The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is considering ways to reestablish the endangered northern aplomado falcon into New Mexico and Arizona. Five meetings will be held to gather information and develop a list of alternative conservation strategies that will be analyzed in an Environmental Assessment. All meetings begin at 5 p.m. with an informational session followed by a scoping meeting from 7 to 9 p.m.
One meeting will be held in Arizona:
Douglas
- February 3, Monday, at the Little Theater at Cochise College located 4190 West State Highway 80.The following meetings have been scheduled in New Mexico:
Deming
- February 4, Tuesday at the High School Auditorium, 1100 S. Nickel.Alamogordo
- February 5, Wednesday at the Civic Center, 800 East 1st Street.Carlsbad
- February 6, Thursday at the New Mexico State University, Instructional Building, Room 153, 1500 University Drive.Socorro -
February 11, Tuesday at the Macey Center, Main Auditorium at New Mexico Technology, Olive Lane.The Environmental Assessment is a document a federal agency prepares before taking any action. The assessment evaluates alternative conservation strategies based on issues that have been identified through scoping meetings. A full copy of the notice soliciting comments and information will be published in the Federal Register on Monday, January Once it appears in the Federal Register, it will then be available at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, New Mexico Ecological Services Field Office, 2105 Osuna NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87113; by calling (505) 346-2525; or, on the internet at ,/http://southwest.fws.gov">, click on Hot Topics. Send written comments to the above address; by facsimile to (505) 346-2542; or, by electronic mail to .R2FWE_AL@fws.gov">. Comments must be received by February 11.
The northern aplomado falcon was once common in Texas along the Rio Grande and in southern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona until the mid twentieth century. Falcons, probably ones that have moved north from Mexico, have been seen in New Mexico off and on since the 1970s. In the spring of 2002, a pair of falcons in southern New Mexico successfully hatched young for the first time in 49 years. No Arizona sightings have been recorded since the 1940s. Falcons preferred habitat is open terrain with scattered trees or shrubs. The bird hunts for prey in the short or grazed grasses.
The falcon
