Parsons

Ollie Reed, Jr.

At 7:30 on the morning of Aug. 6, 1945, Navy Capt. William Sterling “Deak” Parsons squeezed his way into the dark bomb bay of a B-29 Superfortress named the Enola Gay. Parsons, 43 at the time and the weaponeer on the Enola Gay, grew up in Fort Sumner. An exceptional student, he spoke Spanish fluently, finished at Fort Sumner High in 1918 and was accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy, from which he graduated in 1922. Parsons’ military specialty was ordnance (weapons). He was associate director at Los Alamos during the development of nuclear weapons there, and he had observed, from the vantage point of an airborne B-29, the detonation of the first atomic bomb at New Mexico’s Trinity Site on July 16, 1945. Now, three weeks after the test explosion at Trinity, Parsons was aboard another B-29. He sidled his way up to a 10-foot-long atomic bomb nicknamed Little Boy and armed it. At 8:15 a.m. on Aug. 6, 1945, Little Boy dropped from the Enola Gay, exploded at 1,800 feet above Hiroshima and immediately killed 70,000 to 80,000 people, 30% of the city’s population, mostly civilians, and wiped out 4.7 square miles. “Maybe another 60,000 to 70,000 people died within several months afterwards from radiation,” said history professor Jon Hunner, now retired from New Mexico State University. “With nuclear weapons, we now have the possibility of ending human history, the threat of mutual assured destruction.” A second atomic bomb, Fat Man, was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, on Aug. 9, 1945. It killed more than 45,000 people on detonation. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, ending World War II. Both Little Boy and Fat Man had been designed and built at Los Alamos, as had the Gadget, a plutonium bomb tested at Trinity Site, a portion of the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range, 30 miles southeast of Socorro. All this was part of the Manhattan Project, the United States’ effort to create an atomic bomb for use in World War II. New Mexico was vital to the building of the bomb, but the bomb proved as essential to the building of New Mexico...MORE

Statues Of Conquistador Juan De Oñate Come Down As New Mexico Wrestles With History

John Burnett

The movement for racial justice is toppling statues across America, from Robert E. Lee to Christopher Columbus — and now the Spanish conquistador, Juan de Oñate, the first European to colonize the arid wilderness of New Mexico, the state's first colonial governor and a despot who inflicted misery on Native Americans. Tensions boiled over recently at a demonstration to remove his statue, where a man seen defending the statue allegedly shot a protester. The confrontation has revealed fault lines over how native and Hispanic history are told. Time was when there were costumed pageants in the cities of Santa Fe and Española that reenacted the entry of Spanish governors into New Mexico, but both have been permanently cancelled after protests that they were culturally offensive to Native Americans. And time was when there were two bronze statues of Oñate, who established the first European settlement in America west of the Mississippi. In Albuquerque last month, protesters wrapped a chain around the neck of the bearded, armored figure, chanting, "Tear it down!" Authorities have removed both statues and put them in storage, with their futures uncertain. Historically, Native Americans say they were tyrannized by Spaniards. Hispanics say New Mexico wouldn't have its unique hybrid Spanish-native culture if it weren't for their ancestors. Melanie Yazzie, who is Navajo, asserts that original inhabitants deserve the dominant voice. She's a professor of Native American and American Studies at UNM and a co-founder of the Indian rights group, The Red Nation. "I mean, this is Albuquerque," she said, "and it's considered kind of an American city. But this is actually Tewa land. This is Pueblo land. And so the people you should be listening to, first and foremost, when it comes to the history of colonization are the native people whose land you're occupying." For some New Mexicans, the figure of Oñate in bronze, and the name Oñate on a local elementary school and on a building at UNM, represent a festering wound. "Someone might look at the statue and say, 'I see the beginning of Hispanic culture. I see the Spanish language being brought. I see Catholicism starting here,'" said state historian Rob Martinez. "But someone else will look at it and say, 'I see my religion being suppressed. I see my culture being eliminated. I see my ancestors being forced to work and pay tribute.'" The person whom one historian calls the last conquistador is one of the seminal figures in New Mexico history. But some Hispanic New Mexicans — many who trace their lineage to the founding colonists — are just as adamant that their history be told, not erased. "Sure he wasn't a saint, but you can't put aside what the Spanish brought — the horse, the pig, sheep, the cow, wine and the mining industry," said Reynaldo "Sonny" Rivera, the acclaimed sculptor of the two Oñate statues. The one in Albuquerque was of the conquistador afoot, leading a procession of settlers with oxcarts and animals, and the sculpture in Alcalde, north of Santa Fe, showed him on a horse ready for battle. Though Rivera gave his okay for the city to remove the Albuquerque statue for safekeeping, he's fuming over the outcome. "Indian lives matter. But also my people, Hispanic lives, matter. I matter. My art matters. And I'm pissed," he said...MORE

W.O. Culbertson, Jr

Myles Culbertson

Our dad was born in 1915, 105 years ago. It seems strange and frankly unreasonable to think that, if he were still with us, he would be that old. He is still too known, too familiar, his example and lessons too fresh in my mind. But then I realize that we all are a long term influence on our kids and grandkids, and that time is measured by generations that can stretch easily to a century. It is a matter of legacy.

W.O. Culbertson, Jr was born in Tucumcari, NM, a restless budding railroad and cattle town, sometimes also called Six-shooter Siding. That same year his father and R.S. Coon of Dalhart, Texas created a partnership that soon would operate on ranches from Dalhart to the New Mexico line and develop the largest herd of registered cattle in the world. Dad grew up in Dalhart and on the ranches, and was from an early age a good cowboy, a characteristic that defined him more than any other experience. Considering the reach of his life and the broad spectrum of associates and friends, my father seemed to have the most regard and strongest connection to those who were good cowboys and horsemen.
The period of depression and drought in the ‘30s was among the early events that defined “the greatest generation.” Economic collapse and complete absence of life-giving rain brutally tested the strength and resolve of ranchers and farmers in the west, especially the plains states. Dalhart seemed to be in the bulls-eye of the black dust storms of the “Dirty Thirties,” deserving of its nickname as the capitol of the dust bowl. Many gave up for prospects elsewhere, inspiring Steinbeck’s great work, “The Grapes of Wrath.” The Coon & Culbertson ranch stuck it out, searching for feed and forage wherever it could be found. It is said my grandfather searched out and bought hay by the train car-load wherever he could, to be offloaded onto wagons and carried straight out to the cattle. These were Dad’s formative years and the early shaping of his identity as a cattleman.
W.O. enrolled at Texas A&M College where, in 1938, he earned his degree in Animal Husbandry as well as his officer’s commission in the United States Army Reserve. Dad was an Aggie, through and through. From an early age us kids knew the Aggie Fight Song by heart and probably could have identified most of the main attractions of “Aggieland” on first sight. I didn’t attend A&M, but he seemed not to mind, or at least he didn’t show it. Anyway, he came back to the ranch in the spring of ‘38, as he always knew he would, “caught his horses,” and went to work managing the outfit. In 1939 Coon & Culbertson dissolved their enterprise and, with Mr. Coon’s encouragement, my grandfather created a new partnership with his sons, acquiring ranchland and moving the cowherd to Harding County, New Mexico.
In 1940 Dad and his hometown sweetheart, Marie Ellen Foltz, eloped to Santa Fe to be married. M.E., as he always called her, was the oldest of three daughters in a railroad family. A red haired beauty, she had been the first Queen of Dalhart’s famed XIT reunion in 1937. W.O. & M.E. made their first home in a little rock house at the “Baca Ranch” on the Ute Creek, near Bueyeros, NM.
War came with the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7th, 1941, and Dad was called to active duty. After artillery training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Lieutenant Culbertson said goodbye to his bride, boarded a train, and shipped out to the Pacific theater. My brother Bill was born in 1942 and saw his dad only once in the four years of World War II.
Few events of history affect the pathways of peoples’ lives like those of war. 400,000 Americans gave their lives, and, in their sacrifice, gave up the opportunity to be fathers. Dad was in the Army’s 98th Division, which was among the forces preparing for Operation Downfall, the invasion of Japan. Military planners projected as many as one million American casualties in the invasion, and the particular assignment for the 98th was known to be pretty much a suicide mission. The battle force was getting ready to go with ships loading supplies and gear at the docks in Hawaii, and Dad’s duffel bag was already packed and on the troop ship. Then, Hiroshima and in a few days Nagasaki, and soon afterward the war was over. Within weeks, Captain Culbertson was on his way home.
Out of the Service and back on the ranch, Dad revived what had been begun before the war, ranching and cowboying, but he also found himself involved in another kind of service, having been elected to the Harding County Commission and later the NM House of Representatives. In 1947 I was born, making the little house on the Baca Ranch just a little tighter fit for the family.
In 1950, brother Cary was born, and at the same time the family ranch company bought the Park Springs Ranch, halfway between Las Vegas and Santa Rosa. Our family moved there early that year and began the next chapter of life’s adventure. Sister Jane Ellen was born in 1953. For 34 years Park Springs Ranch was an anchor point for how we measured our story as a family, whether on the ranch or away. Las Vegas became the community that provided the source for friendships, shopping, school, church, and all the rest.
Dad was prominent in New Mexico politics as a legislator, candidate for Governor, candidate for Lt Governor, and a respected advisor to numerous political leaders, statewide and nationally. He was a businessman, cattleman, cowboy, horseman, pilot, freemason, speaker, and occasional lay preacher. He did and saw many things, had many friends, and reached across a broad spectrum of private and public life; but to me and my siblings he was, above any of that, always present in the life of the family, the one who taught the skills, required the standards, provided the example, and showed the way. He was insightful, humble, gregarious, engaging, and respected people without regard to their station in life.
Dad passed away thirty six years ago, and yet sometimes I still meet people who upon mention of him remark, “He was a fine man.” Maybe that is, in a phrase, what we are called upon to pass down to the generations; the thing that we might hope to be said of any of us in our one-hundredth year. It is a matter of legacy.

For some great stories and memories you should check out My Plunder: Westerners and Warriors by Myles Culbertson. This book has excellent writing and is illustrated by Mike Capron.

And while you're at it, you may also want to check out WRECKS and WRECKOLLECTIONS TAMERLANE: A story of a horse and a collection of bygone times by Cary Culbertson.

Pie Town pie shop closed for good

PIE TOWN, N.M.- Pie-O-Neer Pies, a popular bakery and New Mexico staple in the heart of Pie Town, has closed its doors for good amid COVID-19. They closed on June 15. “To close a business is a huge step. To close a business that has been your life’s work is walking away from something you loved and nurtured, “said Pie-O-Neer’s owner, Kathy Knapp. “You have to be realistic about the money, the bills and the utilities. The overhead doesn’t stop. When there’s no income, you can only put things off for so long; you have to make decisions, choices.” Knapp said they tried alternatives but to no avail. Knapp said the decision to shut down after 25 years wasn’t an easy one. “The lines blur. The lines blur when your business is your life,” she said. “It’s a family business. It always was and then friends came along to replace family members, and they became like family.” Knapp said ‘Pie-O-Neer Pies’ was a home away from home where family, friends and loved ones often laughed, relaxed and stuffed their faces with pies...MORE

Advocates question investigations used to target wolves

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — An environmental group is raising questions about investigations into livestock kills by Mexican gray wolves in the southwestern U.S. The Western Watersheds Project has documented oddities, errors or conflicting details in more than two-thirds of the 117 investigations it reviewed from 2019. The investigations are used to compensate ranchers for cattle that are killed in Arizona and New Mexico. Greta Anderson, the group’s deputy director, said she found numerous cases that were deemed to be “confirmed” wolf kills were based on what she described as logical leaps and a stunning lack of evidence. Wolves may be paying for such inaccuracies with their lives, she said. In March alone, government hunters killed four wolves in New Mexico under federal removal orders that cited repeated attacks on livestock in the area. “We want to make sure if wolves are being blamed that it’s true,” Anderson said told the Arizona Daily Star. “We have a lot of questions. We don’t have a bunch of conclusions.” In one case, the remains of a dead cow were found last year in the bottom of a canyon near Reserve, New Mexico. All that was left was a wadded scrap of dried hide that investigators photographed and then collected. They soaked the skin for weeks before it was soft enough for them to find tooth marks on it. The size of the bite and the location of the hide was all the federal government needed to confirm this 4-year-old cow was killed by a wolf...Wildlife Services spokeswoman Tanya Espinosa said the agency tries to conduct its investigations within 24 hours of being notified of a livestock kill. The agency received funding this year to hire conflict prevention specialists. Some of that work will focus on wolf conflicts, she said. Last year marked a record for livestock kills, and officials say this year is on a similar pace. In April alone, more than two dozen livestock kills were confirmed. Brady McGee, the Mexican wolf recovery coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service, said New Mexico’s Gila National Forest offers some of the best wolf habitat and grazing goes on there year-round. While a number of factors go into deciding whether to catch or kill a wolf, McGee said the basis of the removal orders are due to wolf-livestock conflicts. Removal is a last resort, he said...MORE

New Mexico Finds Money to Teach Eco-Left Agenda to Children During Massive Budget Deficit

It’s no secret New Mexico is facing a massive budget deficit that will force the Legislature into a special session sometime in June. However, it looks like the priorities of the eco-left aren’t on the chopping block. The state Economic Development Department put out a public notice earlier this week letting everyone know they have money to spare. The state is looking for local governments or non-profits to apply for the new “Outdoor Equity Fund.” Taxpayer-funded awards between $1,500 and $15,000 will go to applicants who find the best way to teach children about “climate change and the environment as part of an outdoor recreation program.”...MORE

Court ruling derails Ft. Sill Apache tribe's casino plans at Akela Flats, NM

Late last week, United States District Court Judge Ellen S. Huvelle issued an opinion upholding the National Indian Gaming Commission’s (“NIGC’s”) determination that the Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma was not eligible to game in New Mexico. Fort Sill is a federally recognized Indian tribe located in Oklahoma that has land at Akela Flats, located 18 miles east of Deming, New Mexico, off of Interstate 10. The Akela Flats land was donated to Fort Sill in the late 1990s. Fort Sill tried to open a small casino on the land in 2008. The casino was shut down quickly by the NIGC and former Governor Bill Richardson ordered a state police blockade at the location where the Apache Homelands operates a diner, convenience store and smoke shop. The NIGC determined that Fort Sill did not qualify under any of the exceptions to the general prohibition against tribes gaming on lands acquired after 1988 in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) that was enacted by Congress. The casino plan at Akela Flats included jobs for an economically depressed Luna County. Back in 2008, the county staggered in at a percentage rate of unemployment that reached double-digits. After many years of arguing that they should be able to game at Akela Flats, Fort Sill took the NIGC to court because the NIGC would not reverse its decision. District Court Judge Huvelle dismissed each argument made by Fort Sill. As a result, Fort Sill will not be gaming in New Mexico any time soon...MORE

Western Horseman Presents 2020 Women of the West Award

Western Horseman magazine began its popular Women of the West series in the March 2007 issue, to honor women who embody ranching values, are committed to caring for their land and livestock, garner respect in the agricultural community, and make their living horseback every day. New Mexico rancher Linda Davis was the first woman featured in the series and set the stage for other women to be spotlighted monthly ever since. Western Horseman celebrated Linda’s continuous contributions to the stock horse and ranching industries by presenting her with the second Women of the West Award last January during the Art of the Cowgirl event in Phoenix, Arizona. Judy Wagner, vice president of marketing and communications for Montana Silversmiths, received the first award in 2019. A fourth-generation rancher, Linda was raised by her father, Albert Mitchell, who managed his Tequesquite Ranch and the Bell Ranch in New Mexico and also served four terms as president of the American Quarter Horse Association. In 1953, she married Les Davis, and the couple managed the family’s CS Cattle Company, founded in 1873. They raised six children on the ranch and continued its reputable cattle and horse operation, which won the 2000 AQHA Best Remuda award. At 89, Linda remains active on the ranch with her children and grandchildren, and is an avid Western art collector and supporter of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, serving on their board of directors since 1988. She was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 1995 and received the National Ranching Heritage Center’s Golden Spur Award in 1992...MORE

Udall, Heinrich Introduce Wild & Scenic Legislation to Protect the Gila River

WASHINGTON—Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) announced the introduction of legislation to designate portions of the Gila River, its watershed and other rivers in the Gila National Forest as Wild and Scenic Rivers. The legislation will be a boon to New Mexico’s outdoor economy, while protecting an irreplaceable natural resource for future generations of New Mexicans. The senators developed the legislation taking into account the large amount of feedback provided by community members, private landowners, outdoor recreation enthusiasts, local officials, farmers, ranchers and others.

The Greater Gila watershed, which includes the San Francisco River and other main tributaries, comprises the largest remaining network of naturally flowing river segments in the Southwestern United States. New Mexicans have cherished the Gila for generations for its spectacular scenery and wildlife habitat, shared family experiences, unique fishing and recreational opportunities, abundant cultural resources, and as a clean water source for countless traditional uses.

A webpage with a summary of the legislation, maps detailing protection areas and frequently asked questions is available HERE.

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AUDIO: Udall, Heinrich, Lt. Governor, County Commissioner, Local Business Owner Discuss Wild & Scenic Bill To Protect the Gila River

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich held a teleconference to announce the M.H. Dutch Salmon Greater Gila Wild and Scenic River Act to designate portions of the Gila River, its watershed and other rivers in the Gila National Forest as Wild and Scenic Rivers. The senators were joined by New Mexico Lieutenant Governor Howie Morales, Grant County Commissioner Chris Ponce, Gila Backcountry Services Co-Owner Jamie Crockett.
AUDIO: Teleconference Announcing M.H. Dutch Salmon Greater Gila Wild and Scenic River Act
“During times like these, the importance of preserving our outdoor treasures–and the joy, peace and beauty they give us—could not be clearer. Like so many New Mexicans, I’ve had the great joy of spending time on the Gila. Camping along the river. Sleeping under the stars. Experiencing the rejuvenation and invigoration that this river has provided to generations of New Mexicans. To ensure our communities and future generations can enjoy and benefit from the Gila like we have – we need to act to protect it,” said Udall.
For Senator Udall’s remarks as prepared for delivery, please click HERE.
“New Mexicans have always understood that water is life. We know how vital managing this precious resource is to preserving our economy, our environment, and our traditions. There are very few places left where you can understand what that truly means. I can think of no greater example than the headwaters of the Gila—a place near and dear to my heart and special to so many New Mexicans,” said Heinrich.
For Senator Heinrich’s remarks as prepared for delivery, please click HERE. 

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NM cattle ranchers fear ‘demise’ of industry

Gerald and Claudio Chacon continue a tradition their family started in the late-1800s – raising herds of cattle in rural Rio Arriba County. Both men had careers outside agriculture, but now spend their retirement maintaining a herd of a little over 200 cows and their calves. Rugged northern New Mexico is not easy on cattle ranchers. Mountainous terrain, harsh winters, cattle thieves and an extended drought make it difficult to squeeze out a profit in an extremely tight market. And that was before the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, prices for beef in grocery stores have skyrocketed as many packing plants across the country, almost all of which are managed by such large corporations as Tyson Foods, attempt to manage outbreaks that infect employees and reduce production. But while consumers pay more for beef, corporations are paying ranchers around 30% less for calves, New Mexico ranchers’ main product. The sudden drop in prices has left many unsure how they will finance the massive costs of running a cattle operation in New Mexico. Most ranchers in New Mexico sell the bulk of their calves in the fall, one paycheck for a year’s worth of work. Gerald Chacon said his family has seen plenty of years where profits weren’t as good, but that this year is something different. “This one may be one of the worst, because of the prices and the uncertainty of it,” he said. Gerald’s nephew, Matt Reitzel, works for his uncle on the ranch year-round and guides herds across 20,000 acres of the Carson National Forest, just north of Ojo Caliente. It’s not yet summer, but the ground is already bone dry and the dirt feels like sand. “This is shaping up to be a nasty summer,” Reitzel said. ‘We’d still be in the mud, usually.” A man then drove up to the cowboys in an all-terrain vehicle and told them a mountain lion had killed one of their calves. A look of tempered frustration swept over their faces. “We’ve always had something difficult to face,” Gerald Chacon said. “That’s just the nature of living here and being in this industry.” That experience shows in how they maintain their herd. They manage to find their cattle across a vast landscape, guiding them to various wells and pastures, using only memory and tracks. So far, the virus has not impacted their work. But Gerald fears that if prices don’t rise by October, he may not be able to pass on the herd to his nephew and their operation won’t continue. “Nobody really knows where it’s going to end up,” he said...MORE

$96M ranch on historic New Mexico coal mining site for sale

It is a rare piece of property on the market in New Mexico, and the price tag reflects that. A large ranch with a rich, dark history is up for sale for a mere $96 million. From the ground, visitors will see a modest, historic four-bedroom house, but a view from above of the expansive property shows what the real selling point is at Dawson Elk Valley Ranch near Cimarron. “In terms of interest, it has kind of been unprecedented,” said Hall and Hall Real Estate Partner Jeff Buerger. “I have been shocked by the amount of interest this ranch has generated.” Even though there is no mansion on the property, the ranch includes more than 50,000 deeded acres of land. It offers 11 miles of both banks of the Vermejo River and a flourishing resident elk herd population. Plus, there is one more thing. The purchase includes 50% interest in the nearly 37-mile York Canyon Branch Spur Rail Line. “Kind of an interesting thing that someone would own 50 percent of a private railroad,” Buerger said. “Only one time in my career have I experienced a ranch with a private ownership of a railroad.” The property is also connected to some unique and dark New Mexico history. It used to be home to a big coal-mining town of 9,000 people, even featuring an opera house. However, an explosion in 1913 made it the site of the second-worst coal mining disaster in U.S. history. Another disaster followed ten years later. In all, more than 380 people died. Most of the buildings were torn down afterward, but the real estate company now selling it says the current owner has tried to preserve what is left of the historic site and allow access to those who want to pay their respects. They say they want to make sure the new owner will do the same as well. Billionaire Brad Kelley currently owns the ranch. Forbes lists him as one of the largest land owners in the country.  KRQE