2003 Environmental Quality Incentive Program

Local Work Group Summary for Silver City

Introduction:

The Silver City Field Office is located in the town of Silver City, county seat of Grant County, in the southwestern part of New Mexico. The field office provides assistance to the Grant and San Francisco Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD) with a combined total of 4.3 million acres. Approximately 35% are state and private lands and 65% federal lands. There are a wide variety of landscapes ranging from 4,400 feet up to 11,000 feet in elevation. Annual precipitation ranges from 10 inches in the southern desert to over 20 inches in the mountains. Soils are extremely variable and complex. They range from deep loamy soils in the two major river valleys and broad alluvial slopes to shallow rocky soils in the foothills and mountains. Vegetation ranges from the black grama, tobosa and dropseeds, yucca, Mormon tea, and mesquite of the desert grassland type up to Ponderosa pine, piñon, ricegrass, mountain brome and mountain muhly of the Ponderosa Pine type. The present economy of the area is based on agriculture with less emphasis on the mining and logging activities of the past.

The Grant and San Francisco SWCDs held a combined Local Work Group Meeting February 26, 2003, at 6:00 PM, at the Red Barn Family Steakhouse in Silver City, New Mexico. Invitations were sent out to federal, state, and local agencies. Fourteen participants were in attendance and provided input in developing the plan.

The Local Work Group selected soil erosion, water quality, and water quantity as higher priority resource concerns and proposes to recommend higher cost-share rates for selected practices to accomplish their objectives. The local work group does not intend to limit landowners from addressing other resource concerns utilizing the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). This represents the results of a district mailing to cooperators and a tabulation of the feedback comments.

Funding Considerations:

The Local Work Group decided to allocate monies received to the two districts based on the same acreage figures used to determine the state allocation to the Silver City Field Office. Initially, both districts would use 55% of the available funds for rangeland practices and 45% for all other practices. These funds are interchangeable if not otherwise obligated.  Unobligated funds within the districts are also interchangeable.

The Grant County Cost Docket was reviewed and accepted. One addition is recommended based on cost information as attached to the 2003 Component Cost Verification Certification previously submitted. The Local Work Group recommends that a component cost for 580-Streambank and Shoreline Protection be added as follows: Erosion Control/Posts, Wire, Cable, etc at $18.00AM per liner foot. Contracts within the San Francisco SWCD will be developed using the Catron County Cost Docket.

The Local Work Group, in making their recommendations, utilized the results of a mailing to cooperators within the area as to their resource concerns and the conservation practices needed to address these concerns. The Local Work Group decided to try and promote the use of these practices by increasing the cost share rates as incentive for cooperators experiencing drought conditions, poor cattle markets, and a depressed economy. It is felt that with most rangeland practices, the benefits received from the installation of these practices come over a long period of time. Providing this additional incentive should help to address the resource concerns that otherwise might not get done.

The Local Work Group recommends an incentive payment for prescribed grazing in association with a prescribed burn. The payment would be based on a need to defer the pasture from all grazing by domestic animals during the growing season and the following months prior to the planned burn in order to have sufficient fine fuels to carry a prescribed fire. Payments would be made on an animal unit month (aum) basis for the acreage to be burned covering the period of the growing season through the month of the actual burn. This is generally July through April or May of the following year. Payment would be made upon the completion of the prescribed burn. The Local Work Group suggests using the rates presently used by the USDA Forest Service in this same area. The Animal Unit Month Value Coefficients used in estimating market values for private lands has been used since 1983 and is updated annually. The calendar year 2003 coefficient for this area is $8.28 per AUM (Region 3 of the attachment). The coefficient in effect at the time the contract is written would lock in the price for the period of the contract.

The New Mexico - Silver City Field Office, FY 2003 Ranking Criteria Worksheet - Grazing Lands will be used including attachment for riparian and grazed forest if needed (see attachment 2). The New Mexico - Silver City Field Office, FY 2003 Ranking Criteria Worksheet - Irrigated Cropland will be used as appropriate (see attachment 3). The Ranking Criteria Worksheet is used to rank each application impartially and prioritize the applications for available funding to be contracted.

Contracts are to be signed by July 3, 2003. Applications are taken on a continuous basis. The batching period for this FY 2003 program ended March 14, 2003. No additional batching periods are planned for this program year.

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