Much of this article covers the Wildlife Services contract

[Editor's Note: This is part 1 of a multi-series of articles on the Grant County Commission work session of June 25, 2019 and the regular meeting of June 27, 2019.]

By Mary Alice Murphy

Grant County directors and administrators presented their reports at the beginning of the Grant County Commission work session on June 25, 2019.

Detention Center Mike Carillo said the commissioners had his short report in the packet and received no questions.

Road Superintendent Earl Moore said his crews had started Rosedale Road the previous day. "Our asphalt provider is having trouble with his hot plant, so the paving is on hold until after July 4."

Community Development and Planning Director Michael "Mischa" Larisch reported the Shooting Range will finally get its 30-year permit at the first of the fiscal year. "We will move forward with grants to upgrade the facility. We had no biological or cultural problems with the Community Development Block Grant application, and it was submitted last week. We are finalizing the bid documents for Souder Miller for the Tyrone ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) project."

He said he had received some input on the Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan (ICIP) from the county manager and other directors, and he will be working on prioritizing the projects.

"I'm working on a Federal Aviation Administration grant for the airport," Larisch said. "We got some funding from the New Mexico Environment Department to conduct phase II planning for the old detention center. I will also be working on what needs to be done for the airport road."

Commissioner Alicia Edwards asked about the Hanover Mutual Domestic Water Consumer Association and its water problems.

"Priscilla (Lucero, Southwest New Mexico Council of Governments executive director) is working on the application for funding after you commissioners approved emergency status for the association," Larisch said. "They hope to recoup what they have paid so far. She intends to get more funding for a hydrological study."

Edwards asked if the county was involved in the mis-engineering of the project.

"No," Larisch said. "Most of the mutual domestic water association work with the COG for bidding and awarding."

Commissioner Javier Salas asked if funding for the airport road was on the ICIP (infrastructure capital improvement plan). Larisch said it will be funded with general obligation bond money.

County Manager Charlene Webb reported that Grant County was selected to apply for $2.5 million as part of a Human Services Department initiative to look at behavioral health issues in rural New Mexico. "We were selected as a pilot program. It aligns with the Stepping Up program we've been working on. We will be working with other resources in the community. The program aims to reduce recidivism into the jails. We will submit a plan by July 10. It would be a very beneficial pilot and could lead to further funding. We're already doing a lot of the steps. The selection was based on the statistics from our jail and the data on suicide and overdose rates in our county."

No one gave public input.

A presentation on the work/financial plan for the cooperative services agreement between the county and the US Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS-WS) was given by retired District Supervisor for Wildlife Services Keel Price.

"I am a Grant County resident," Price said. "When I retired, they got a new supervisor who came from another agency. It's a long learning curve. I managed to pull a report for him that had gotten lost. I spent most of my career as a wildlife biologist for the USDA. I had the privilege of coming to New Mexico to serve as the supervisor of the southern district of APHIS. I have had to address well-meaning wildlife activists and have received malignments on what we do. As the quote says: 'Figures don't lie, but liars figure.' You have been told that my field man makes $82 an hour and $82,000 a year. As his former supervisor, I can assure you that I didn't make that much, and he certainly doesn't make that much. Brandon Jones last year put in 2.497 hours in Grant County, substantially more than was required. Anecdotally, if you decide to break the 50 percent funded contract, which is mandated by Congress, you will have people taking wildlife management into their own hands."

He said he once had a pigeon problem he had to try to handle. "We used poison, which, yes, it killed the pigeons, but then raptors fed on the pigeons and the raptors died. Things are much worse in rural areas. There is a lot of private land and locked gates. I have seen incidental hunting, even of bald eagles, before I became a wildlife biologist. I served as a field man in Arizona. I dealt with the about-once-in-a-decade or so problem of fox rabies. We would knock down the population as best we could. Never once did the rabies leave Arizona until a few years ago. In Arizona, they passed a new law, no leg-hold traps because they wanted no cruelty. We honor laws that are passed. The traps have nothing to do with cruelty at all. If you outlaw such management tools, you will have unmanaged wildlife. And someone will deal with it, legally or illegally, one way or another. I will end with a quote from a friend, a rancher in Sierra County. 'As I write this, I know there are politicians in power, who knew absolutely that they have done wrong to remain in power. They have purposefully catered to the populist majority instead of doing what is right for the minority of the people who live in rural areas.' I stand for questions."

Commissioner Billy Billings said he had comments and questions. "For those of you who may not know what we're talking about, we have, almost monthly, been approached by a specific individual who has a beef with wildlife services, which is provided by the USDA APHIS. I know personally about the damage that wildlife can cause. They deal with squirrels, which you might not think are bad, but when they chew up your car harness and it costs $800 to $1200 to fix it, there is a problem. I also am aware of pigeons causing problems. They tend to roost on roofs of buildings and apartment complexes, especially near air-conditioning where there may be a leak and perfect conditions for nesting. They carry an airborne disease, which can be transmitted to humans through the air-conditioning ducts. It gets sucked into the residences of unsuspecting tenants."

Price said Billings was referring to psittacosis, a fungal disease. "Pigeons like to hang around swamp coolers, too, and it spreads throughout the building. I saw it first in Washington State. I blood tested my employees and three of them had psittacosis, and you have it for life."

"This is the sort of thing that Brandon has to deal with," Billings said. "We've been given false information. I'm trying to give accurate information. To be clear, 50 percent of this contract is funded by the USDA. It is flow through money from the Taylor Grazing Act, which is paid by ranchers. The program not only benefits ranchers, but also town residents, who may have pigeon or woodpecker problems. I know a lady who had woodpeckers pecking holes in her house. They are a protected species under the Migratory Bird Act. It cost the lady $10,000 in damage to her siding. We've also seen woodpecker damage at the LS Mesa fire station."

Jones, who was in the audience, confirmed the station received at least $10,000 worth of damage.

Billings said the $25,000 from flow through funding is money well spent.

Commissioner Harry Browne asked if they could deal with woodpeckers in a non-lethal manner.

"Our first attempts are always non-lethal," Price said. "We put up an effigy of a great horned owl. It keeps them away for a while, but soon the birds are pooping on it. If you move the effigies around, they are useful longer. Rubber snakes can also be successful at keeping birds away. Too often we have to use lethal means. For woodpeckers, we have to get a permit. I hear from people that lethal doesn't work. If it doesn't, you didn't kill enough. If we don't kill them, someone else will. It may as well be regulated and done by certified, trained professionals in the application of pesticides and such. The training is extreme. People know why and when we do what we do."

Price said his first job was writing NEPA documents in Washington state. "People on the west side of the state didn't want us killing coyotes on the east side of the state. Then the people on the west side of the state got a major Canada Goose problem. People were feeding them, and the geese thrived. They didn't have to migrate anymore, and they had no natural predators whatsoever. All these wealthy liberal people who didn't want people on the east side of the state to kill coyotes did want the geese gone. There were so many geese, the beaches were not usable. The geese caused millions of dollars of damage. Ultimately, about 3,500 were killed. Even my children, much of their education on nature, they learned on the Disney Channel. It's not unreasonable that people are misinformed. The way we manage wildlife is scientifically based."

"Yes, it's the unpopular taking of beautiful wildlife," he admitted. "It should be done humanely. Sometimes, it's a necessity for solving problems."

Browne noted that he serves as a Search and Rescue volunteer and they have come upon gates that had notices that the M44 cyanide canisters were laid in the area. "It's nighttime and we can't see very well. We don't want to accidentally set off one.

He asked: "Are you able to kill woodpeckers, if they are protected?"

"Yes, we have to get a permit," Price said.

Edwards asked about the report that Price said he managed to extract and if the commission could have access to it.

"I no longer have the authority to access it," Price said. "I can talk to Mr. Fajardo (the current supervisor in Las Cruces) and will let him know you are interested in it and would like for it to be shared with the county."

At the regular meeting, the "specific individual" mentioned by Billings spoke in public input. Glenn Griffin said he has figures from last year quoted in the Daily Press, where it said the annual cost of wildlife services is $82,000.

"I have spoken to the commissioners 13 times in the past year about terminating wildlife services," Griffin said. "I have had two dogs trapped in the past decade."

He noted that his commissioner, Billy Billings, writes that he hates socialism, "but he doesn't want to quit the $82,000 a year wildlife services because it would be 'hard to get them back once we quit them.'

Griffin called $450 a squirrel expensive socialism, with no reporting on who and where the $82,000 is spent. He alleged the county's financial director could account for the $25,000 as coming from the ranchers through a pass-through collected from grazing fees, "but she can't account for the remaining $57,000. The balance comes from us, the taxpayers to kill our wildlife for ranchers."

Griffin read from his statement on things such as when Freeport McMoRan goes bankrupt like Asarco did and leaving taxpayers to clean up polluted lands. And he alleged that money is tight in the county, so the commissioners could not support a tax abatement to help the poorest of property owners pay their property taxes, "but they can pay to kill wildlife."

He also said the commission is wrong in supporting a Gila diversion instead of promoting a regional water system.

Griffin predicted the votes, but he came up wrong. He actually got his way, which may mean that the contract dies on June 30, its expiration day, or the county has to pay more to keep it or, probably less likely, the USDA accepts the amendment that will come up later in this report.

Athena Wolf also spoke against the "killing of native species to replace them with cattle." She read a poem and ended with "humanity must live in harmony with nature or we will perish."

Ty Bays, representing Grant County Cattle Growers, asked the commissioners to support wildlife services. "They help us in assisting us with predators, but they are needed by all citizens. What they provide is backed by scientific research. I equate it with not allowing the Sheriff's Department to use lethal methods when warranted. Wildlife Services helps residents manage damaging birds and squirrels."

"I saw Brandon one day and I said: 'I'm seeing lots of coyotes,'" Bays continued. "He asked me if they were killing and I said no. He replied: 'Well, if we take one out, a killer may move in. You have to have damage before I take action.'"

Bays said cattle growers pay property taxes on livestock. "A predator takes one out, it's taking one out of the tax base. You can't just relocate a murdering predator. He'll come back. Brandon is a real professional. He is highly trained and works by scientific research."

Jones came forward in public input. "I've been asking myself if it's worth fighting for. But not only do I owe our services to residents, but I also owe the services to the wildlife. It's not uncommon for a cooperator to call saying he has problems with a calf getting killed. I do an investigation, and I discover it was lightning that killed the calf or a toxic weed or it might be a predator. I once found 13 heifers that had died. When I did the investigation, I discovered marijuana in their stomachs. They had found a plastic wrapped package of marijuana. It was the plastic that killed them. I get a call about a horse being attacked by predators. Sometimes, it's the owner's dogs that attacked. We save wildlife. Yes, wildlife can cause damage, but so can pets and weeds. Without us, citizens will take things into their own hands. We give advice on how to prevent predator attacks. If wildlife services it not here, the wildlife will suffer."

When the item came up for discussion during the regular meeting, Billings made the motion to approve the contract and Salas seconded it.

Browne moved to amend it by adding words to stipulations and restrictions. Before he said them, he commended Jones for speaking. "I appreciated the stories. And I appreciate that lethal is the last resort, but I still feel that some lethal methods are not acceptable. You mentioned indiscriminate killing if wildlife services weren't here. I believe that M44 canisters are highly susceptible to indiscriminate killing. I would like to add under stipulations and restrictions: 'will not include M44 canisters and leg-hold traps.' That leaves considerable discretion to address the worst predators."

Billings brought up the typhus epidemic going on in Los Angeles. It is hitting not only the homeless population, but also officers and residents. "I think it is happening because well-meaning residents don't want poisons used to kill the animals that carry the lice, fleas, and ticks. I understand people are tender-hearted about their animals, but I wouldn't want to eliminate any resources."

Jones said the M44 is a sodium cyanide canister that is baited with stink bait. When a plunger is pulled, it pops up and shoots the cyanide. "Yes, a dog in another state was killed and the kid with him was poisoned. But that is very rare."

Edwards said she appreciated what Mr. Price had to say. "My clarifying questions are: The M44 canister is put in the ground and baited, so any creature attracted to the bait could set it off. How big is it and is it visible to humans?"

Janes said there is a ground sign beside the buried canister, and signs are put on all gates leading to an area where there are canisters set out.

Edwards asked how a determination is made to set the traps. "Are procedures done first?"

"We get a call," Jones said. "We assess the situation. We determine whether the M44 is the best solution. If so, we make sure there are no residents within a mile of where one is set."

Edwards asked how Search and Rescue would know if they were in the area.

"We never put any in near county roads," Jones said. "They are not placed within 200 feet of water and they are usually behind gates, where there will be signs."

Billings asked the significance of using leg-hold traps or M44 canisters.

Jones said he rarely uses the leg-hold traps because they are time consuming to monitor. "I use it only when it is a valuable tool. M44s are very valuable. Very few non-target animals are attracted to them. Yes, the leg-hold can get non-targets."

Griffin was given a chance to rebut. "The incident of the dog and boy was near Pocatello, Idaho. The dog died and the boy was injured. When M44s are used to kill predators, our raptors will feed on them and they will die. Forty-four dogs from 2010-2016 have been killed by being attracted to the cyanide bait."

Billings said he would be reluctant to change his motion. "When you refer to the Sheriff's Department, my mother was killed in a car accident, but we didn't stop driving. A car is a tool. These are trained professionals and they need their tools."

Edwards said she would be repeating herself on the difficult issue. "I see the value of tools, but I'm going to vote in favor of Mr. Browne's amendment. But I believe for the first time in the process. I have felt educated and that you feel confident, Mr. Jones, in your job and that you do it professionally."

Commissioner Chairman Chris Ponce said: "When you take away tools, people take things into their own hands. My grandfather had a ranch, and people poisoned his dogs. I don't prefer taking things into our own hands. He's a professional."

Browne said: "We take away tools all the time. He believes he needs the M44s to keep people from doing worse things. It's our job to make sure he makes his job to fit us."

Salas said he remembers when he was growing up when cowboys went out to get a lion that was killing the cattle. "But was it the right lion? The M44s are like a land mine. I appreciate Griffin's view. I feel the service is necessary, but I can't make up my mind on the usage of the tools."

Browne asked for a vote on the subsidiary to the main motion.

Billings said he thinks the argument of taking things into one's hands is valid. "If a rancher is having problems and Jones can't take care of it, the ranchers will take things into their own hands and a lot of animals will die."

Ponce called for the vote on the amendment. It passed three to two, with Browne, Edwards and Salas voting in favor of the amendment, and Ponce and Billings voting against the amendment. Because the amendment passed, it became part of the original document, which was approved.

Edwards commented that she thought it was interesting how difficult it was for Mr. Price to get the reporting out of the system. "Because it's difficult, we don't know what's happening. It would be much easier to keep the contract if we had more data."

Ponce said: "We don't have a vigilante out there. Jones is a professional. Can we get a report on how many times M44s or leg-hold traps were used?"

Jones said Mr. Fajardo was the one with the authority to pull the report.

Webb said she would propose the amendments to the USDA, "but they might not accept them. It's a standard contract."

The contact was approved with the amendments.

Edwards said: "Go back. The county manager just said she would propose the amendment."

"This is their agreement," Webb said. "It's not ours. They may not accept it before they sign it. I will start on it this afternoon."

"My concern is that there will be no contract at all," Edwards said.

Webb said it was the first time she had encountered this problem with the contract in her years of county government. "If we don't have an approved by USDA contract by its expiration on June 30, we have no contract."

The next article will begin to address the review of the agenda from the work session, as well as decisions made during the regular meeting.