New Mexico lawmakers ask questions about spending by university president and his wife - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
Western New Mexico University President Joseph Shepard was peppered with questions about spending on overseas trips and his wife's use of a university credit card during a hearing Wednesday before a group of powerful lawmakers.
The Legislative Finance Committee — the state's lead budget-writing panel — was hearing presentations from higher education officials on budget priorities when the focus shifted to Shepard and recent reports, including by Searchlight New Mexico, detailing tens of thousands of dollars in spending on international travel and high-end furniture.
The questions come as higher education leaders press lawmakers to funnel more money to state-run colleges and universities, citing inflation and the need to boost faculty compensation to meet growing demands. Nationally, some universities are considering cutting programs as budget shortfalls grow and calls for greater accountability mount.
Shepard told lawmakers during the hearing in Santa Fe that regents vet his spending requests and that he is familiar with policies and procedures that govern the spending of public money.
State Sen. Siah Correa Hemphill, a Democrat who represents the district that includes the university, brought up the allegations of lavish spending at Western New Mexico. An alumnus, she said the university should be considering how spending best serves students and taxpayers.
"Our job is to ensure there is no misuse of taxpayer money on behalf of students and their families, especially when they're experiencing a 3% increase in tuition," she said, adding that she cautioned regents earlier this year against raising rates to ensure New Mexico's scholarship programs are sustainable.
Correa Hemphill's concerns are shared by top officials at the state Department of Higher Education. The agency set a Friday deadline for Shepard to provide justification and documentation for the expenses racked up in recent years by himself and his wife, former CIA operative and activist Valerie Plame.
Aside from travel to South Africa and Europe for student recruiting purposes, the agency wanted to know more about whether public funds were used for Plame's related travel expenses and whether university employees were tapped for cleaning and cooking duties at the president's residence.
Correa Hemphill asked if a cost-benefit analysis had been done on the international trips. Shepard reiterated that the travel was meant to build relationships that would net more international students for Western New Mexico University and that trying to quantify that would be an impossible task.
University officials in a statement said WNMU takes its fiduciary responsibility seriously.
"The university adheres to rigorous fiscal standards to ensure that all dollars are maximized for the benefit of its students, faculty, staff, community and the citizens of New Mexico," the university stated. "This oversight includes not only its internal procedures, but also its board of regents and is independently audited every year."
School officials also noted that Shepard has requested an independent audit that will include addressing the spending that has been questioned.
Julia Morales, the vice president for compliance and communications at the university, noted that enrollment is up 6%, including a 36% increase in freshman class admissions this fall, and that the university is fiscally sound with no major findings on audits over the last 12 years.
Although its name has changed multiple times over the years, Western New Mexico's history dates back to the 1890s, before statehood.
Shepard was appointed president in 2011, following a 16-year career at Florida Gulf State University that included several administrative roles. He earned an undergraduate degree at Northern Arizona University, a business degree from the University of North Texas, and a Ph.D. in public administration from Florida International University.
US wildlife managers capture wandering Mexican wolf, attempt dating game ahead of breeding season - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
A match made in the wilds of New Mexico?
An endangered Mexican wolf captured last weekend after wandering hundreds of miles from Arizona to New Mexico is now being readied for a dating game of sorts as part of federal reintroduction efforts.
But only time will tell whether the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service can succeed in finding a suitable mate for the female wolf numbered F2754. The newly captured wolf will be offered a choice among two brothers that are also housed at the federal government's wolf management facility in central New Mexico.
"We wanted to bring her in earlier so that she has a longer chance to bond with a mate and then hopefully successfully breed," said agency spokeswoman Aislinn Maestas. "We're going to be observing her and waiting to see. Hopefully, she does show interest in one or the other."
It could be late February or early March before biologists know if their efforts are successful.
It has been 25 years since Mexican gray wolves were first reintroduced into the Southwestern U.S. Through captive breeding and targeted releases, wildlife managers have been able to build up the population of what is the rarest subspecies of gray wolf in North America.
Despite fits and starts, the numbers have trended upward, with last year marking the most Mexican gray wolves documented in Arizona and New Mexico since the start of the program.
Federal and state wildlife managers had been tracking the lone female wolf for months, waiting for an opportunity to capture her again. Her journey began in the mountains of southeastern Arizona and crossed the dusty high desert of central New Mexico before reaching the edge of Valles Caldera National Preserve.
She spent weeks moving between the preserve and the San Pedro Mountains. After showing no signs of returning to the wolf recovery area, officials decided to capture her before the start of the breeding season.
Their opportunity came Saturday near the rural community of Coyote, New Mexico. A helicopter crew working with the New Mexico Game and Fish Department shot her with a tranquilizer dart and then readied her for the trip south to the Sevilleta Wolf Management Facility.
It was about the well-being of the wolf, said Brady McGee, the Mexican wolf recovery coordinator.
"Dispersal events like this are often in search of a mate. As there are no other known wolves in the area, she was unlikely to be successful and risked being mistaken for a coyote and shot," he said in a statement.
Officials said the goal is that the match-making efforts net pups in the spring and more wolves can be released to boost the wild population.
The recovery area spanning Arizona and New Mexico is currently home to more than 240 of the endangered predators. There also is a small population in Mexico.
Environmentalists had pushed federal managers to let the solo female wolf be, pointing out that previous efforts to relocate her were unsuccessful following her first attempt to head northward last winter. They also pointed out that the wolf's movements were evidence that the recovery boundaries are insufficient to meet the needs of the expanding population.
"I think what we can say is that we know wolves are driven towards dispersing as a way towards mating with non-related wolves. In the case of Mexican wolves, those unrelated mates are increasingly hard to come by because of the level of inbreeding in the population and the narrow band of Arizona and New Mexico where wolves are allowed to be," said Greta Anderson, deputy director of the Western Watersheds Project.
Ranchers in New Mexico and Arizona have long complained that wolves are responsible for dozens of livestock deaths every year and remain concerned about any expansion of the wolves' range. Rural residents in Colorado are joining them as officials plan to release gray wolves there in the coming weeks.
Oil and gas pollution lawsuit plaintiffs outline legislative priorities – Hannah Grover, New Mexico Political Report
The plaintiffs in a lawsuit alleging that New Mexico has not done enough to protect communities from oil and gas pollution laid out their priorities for the upcoming legislative session Monday evening.
The groups and individuals who call themselves NMLAWS—New Mexico Land, Air, Water and Sacred—said during a webinar this week that they have three pieces of legislation they hope to see passed and are working with Rep. Debra Sariñana, D-Albuquerque, in that effort.
The first one is what they call children’s health protection zones. This would require new oil and gas wells to be built at least a mile away from schools. That is already the practice on state trust land. Additionally, the protection zones would require that existing wells within a mile of a school be closed and remediated by 2028.
This would impact thousands of wells in New Mexico. One elementary school—Mettie Jordan Elementary School in Eunice—has more than 200 active wells within a mile of it, according to a map that Silas Grant with the Center for Biological Diversity displayed during the webinar.
However, that could run into some legal challenges as the oil and gas operators have entered into lease agreements that give them the right to develop leases and extract fossil fuels for a certain period of time. For example, oil and gas leases through the U.S. Bureau of Land Management are generally 10 year leases.
Gail Evans, an attorney representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said that if the legislation becomes law there would need to be an administrative procedure in place for the Oil Conservation Division to properly apply that law.
The second piece of legislation that the plaintiffs hope to see passed this session they described as increasing accountability for oil and gas companies. That means when a spill happens there would be mandatory penalties and communities that might be impacted by the spill would have to be notified.
Mario Atencio, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, spoke about a produced water spill on his family’s land in the Eastern Agency of the Navajo Nation near Counselor.
Finally, the plaintiffs say a third piece of legislation would prohibit the use of freshwater in oil and gas extraction in areas where produced water or recycled water can be used.
Jozee Zuniga, a Permian Basin resident and a member of Youth United for Climate Crisis Action, said oil and gas operations are putting community members’ health at risk.
“I can personally speak to the air quality issues by saying, I’m sick, my neighbors are sick, my friends, my family, we’re all sick. And it started maybe two, three years ago where people started getting sicker and no one knew why,” she said.
Air pollution from oil and gas has been linked to increased rates of respiratory illness.
LAWSUIT UPDATE
As for the lawsuit the plaintiff filed, the state of New Mexico has filed a motion to dismiss and the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce has filed a motion to intervene.
The hearing on the motion to intervene by the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce is scheduled for February. Meanwhile, the plaintiffs are still waiting on a hearing about the state’s motion to dismiss.
Evans said the case has a lot in common with the Yazzie v. Martinez lawsuit where plaintiffs argued that the state’s public education department had failed to ensure students were receiving the educational programs and services they were entitled to under the state constitution.
Evans was also the lead counsel on that case. She said in both instances the state filed a motion to dismiss arguing that the case did not belong in courts. In the pollution case, she said the argument the state is making is that the legislature and executive agencies should be left to determine how best to control pollution. But Evans said the state constitution includes a pollution control clause.
“The court has a duty to interpret the constitution and to enforce the constitution,” Evans said, adding that neither the executive nor the legislative branch is above the law and that “they’re certainly not above the mandates of the constitution.”
She said oil and gas has been exempted from pollution control by the state legislature.
For their part, the governor and various state agencies have taken steps in recent years to address pollution from the oil and gas sector while also being cognizant of the role the industry plays in funding New Mexico’s budget. The New Mexico Environment Department has implemented ozone precursor rules and the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department implemented methane regulations that served as a template for the new federal methane regulations.
The state has also taken measures to reduce the use of freshwater in extraction and to prevent new oil and gas wells from being drilled on state lands within a mile of schools.
Most populous New Mexico county resumes sheriff's helicopter operations, months after deadly crash - Associated Press
Sixteen months after a crash killed four first responders, New Mexico's most populous county has resumed its law enforcement helicopter operations.
Bernalillo County Sheriff's officials said the Metro 1 Air Support Unit took to the sky Tuesday after months of training for pilots and mechanics, with some deputies becoming tactical flight officers.
The A-Star B3 helicopter initially will fly law enforcement missions exclusively including air patrol, critical incident response and collaborative operations with the Albuquerque Police Department's Air Unit.
Sheriff's officials said Metro 3 — a fixed-wing Cessna T-41C — will transition to a non-response role and be used solely for training purposes.
They said a new helicopter known as Metro 4 will join the fleet in the coming months with the name Metro 2 being retired in honor of the fallen first responders that included the county's undersheriff.
The Metro 2 helicopter went down in July 2022 while returning from a firefighting mission. The cause of the crash still is being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Following the fatal crash in the hills near the northern New Mexico community of Las Vegas, the sheriff's office suspended helicopter operations.