Guardians Seek State Trust Land To Protect Endangered Habitats

WildEarth Guardians has submitted bids to obtain more than 2,000 acres of state trust land with the aim of protecting streamside habitat for endangered species

Santa Fe, NM - An environmental group has submitted bids to obtain more than 2,000 acres of state trust land with the aim of protecting streamside habitat for endangered species.

One site includes 640 acres and more than a mile of the Rio Puerco northwest of Albuquerque. Santa Fe-based WildEarth Guardians says the area is potential habitat for the Southwest willow flycatcher. The other site is a 1,440-acre parcel northwest of Alamogordo that contains more than a mile of the Lost River, which the group says provides a water source for the White Sands Pupfish.

The group plans to fence out cattle in the area and restore the streams and wetland habitats, said Jim Matison, WildEarth Guardians restoration director.

''We know we can restore these arteries of life, and we've seen amazing recovery on other sites,'' he said. ''But only if we give them the opportunity to come back to life by removing the harmful pressures of livestock grazing and infestations of nonnative vegetation.''

WildEarth Guardians said it has offered to pay at least twice what ranchers currently are paying for the land. More than 99 percent of all state land grazing leases are renewed at the minimum rental rate because of an absence of competition, the group said.

The group currently holds three state land grazing leases.

In late 1996, WildEarth Guardians and Las Cruces-based Southwest Environmental Center, won a lease for 550 acres of state land near Cuba, marking the first time a rancher in New Mexico lost livestock grazing rights to groups intent on removing cattle to protect streamside habitat. The groups submitted the highest offer in a three-way sealed bid contest.

Earlier that year, the state Land Office revised rules to make it harder for environmentalists and other non-ranchers to obtain state grazing leases. The rules prohibited bidders from bidding for just a portion of a state grazing lease - the approach used the previous year by the environmental groups.

Copyright 2006 Albuquerque Journal - Reprinted with permission


 

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