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2005 Environmental Quality Incentive Program

Local Work Group Summary for Alamogordo

Introduction:

The Alamogordo Field Office staff serves most of Otero County and a small portion of Lincoln County in south central New Mexico.  The total acreage of the service area is 4,248,320.  Federal land makes up a majority of the area with 67.4% of the land being BLM, Forest Service, and Department of Defense.  In addition, 10.8% of the total acreage is included in the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation.  A satellite office was opened at Mescalero and is open on Thursday.  State land holdings in the district make up 10.6% and private lands make up the remainder at 11.2% of the district.  The area includes most of the Sacramento Mountains and much of the Tularosa Basin.  Conservation plans include forest stand improvement and brush management projects in the mountains. There are numerous rivers with 23 acequias in the District.  A limited amount of irrigation occurs in the mountain valleys and there are numerous farms located in the desert along the base of the Sacramento Mountains.  The balance of the area is rangeland primarily used for livestock grazing. 

Local Work Group

The Local Work Group (LWG) met on November 3, 2004.  Those in attendance represented:

  • Lincoln National Forest Allotment Owners President
  • Otero SWCD-2 members and Administrative Assistant
  • Cooperative Extension Service
  • Tularosa Community Ditch
  • NRCS
  • Bureau of Land Management
  • US Forest Service

The LWG advised that the cost docket rates be increased on several items (these components are listed below).  They wanted to show the importance of forests and how it affects the water in the county.  The group requested that Dry Fire Hydrants be given a higher priority, so the rate is being increased to 75%.

The BLM and NRCS have been coordinating their planning efforts on creosote, mesquite, and noxious plants management.  The BLM representative recommended that special consideration be given to landowners coordinating treatments across land status boundaries in the ranking process.

Priority Resource Concerns

The group felt it was important to emphasize practices that would assist in alleviating the acute water shortage in the County.  These practices include forest stand improvement and brush management on grazing lands.  Irrigation practices that would conserve water should also be ranked higher on the water resources ranking worksheet.  The LWG asked to have Dry Fire Hydrants cost shared at a rate commensurate with its potential benefits to the community.

Funding Considerations

The LWG recommended that the Otero County allocation for non-tribal lands will be divided by using 60% on grazing land, 30% on cropland, and 10% on woodland.  Grazing land makes up the majority of the present land use in the county.  The group felt that a special emphasis was needed to take advantage of the new 5% State wide allocation for woodland.

Cost Docket

The EQIP and WHIP dockets will be the same rates and cost share, so they can be used interchangeably.  Please refer to cost docket link for final practice component costs. - Please refer to the Cost Docket link for specific information.

Recommended cost docket additions or changes:

Changes:
  1. Chemical Additive $1.95
  2. Fly Application- Pellets  $6.00
  3. Hand Application Chemical Spray (all species) $20.00
  4. Mixed Species Grubbing or Dozing Medium $78.00
  5. Mixed Species Grubbing or Dozing Heavy $90.00
  6. Timber Stand Improvement Light $325
  7. Timber Stand Improvement Heavy  $900
Additions:
  1. Mixed Species Grubbing or Dozing Light  $46.00/ac
  2. Juniper Control Mechanical Extra Heavy  $125.00/ac
  3. LS Wildlife Watering Facility up to 250 gal  $2.55/gal
  4. Pumping Plant Electric Pump 1-3HP  $1700.00 ea
  5. Pumping Plant Electric Pump 3-5HP $2800.00 ea
  6. Ponderosa Pine/Mixed Conifer Light $120
  7. Ponderosa Pine/Mixed Conifer Medium$220
  8. Ponderosa Pine/Mixed Conifer Heavy  $320
  9. Brush Management Extra Heavy $110

Eligible Practices - Please refer to the Eligible Practices link for specific information.

Cost Share Rates, Incentive Payments, and Caps

The Otero SWCD docket was changed to more closely emulate the State docket.  Practices not listed below will be cost shared the same as the State rate.  The following practices recommended for cost share at 75% provide benefits that extend beyond the producer installing them.  Brush Management and Forest Stand Improvement can provide substantial off site benefits such as ground water recharge and spring flow.  Micro irrigation has the potential to save significant quantities of water.  Dry Fire Hydrants provide support for community fire protection.  

 The local work group requested 75% cost share for the following practices:

  •  Brush Management
  •  Forest Stand Improvement
  •  Dry Fire Hydrants
  •  Irrigation System, Micro-irrigation

The following practices are recommended at an increased rate to emulate the State docket. 

The local work group requested 65% cost share for the following practices:

  • Irrigation System, Sprinkler
  • Pumping Plant
  • Range Planting

The local work group requested 50% cost share for the following new practices to the Otero docket:

  • Animal Trail and Walkways
  • Irrigation Regulating Reservoir
  • Irrigation Storage Reservoir
  • Land Smoothing
  • Nutrient Management
  • Residue Management, No-Till & Strip Till
  • Residue Management, Seasonal
  • Technical Assistance Reimbursed 1 Planning
  • Technical Assistance Reimbursed 2 Design
  • Technical Assistance Reimbursed 3 Application
  • Technical Assistance Reimbursed 4 Check Out
  • Upland Wildlife Habitat Management
  • Wetland Wildlife Habitat Management

An incentive payment will be established for prescribed grazing (at $1.00/acre) when needed to support a facilitating practice such as prescribed burning. 

A $50,000 financial assistance cap has been established for all practices.

Please refer to the links for the cost docket and eligible practices to view the final approved practices, cost share rates and component costs.

Ranking Criteria

The ranking criteria was reviewed at the LWG and approved.  The group expressed concern that the criteria should not give preference to the operating units located in the mountains or the desert.

Ties between producers were discussed.  The group recommended that in the event of a tie:

  1. Preference should be given to individuals with priority resource concerns. 
  2. The percentage of their whole operating unit covered by the contract will be the  secondary tie breaking criteria.

Please refer to the ranking criteria links to view the final approved criteria.

Timelines and Evaluation Period

The deadline for submitting applications and all necessary supporting documents is January 28, 2005.

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