Congratulations to New Soil & Water Conservation District Boardmembers!

Congratulations! Environmentalists Kevin Bixby and Craig Fenske won election to the Doña Ana Soil & Water Conservation District board Tuesday. That's good news for progressives and moderates – and plants and wildlife.

Tuesday's win was one step in long process of change. The winning campaign gained impetus from popular concern sparked by the election of Donald Trump. The election matched strong opponents and two very different styles of campaigning.

Soil and water district boards exist to protect natural resources for all of us, and for wildlife. They do that elsewhere. Valencia's created a fine wildlife refuge near Belen. Here, the board has focused on assisting ranchers, promoting extremist ideology, and (recently) flood control. Containing floods is an important duty, but the board is also charged with preserving water, helping wildlife, and preventing or controlling soil erosion. 

 

In the past, these were small elections. They're held at odd times. Most people ignore them – which may have suited board-members. (This year the Legislature passed a bill calling for consolidated elections to avoid such situations, but Governor Susanna Martinez vetoed it.) The DASWCD board eventually drew attention for its anti-government, anti-wildlife pronouncements and neglect of most of its duties, eliciting a resounding defeat in a 2014 referendum, when 85% of voters rejected the mill levy the district sought to finance its operations. DASWCD's opposition to the new national monument drew strong challengers in the 2015 board elections. 

 

This week's election was noteworthy. It pitted Republican money against word-of-mouth and door-to-door canvassing by volunteers. One progressive group that provided some of those volunteers did not exist until after the 2016 election results. The Steve Pearce-related PAC Goal West financed extensive mailings, which may be why absentee ballots strongly favored real-estate developer Kent Thurston and incumbent board chairman Joe Delk. Right-wing money was a significant factor in electing Donald Trump and will play a major role in future elections. The energy and spirit of volunteers won't always be sufficient to counteract that.

It also pitted Bixby, founder and CEO of Southwest Environmental Center, against Delk, who says “environmental cartels” diminish Christians. Couldn't be a clearer contrast. Similarly in the Las Cruces “zone,” conservationist Fenske, a former extension agent, defeated Thurston. Some Delk/Thurston supporters say this was a popularity contest, but it felt like a battle over protecting of our natural resources for everyone. (Delk might be a fun guy. I hope to hear his band play some day. But I strongly preferred Bixby to him for a job focused on conserving water and other resources.)

Bixby and Fenske bring new skills to the Board. Both have extensive experience cooperating with federal, state, and local governments, not avoiding them. Both have experience fund-raising and grant-writing. The District has suffered from inadequate funding and misdirection. Bixby and Fenske can help right the board's course – and perhaps help bring in funds to allow the District to do real good for all of us. 

 

Fenske called the win “a community effort.” Bixby thanked “everyone who came out and voted in this election. Democracy's not a spectator sport.” He added, “I look forward to helping all the people of the district--farmers, ranchers, city dwellers, young, old, conservative, liberal. We all have a stake in taking care of our land and water, and making sure we have a livable planet in the future.”

Going forward, let's hope: that DASWCD will bring its board-selection system into compliance with law; that it will be more open and transparent; and that a more varied mix of community members will learn to work collegially to better serve the public and the environment.

                                                          -30-

[The column above appeared in the Las Cruces Sun-News this morning, Sunday, 7 June, 2017, as well as on the newspaper's website and, presently on KRWG's website.  A spoken version runs on KRWG Wednesdays, I think at 7:45 a.m. and 4:45 p.m., and possibly at other times.]


[With various people opining on what DASWCD is supposed to be doing, maybe I can help by reprinting a relevant New Mexico statute:

73-20-26. Legislative determination; purpose of act.  

A.   Considered and resolved by legislative determination, it is declared that:   

(1)   the land, waters and other natural resources are the basic physical assets of New Mexico, and their preservation and development are necessary to protect and promote the health and general welfare of the people of the state;   

(2)   the improper use of land and related natural resources, soil erosion and water loss result in economic waste in New Mexico through the deterioration of the state's natural resources; and   

(3)   appropriate corrective and conservation practices and programs must be encouraged and executed in New Mexico to conserve and develop beneficially the soil, water and other natural resources of the state.   

B.   It is declared to be the policy of the legislature and the purpose of the Soil and Water Conservation District Act [73-20-25 through 73-20-48 NMSA 1978] to:   

(1)   control and prevent soil erosion;   

(2)   prevent floodwater and sediment damage;   

(3)   further the conservation, development, beneficial application and proper disposal of water;   

(4)   promote the use of impounded water for recreation, propagation of fish and wildlife, irrigation and for urban and industrial needs; and   

(5)   by the application of these measures, conserve and develop the natural resources of the state, provide for flood control, preserve wildlife, protect the tax base and promote the health, safety and general welfare of the people of New Mexico. ]

NMSU: the War with the Hawks

New Mexico State University recently removed a hawk's nest just as the hawks were getting ready to start a family.

Initially that appeared illegal. (Swainson's Hawks aren't endangered; but the Migratory Bird Treaty limits what you can do to their habitats, and when.) 

A year ago, these two hawks built a nest. No problem – until fledglings were wandering around, vulnerable, with their parents watching like, well, hawks. The parents defended their young by attacking folks who came too close. Some people got bloody heads. (Someone described a professor striking with a broom at fledglings on a roof. Wish the hawks had attacked that person!)

Last week, again a nest. NMSU employees checked and found no eggs, then pruned away the branch that held the nest. 

Professors, environmentalists, and birding enthusiasts were appalled. Kevin Bixby of SWEC said, “Apart from the fact that they broke the law, they didn't deal with the problem, because the hawks will keep nesting there. They should have seen this as a teaching opportunity. There were a lot of things they could have done to coexist. Instead of what they did, they could have made national news as an innovative institution. We have to learn to coexist with nature.”

I called NMSU Monday. Vice President for Facilities Glen Haubold expressed concern for both birds and humans, and the intention to find a way to coexist. He sounded thoughtful and prudent. He said that some of the injuries last year were serious, and that there's a particular danger when the fledglings land near the swimming pool, where human kids play. (The hawks think it all belongs to them.) He said NMSU was working to harmonize the needs of birds and people. 

Devilan Roper, local enforcement agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department, said NMSU “made a mistake, but they're being really good about the next step.” He said NMSU was consulting experts and volunteers, to design and implement some system of protecting human beings without evicting or attacking the hawks. 

Tuesday I started this column. It praised NMSU. I agree with Bixby that “we need to find a way to coexist with the natural world.” I was glad to learn that Haubold agreed – or seemed to.

Man, was I naive! Thursday afternoon, I learned that the hawks had already built a second nest, and NMSU has destroyed it. A new interpretation says that's legal, and that “active” means “containing eggs,” except with eagles. (I haven't researched the law.) NMSU reportedly will cut down several trees around Regents Row and Renfrow – trees where several other bird species have nests. All that pretty talk about coexistence? Empty. 

I have two degrees from NMSU. We collaborated recently on rewriting NMSU's freedom of expression policy. I wish NMSU would behave better.

Can NMSU legally harry these hawks? Apparently. Does it have reason for concern about harm the birds could do to human staff, students, or visitors? Sure. But a university I could admire would take that as the starting point and do what NMSU spoke of doing when it feared it had to: make the effort to coexist with the natural world and include the environment as a factor in decision-making.

Instead, NMSU is going to do what's easiest and most convenient. Just as it runs sprinklers in daylight, despite our drought, because that's convenient (more staff, easier to spot errant sprinklers in daylight), it'll make war on the hawks. 

NMSU could have shown real leadership here. Nope. Doing what's right can be kind of a pain. Greatness would take effort.

-30-

[This column appeared in the the Las Cruces Sun-News this morning, Sunday, 16 April, and will appear in a few hours on KRWG-TV's website.  I welcome comment at any or all of the three.]

[Initially I typed in "NMSU's War on the Hawks" for a title, but I immediately felt that that was unfair.  NMSU could reasonably argue that the hawks started the war.  So I made the title more neutral.  But whoever started the war, a human being in the 21st Century might kind of hope a university would be smarter and wiser than a pair of Swainson's Hawks, maybe more tolerant, even resourceful and imaginative.  But that proved too tall an order for my alma mater.]

[I've reached out to learn more.  The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Migratory Birds website had this in the FAQ's:

Q. A hawk comes to our yard regularly and sometimes kills birds at my feeders. What can I do to stop this?

A. Nothing. All species of hawks are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and it is illegal to harm, harass or kill them.

I'd sure say NMSU is harassing two hawks -- and arguably harming them.  

But a further conversation (after this column had been set) with Enforcement Agent Roper confirmed that the FWS's position is that what NMSU is doing is legal.  
It also appears that NMSU has contacted FWS about a permit to do more.  That would likely involve moving the hawks, which would be done by an expert, not by NMSU itself; and it could even allow NMSU to kill the hawks, although NMSU's Tom Dobson told me Friday afternoon that "destoying the birds is not an option that we're even pursuing."  
Some of the more ardent supporters of the hawks might wish to follow the permit process, which I'm told moves quickly.  Either send NMSU an IPRA Request, under New Mexico law, and/or direct a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the FWS.  For the FOIA Request, start by clicking here! Or direct the request to fwhq_foia@fws.gov or to:
Melanie Ruiz
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
ESA Litigation/FOIA Coordinator
USFWS-Ecological Services
500 Gold Ave SW
Albuquerque, NM 87102
Office: 505-248-6284 / Fax: 505-248-6788
Email: fw2_foia@fws.gov]

[Incidentally, though having to revise the column left me too little space to mention this, I did also ask Mr. Haubold about the notorious bee's nest incident -- and learned (or think I learned) a couple of things that explain NMSU's conduct in that situation.   I (and many others) had been appalled by the idea that when the world (and agriculture) is suffering from a serious decline in the bee population, NMSU would destroy a bee's nest rather than call a beekeeper, as a baseball team did the same week during spring training.   (Actually, the bee-keeper was in the stands and came down to save the day.  And the bees.)  However, two facts change the equation:  Haubold says the bees weren't the ones we need, but the larger African immigrants (who deserve Trump's attention more than human immigrants do); and he added that NMSU had contacted several local beekeepers, but none had the required equipment.  So on that incident, NMSU apparently got some undeserved bad press.]

[By the way, searching the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website for relevant information did yield some interesting but irrelevant information:

What's the largest bird?

 What's the fastest bird?
Which bird has the longest migration route?

Which bird can rotate its head as much as 280 degrees? 
Who sings loudest during courtship, before dawn? 

(answers at the end of this post)]

I'll keep following the hawk situation.  I kind of hope others speak up.  I'll report anything pertinent I hear, most likely here on the blog rather than in a column.]

[Answers:

What's the largest North American bird?Trumpeter's Swan, which can weigh 28 lbs. and have 9 ft

What's the fastest bird?  Peregrine Falcon, with a documented 117 mph dive

. wing-span

Which bird has the longest migration route? Arctic tern, 22,000 miles, Antarctic to Arctic and back.

Which bird can rotate its head as much as 280 degrees?  Owl
Who sings loudest during courtship, before dawn?  Mockingbird]