The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed to reintroduce the rare northern aplomado falcon into its native skies above New Mexico and has drafted a monitoring plan to help evaluate the restoration program.
The Service has planned two meetings to discuss the concept of bringing falcons back into New Mexico on an experimental basis and welcomes comments on its draft plan for monitoring the welfare of the birds if the program is to be adopted. The meetings will be held:
-- Oct. 11 in Las Cruces at the Corbett Center Student Union Auditorium on the New Mexico State University campus. The Corbett Center is located on Jordan Street and University Avenue.
-- Oct. 13 in Albuquerque at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Centers Silver and Turquoise Room, 2401 12th Street NW (1 block North of I-40).
Both meetings begin at 6 p.m. with an informal question and answer session followed with a formal program from 7 to 8:45 p.m.
Copies of the proposal, draft monitoring plan and the draft environmental assessment will be available at the meeting or in advance on the internet at http://ifw2es.fws.gov/Mexico/ or by calling (505) 346-2525.
Comments can be given at the meeting, mailed to the New Mexico Ecological Services Field Office, 2105 Osuna Road NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87113. Comments may be sent by facsimile to (505) 346-2542 or through electronic mail to "R2FWE_AL@fws.gov. The new deadline for comments is 1November 15, 2005.
The proposal calls for up to 150 captive-raised northern aplomado falcons to be released annually in New Mexico for ten or more years, until a self-sustaining population is established. The proposed program is part of a larger recovery effort already underway in Texas that has been very successful. Northern aplomado falcons found within New Mexico and Arizona would be considered a nonessential experimental population, which allows for more flexible environmental regulations. No releases are planned in Arizona but the experimental designation would apply to both states. A nonessential, experimental population places no requirements on private landowners and asks federal agencies to confer with the Service on activities that might impact the birds.
The northern aplomado falcon was listed as endangered in 1986 under the Endangered Species Act. Although no aplomado falcons have been documented in Arizona since the 1940s, sporadic sightings have occurred in New Mexico with the most recent occurring on August 27, 2005. A breeding pair in Luna County, New Mexico successfully hatched three chicks in 2002 but no nest has been documented since then.
