Agencies and Organizations

The following agencies and organizations were selected because their primary responsibility of conserving our Nation's natural resources thereby includes some level of management responsibility for special status species. New Mexico's environmental planners require varying degrees of assistance, consultation, and species information from these agencies and organizations. The following information was excerpted from websites and agency documents.

If your agency or organization involves New Mexico's special-status species and you would like to be represented here, please send us your information. (See CONTACT US).

FEDERAL AGENCIES

U.S. Department of the Interior

http://www.doi.gov/

As the Nation's principal conservation agency, the Department of the Interior has responsibility for most of our nationally owned public lands and natural resources. This includes fostering sound use of our land and water resources; protecting our fish, wildlife, and biological diversity; preserving the environmental and cultural values of our national parks and historical places; and providing for the enjoyment of life through outdoor recreation. The Department assesses our energy and mineral resources and works to ensure that their development is in the best interests of all our people by encouraging stewardship and citizen participation in their care. The Department also has a major responsibility for American Indian reservation communities and for people who live in island territories under U.S. administration.  

The primary agencies with varying levels of management responsibility for wildlife and special status species are agencies of the Department of the Interior and include the:

• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
• U. S. Geological Survey (USGS)
• Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
• National Park Service (NPS)

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

http://www.fws.gov

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 63 Fish and Wildlife Management offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts.

USFWS National Wildlife Refuge System

http://www.fws.gov/refuges/

The mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System is to administer a national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management, and where appropriate, restoration of the fish, wildlife, and plant resources and their habitats within the United States for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans.

USFWS Region 2 - New Mexico Ecological Services Field Office

http://www.fws.gov/ifw2es/NewMexico/

This office works to protect endangered and threatened species, migratory birds, freshwater fish and wildlife habitats in New Mexico. They also work with many other private and public partners to preserve and protect living resources of the New Mexico ecosystems. The Field Office is responsible for formal consultation under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. They review Biological Assessments and project-related documents and issue Biological Opinions for New Mexico projects concerning the potential impacts to federally listed species.

The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS)

http://www.usgs.gov

Mission: The USGS serves the Nation by providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life.

Vision: USGS has become a world leader in the natural sciences thanks to our scientific excellence and responsiveness to society's needs.

As the Nation's largest water, earth, and biological science and civilian mapping agency, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collects, monitors, analyzes, and provides scientific understanding about natural resource conditions, issues, and problems. The diversity of our scientific expertise enables us to carry out large-scale, multi-disciplinary investigations and provide impartial scientific information to resource managers, planners, and others.

Species-related Programs include:

• Fisheries: Aquatic and Endangered Resources Program http://biology.usgs.gov/farp/
• Invasive Species Program http://biology.usgs.gov/invasive/
• Priority Ecosystems Science http://access.usgs.gov/about.html
• Biological Informatics Program http://biology.usgs.gov/bio/
• Status and Trends of Biological Resources http://biology.usgs.gov/status_trends/
At this link, look for the selection “Browse Our Science” at the top of the page.
This will take you to separate pages for Amphibians, Birds, Mammals, and so forth


• Reports from Status & Trends http://biology.usgs.gov/status_trends/reptspubs.html
• Terrestrial, Freshwater, and Marine Ecoysytems http://biology.usgs.gov/ecosystems/

National Park Service

http://www.nps.gov/

The National Park System of the United States comprises 384 areas covering more than 83 million acres in 49 States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan, and the Virgin Islands. These areas are of such national significance as to justify special recognition and protection in accordance with various acts of Congress.

Mission— To preserve, protect, and manage biological resources and related ecosystem processes in the National Park System.

What We Do — Provide expert scientific, planning, and evaluation assistance on management actions and biological resource management issues

Biological Inventories — The Biological Inventories Program provides leadership and technical support to document the biodiversity of all taxa in all National Park Service units.

Ecosystem Management & Restoration — Many park sites have been disturbed by human activities. Parks work aggressively to restore native species and processes and conditions that support those species, to these areas.

Invasive Species Management — Non-indigenous plants and animals are the second greatest threat to native species, after habitat loss.

Migratory Birds — The Migratory Bird Program works to conserve, protect, and restore migratory bird populations from raptors and songbirds to shorebirds in National Parks.

Threatened and Endangered Species — In many regions, parks protect the last remnants of our native ecosystems. These remnants are prime habitat for threatened and endangered species.

The Endangered Species Program works to sustain and recover over a thousand populations of endangered, threatened, proposed, and candidate species in national parks. The Endangered Species ProgramÕs mission is to reduce the risk of extinction of plants and animals in parks, and to restore species that have occurred in parks historically but have been lost due to human activities. The Park Service seeks to be proactive in determining the status of rare species and cooperating with other agencies to conserve declining species to avoid listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Parks provide annual information on the status of every listed species and the amount spent on monitoring and recovery efforts.
See http://www.nature.nps.gov/biology/endangeredspecies/

A summary of federally protected species in national parks is provided at the NPS ESA Database, available at: http://www.nature.nps.gov/biology/endangeredspecies/database/search.cfm

For summaries or recovery efforts in each region, go to the issue of The Endangered Species Bulletin (pdf size 2.2 MB) that is devoted to the park service, available at: http://www.nature.nps.gov/biology/endangeredspecies/bulletin.pdf

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

http://www.blm.gov/

The Bureau of Land Management might best be described as a small agency with a big mission and a lot of ground to cover. As the Nation's largest land manager, the BLM is responsible for more than 260 million acres of public land — nearly one-eighth of all land in the United States — and 700 million acres of Federal subsurface mineral estate nationwide.

Furthermore, the BLM carries out an array of conservation programs throughout the public lands, such as protecting threatened or endangered species, restoring valuable riparian habitat, and preserving historical and paleontological resources.

BLM lands also serve as important areas for conservation programs. Over the past decade, the number of plant and animal species on BLM lands listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act has increased to 305. The BLM's restoration initiatives are growing to meet this demand. In States with sagebrush habitat, for example, the BLM is committed to conserving the greater sage-grouse, a game bird whose numbers have been declining for the last three decades. The agency is working with a variety of partners to carry out on-the-ground projects that conserve habitat vital to the health of sage-grouse and other species that depend on sagebrush for their survival.

(US Department of Agriculture)

United States Forest Service (USFS)

http://www.fs.fed.us/

Established in 1905, the Forest Service is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Forest Service manages public lands in national forests and grasslands.

Mission — The mission of the USDA Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation's forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations.

Motto: Caring for the Land and Serving People — The phrase, “CARING FOR THE LAND AND SERVING PEOPLE,” captures the Forest Service mission. As set forth in law, the mission is to achieve quality land management under the sustainable multiple-use management concept to meet the diverse needs of people.

Protection and management of natural resources on National Forest System lands — As the lead Federal agency in natural resource conservation, the USDA Forest Service provides leadership in the protection, management, and use of the Nation's forest, rangeland, and aquatic ecosystems. Our ecosystem approach to management integrates ecological, economic, and social factors to maintain and enhance the quality of the environment to meet current and future needs.

Southwest Region of USDA; Region 3 — In Arizona and New Mexico, 22.3 million acres comprise the Southwestern Region with 11 national forests and 3 national grasslands (1 grassland each in New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma). The region ranges in elevation from 1,600 feet above sea level and an annual rain fall of 8 inches in Arizona's lower Sonoran Desert to 13,171-foot high Wheeler Peak and over 35 inches of precipitation a year in northern New Mexico.

STATE AGENCIES

New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF)

http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/

The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish is responsible for management of game species within the state of New Mexico. However, the Department's Conservation Services Division specifically addresses special status species and a variety of ecosystem and conservation objectives. Select conservation efforts are funded through the Habitat Stamp Program, a joint venture between sportspersons and the agencies that manage wildlife and their habitat. Licensed hunters, anglers, and trappers, on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) or U. S. Forest Service (USFS) lands, are required to purchase the stamp or validation from the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF). These funds are dedicated to habitat conservation, improvement and rehabilitation projects.

The Department may list as threatened or endangered any native (terrestrial or aquatic) vertebrate, mollusk, or crustacean. Biologists continually evaluate the status of wildlife within the state. Any required changes in listing status are accomplished through their Biennial Reviews. This is a process required under state law, by which every other year the Department evaluates the status of all wildlife listed as threatened or endangered under the New Mexico Wildlife Conservation Act. During this process, the Department cannot add or remove wildlife from the list, but can move species from endangered to threatened, threatened to endangered, or leave their listing status as is. None of these classifications come with any regulatory authority for the state to require consultations or restrict actions based on potential impacts to habitats of these species. The decision regarding state listing status (by law) is made by the State Game Commission, and is to be based solely on biological and ecological factors. Social, economic, and political factors are taken into consideration during the development and implementation of conservation and recovery actions, but do not directly affect the state listing status.

Partnership:
Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy

The Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy is intended to serve as a blueprint that will transform our wildlife conservation efforts from opportunistic to strategic, from a species-by-species focus to a landscape perspective. Available at: http://fws-nmcfwru.nmsu.edu/cwcs/default.htm

(New Mexico) Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department

http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/EMNRD/MAIN/index.htm

Mission: To position New Mexico as a national leader in the energy and natural resources areas for which the Department is responsible.

Our Department goals are:

• to make our state a leader in developing reliable supplies of energy, and energy efficient technologies and practices, with a balanced approach toward conserving our renewable and non-renewable resources
• to protect the environment and ensure responsible reclamation of land and resources affected by mineral extraction
• to be effective in leading our state in growing healthy, sustainable forests and managing them for a variety of users and ecologically sound uses, and
• to improve the state park system into a nationwide leader that protects New Mexico's natural, cultural and recreational resources for posterity and contributes to a sustainable economy statewide

Forestry Division of EMNRD http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/EMNRD/forestry/index.htm

The EMNRD's Forestry Division is tasked with generating the list of endangered plant species in New Mexico. These plants are protected under Title 19 of NMAC.

STATE INSTITUTIONS

University of New Mexico

http://www.unm.edu/

Museum of Southwestern Biology (MSB)

http://www.msb.unm.edu/

The Museum of Southwestern Biology is a research and teaching facility in the Department of Biology, University of New Mexico. MSB houses collections of vertebrates, arthropods, plants and genomic materials from the American Southwest, Central and South America, and from throughout the world. The MSB consists of nine divisions, one special program (the USGS Arid Lands Field Station) and an inter-divisional program in biodiversity informatics.

Each division or program sets its own policies for visitors, researchers and data inquiries. For further information visit the appropriate division's or program's web pages.

New Mexico Natural Heritage Program

http://nhnm.unm.edu/

NATURAL HERITAGE NEW MEXICO is a division of the Museum of Southwestern Biology at the University of New Mexico. The New Mexico Natural Heritage Program Biological Conservation Database provides reliable information on sensitive plants, animals, and plant communities for New Mexico. Examples of products that can be obtained from the database include GIS data, maps, locational data on sensitive species and specialized databases.

The Natural Heritage Program provides Free Online Species Information, including: Tracking Lists - NHNM tracks almost 600 plant and animal taxa (species and subspecies). This means we actively seek all information concerning the locations and status of their populations in New Mexico. For more information on free documents, access http://nhnm.unm.edu/data/free_info.html

Botanists, community ecologists, and zoologists conduct basic and applied research on the biological resources of New Mexico. Publications and technical reports resulting from their research are available to the public. Scientists also conduct ecological assessments and produce management plans and vegetation maps. Learn more at http://nhnm.unm.edu/products_menu.html

ORGANIZATIONS

Hawks Aloft

www.hawksaloft.org

Hawks Aloft is a New Mexico non-profit organization working “to conserve indigenous wild birds and their habitats through education, research, and cooperation with others.” Their team of biologists and naturalists are experienced in conducting research and monitoring a wide variety of avian species. They are particularly skilled at (but not limited to) raptor and songbird research. They undertake all survey and monitoring projects with an appreciation of their clients' overriding objectives. They combine this client-focused approach with their knowledge of wider issues within New Mexico to deliver robust and meaningful data.

Hawks Aloft is authorized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to perform avian mitigations that are necessary to comply with the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. They provide these services to a number of New Mexico business, schools, organizations, as well as departments of the federal and state government.

A variety of their publications are available at: http://www.hawksaloft.org/pubs.html

New Mexico Avian Protection Working Group (NMAP)

http://www.nmavianprotection.org/

The NMAP Working Group is an offshoot of Hawks Aloft which works cooperatively with organizations and individuals in the state of New Mexico, USA to reduce and prevent avian mortality caused by electrocutions and collisions with utility structures.

Partners in Flight

www.partnersinflight.org

Partners in Flight (PIF) is an organization dedicated to “the improvement of monitoring and inventory, research, management, and education programs involving birds and their habitats” through “cooperative public and private sector interests.”

PIF promotes bird conservation on a “hemispheric and ecoregional level” through its Flight Plan — “a blueprint for developing Bird Conservation Plans (BCPs) for the entire continental United States”.

Wildlife Rescue Inc. of New Mexico (WRINM)

www.wrinm.org

Wildlife Rescue is a non-profit organization that raises and rehabilitates injured and orphaned wildlife. For over 20 years, WRINM has been collecting data concerning the animals they receive and the care they give them. This extensive dataset provides WRINM with the opportunity to contribute to a variety of scientific studies of wildlife populations in New Mexico, including those focusing on tracking population movements, diseases and other environmental stressors, habitat health, breeding trends, and the impacts of human activities on our wildlife. For more information about WRINM's research and analysis projects, contact Anne Russell, the WRINM Data Manager, at arussell@specieznm.org.

R.A.V.E.N.
Research — Analysis — Verification — Education — Networking

The RAVEN Project is a cooperative effort between Wildlife Rescue, Inc. of New Mexico (WRINM) and the Central New Mexico Community College (CNM), formerly Albuquerque TVI, Geographic Information Technologies (GIT) Program. Taught as a class, GIT student teams are developing an integrated GIS and database, transforming WRINM's record-keeping of tens of thousands of documents into a comprehensive data management system that improves WRINM's ability to undertake research, analysis, verification, education, and networking activities.

Students are working on five projects:

Database Design — creating a multi-user Access database to improve accuracy, organization, speed, and analysis capabilities of WRI dataset and provide a highly functional “hub” for WRINM's data management system and clinic operations.

Geocoding and Data QA/QC — developing protocols for maintaining data integrity and organizing and formatting the WRINM dataset so that it can be used in GIS and other analysis software.

Spatial Patterns Analysis — using GIS to explore population-level, spatial, habitat, and human-wildlife interaction factors which affect wildlife rehabilitation in the Albuquerque area.

Seasonal Acquisition Distribution — developing a data storage and analysis system to allow WRINM to examine the dataset temporally, in order to determine peak intake months, weeks, and days for all of the species of animals WRINM receives.

Optimal Release Model — developing an automated, user-friendly GIS-based release location model system to improve WRINM's ability to determine the best release sites for an animal's survival and success, and distribute releases in such a way as to not overload certain areas with too many animals.

For more information, contact Anne Russell, the RAVEN Project Manager at arussell@specieznm.org.