ALAMOGORDO, N.M. – County officials in New Mexico have asked for an investigation into alleged waste and mismanagement of public lands by federal wildlife agencies.
Officials from the Otero County Commission made the allegations against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and U.S. Forest Service in a letter, the Alamogordo Daily News reported Monday.
“Unnecessary, prolonged listing (mismanagement) of a species wastes federal agency money (tax payers’ dollars) while also costing stakeholders extra expense and simultaneously decreases fire safety. Stakeholders affected include local governments impacted by reduced tax revenue,” officials said in the letter.
The letter referred to a Sept. 11 opinion by U.S. District Court Judge Raner Collins saying the two agencies were in violation of the Endangered Species Act, county Public Land Use Advisory Council members said.
“That violation has significant impacts to Otero County,” council member Walt Coffman said. “The problem is, of course, it shut down operations in the forest. Here, in Otero County, the impact’s pretty severe.”
Delays could have caused the Mexican Spotted Owl to go extinct because it had not been tracked since it was listed as threatened 26 years ago, he said.
The original tracking plan for the owl was created in 1996, but it would have cost too much, Lincoln National Forest Public Affairs Officer Laura Rabon said.
A new plan was created in 2012 that has provided seven years of tracking information, officials said.
“Should the Inspector General’s Office decide to investigate, we will comply with any requests in a timely and accurate manner as soon as we officially receive it,” Rabon said in an email.
