Just got home from a trip to the Big City of Las Cruces, NM. Picked up a freebie paper to line the bird cage and found a report from the Dona Ana County Commission. This reads like an obituary.
<lascrucesbulletin.com>
Words fail me, so I will quote . . . "passed a resolution April 23 that ensures county funds can no longer be spent on lethal predator and rodent control." They blame, rather than giving credit to, the Wildlife Services branch of the USDA, <
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/wildlifedamage/> a Federal agency (that earns its pay) which has been effectively controlling naughty coyotes and skunks for about 70 years, but they do gripe about any monetary contribution made by the county.
The local tree-hugger-community-organizer says "These county funds were used exclusively for the lethal control of coyotes and other animals. Today, the County Commission is taking back control of that money, so it can be used for programs the public really wants, like road maintenance and soil and water conservation."
The unnamed reporter says "In 2017 alone Wildlife Services killed 8,000 animals in NM using taxpayer dollars, employing methods like shooting, trapping, snaring, aerial gunning and poisoning. Some of those animals were unintentional kills and included pronghorns, fox, badgers, skunks and dogs."
The resolution . . "ensures that 'Farm and Range Improvement Funds' can now only be used for soil and water conservation, noxious weed control, secondary road construction and maintenance, and control of predators and rodents using 'exclusively non-lethal measures’."
No mention was made of the success of the programs, minimizing the damage caused by coyotes, feral hogs, rabid skunks and cat-eating badgers.
The local spokesperson for the Enviros said, "This is a big step for the County because it reflects the public's changing values towards wildlife", "Especially here in NM, human-animal interactions are inevitable and not all of them will be positive. This resolution recognizes that extermination does not have to be our default response to encounters with our wild neighbors. Coexistence is possible if we could give it a fair chance." Three members of the public spoke in favor of the resolution, including a former state representative who had sponsored a bill to ban coyote killing contests in 2013.
No one spoke against the bill. The resolution passed 4 to 1.
We should expect our representatives to actually do a job, that of representing their constituents. I realized years ago that we EACH must step up, run for office, do what we can, where we are, speak up for a logical solution to everyday problems and be prepared to explain our thinking. I served on the school board, defending the decent kids and the taxpayers from the crazy notions of the NEA, and I learned important survival skills. Public office is public service when done right.
Will you be happy when your county commission, school district, precinct, ward, etc. has a cockamamie proposal before them and nobody raises an eyebrow when the taxpayers are defrauded, led down a foolish path? You will be paying for mistakes that should not be made.
Get involved. Go to the meetings. Speak up.
Your future is at stake.
Voting is not enough.
