USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service (505)761-4400

2008 New Mexico Annual Report

Quick Facts

NRCS Expenditures and Effects 

Based on an IMPLAN (Input Output) analysis, the major FY2009 NRCS expenditures and their effects (as of 

February 2009) are as follows:

Direct Indirect Induced Total Jobs

Financial Assistance

Total EQIP, CSP, and 

WHIP*

$16,836,000 $7,913,000 $6,007,000 $30,757,000 446

Technical Assistance

Total** $16,078,000 $2,898,000 $3,474,000 $22,449,000 346

Total Jobs 792

*Excludes EWP (currently) $5M, easement programs, and rehabilitation for which budgets change dramatically during the year based 

on applications and events, although spending in these programs can approach an additional $10M.

**Direct effect of employment expenditures appears lower than program expenditures due to estimated taxaation of 30%. Excludes 

EWP and reimbursables of $2,898,844

Sequestering Carbon

Forests and rangelands can both play a constructive role in sequestering atmospheric carbon, for both trees and 

grass convert atmospheric carbon into soil organic matter in addition to above ground biomass. 

Stored carbon is easily lost when soil and biomass are disturbed. Where our natural lands are intact, it is 

important to keep them healthy. Vigorous healthy trees and grasses will sequester more carbon for many years.

Rehabilitation in forests that are overstocked, homogeneous across too many acres, or encroaching on natural 

grasslands is one way to increase carbon storage and create more stable ecosystems that are less likely to suffer insect 

or disease infestations or catastrophic wildfires. To maximize the sequestration of carbon on managed rangelands three 

management items are critical - first, prescribed grazing that entails appropriate stocking rates; second, rotation of stock; 

and third, a drought plan that normally emans reducing stock in a timely manner when necessary.

Fire is a natural component of our forests and grasslands. While natural lightening-started fires release some 

carbon into the air, it is not as drastic as what is released in today’s large catastrophic wildfires. These fires destroy 

millions of acres of biomass and create drastic soil erosion that releases carbon stored in the soil.

Carbon sequestration, like so many natural phenomena, works best when natural resources are managed using 

sound science. This is a core value of the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service where more information is 

available at www.nm.nrcs.usda.gov

USDA FARM BILL AND OTHER PROGRAMS

The conservation programs authorized by the 2002 Farm Bill helped to provide the support needed to reduce the gap 

between the level of environmental quality the general public demands and the level of environmental quality farmers and 

ranchers can provide.

Congressional District 1 2 3

Totals $ 2,048,244 $ 13,153,055 $ 10,591,852

FY-08 Expenditures by Congressional District

FY-08 Expenditures by Program by Congressional District

Congressional

District 1 2 3 Total

Environmental

Quality Incentives 

Program

A voluntary program that provides technical, educational, and financial assistance to eligible farmers and ranchers to 

address soil, water, and related natural resource concerns on their land in an environmentally beneficial and costeffective manner.

$ 1,261,455 $ 9,944,747 $ 9,357,610 $ 20,563,812

Federal/Private

Cooperative 

Conservation

Part of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program that is voluntary and facilitates conservation on an entire 

ranching operation where parts of the rangeland are federally owned.

$ 1,434,912 $ 1,434,912

Ground & Surface

Water Conservation

A voluntary program that helps conserve water. An example is the Ogallala Aquifer area.

$ 54,260 $ 793,965 $ 118,731 $ 966,956

Wildlife Habitat

Incentives Program

A voluntary program that encourages creation of high quality wildlife habitat that support wildlife populations of 

national, state, Tribal, and local significance.

$ 42,017 $ 308,824 $ 274,824 $ 625,665

Wetlands Reserve 

Program

A voluntary land retirement program that provides technical and financial assistance to eligible landowners to address 

wetland, wildlife habitat, soil, water, and related natural resource concerns on private lands.

$ 182,347 $ 68,200 $ 250,547

Conservation

Security Program

A voluntary stewardship program that supports ongoing stewardship of private agricultural lands by providing 

payments for maintaining and enhancing natural resources.

$ 10,765 $ 574,907 $ 772,487 $ 1,358,159

Farm & Ranchland

Protection Program

A voluntary program that helps landowners keep their productive land in agriculture through conservation easements 

limiting conversion of property to non-agricultural uses.

$ 497,400 $ 497,400

Watershed

Rehabilitation

A voluntary program that offers assistance to local sponsors in evaluating and updating as necessary dams 

constructed with certain types of federal assistance.

$ 95,700 $ 95,700
Conservation Technical Assistance

NRCS provides data, information, or technical expertise that helps people 

collect and analyze information to identify natural resource problems 

and opportunities, clarify their objectives, and formulate and evaluate 

alternatives. Conservation plans reflect a customer’s decisions about 

the management of natural resources for a specific area - which may 

be a farm or ranch operating unit, a group of units, a community, or a 

landscape feature such as a watershed. Technical consultations and 

planning assistance provide professional advice that helps customers 

make decisions about natural resource management.

When Mike Reardon took over 

the operations of the family 

ranch near Wagon Mound, like 

so many others, he saw beauty 

in the greenery of the many 

pinons and junipers that covered 

the countryside in his area. 

Wanting the best for the bit of 

paradise he now managed, he 

began work with the Mora Field 

Office for the Natural Resources 

Conservation Service and set out 

on a voyage of discovery. 

Reardon’s journey ultimately 

led him to an understanding 

about how fire is an essential 

ingredient in brush management, 

and that the ranch had in years 

past hosted a bountiful prairie 

that supported large herds of 

deer, turkeys, and other wildlife.

His love for the 

land made Mike 

Reardon roll up his 

sleeves and begin the 

process of grassland 

restoration, and 

the return of fire to 

the equation of his 

environment.

3rd Congressional District

Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is a voluntary 

program that provides technical, educational, and financial assistance to 

eligible farmers and ranchers to address soil, water, and related natural 

resource concerns on their land in an environmentally beneficial and costeffective manner. It promotes agricultural production and environmental 

quality as compatible national goals, and supports activities that are 

carried out according to an environmental quality incentives program plan 

of operations developed in conjunction with the producer.

EQIP enables farmers and 

ranchers, like Cash and Kanzas 

Massey who run a Black Angus 

operation in the bootheel 

of New Mexico, to make 

conservation improvements 

with an advantageous cost-share 

rate. The Masseys have been 

able to install pipelines, fences, 

and troughs with the program 

without which they could not 

have launched the registered 

Angus operation they manage 

today. As a consequence, they 

will be offering their eighth 

annual yearling production bull 

sale this spring.

“When we bought 

this place it had one 

windmill. Today 

it has nine miles 

of pipeline and 

rotational grazing 

utilized over the 

ranch. We couldn’t 

have done anything 

if it hadn’t been for 

EQIP.” Kanzas Massey

2nd Congressional District

Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP)

The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) is a voluntary program 

for people who want to develop and improve wildlife habitat primarily on 

private land. Program priorities for fiscal year 2008 were:

Promote the restoration of declining or important native wildlife 

habitats.

Protect, restore, develop, or enhance wildlife habitat of at-risk species.

Reduce the impacts of invasive species on wildlife habitats.

Protect, restore, develop, or enhance declining or important aquatic 

wildlife species’ habitats.

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Frank Blackmer, from the 

Aztec area, being a progressive 

conservationist, is turning 

river bottom into wildlife 

habitat on his successful farm. 

The conservation measures 

that he has incorporated into 

his operation include soil 

sampling, land planing so his 

fields are level and make the 

most efficient use of irrigation 

water, and riparian restoration 

to develop river bottom for 

wildlife. He is removing salt 

cedar and Russian olive, and 

planting diverse native shrubs 

and trees that provide wildlife 

with food and shelter. Geese 

already inhabit the area, and 

turkeys are intermittent visitors.

NRCS is 

participating with 

Blackmer on brush 

removal and planting 

of diverse native 

shrubs and trees 

through its Wildlife 

Habitat Incentives 

Program (WHIP).

3rd Congressional District

Other Farm Bill Programs

The conservation provisions of the 2008 Farm Bill build on gains made 

by farmers and ranchers through previous programs, simplify existing 

efforts, and create new programs to address high priority environmental 

goals. Some of the several provisions are:

Agricultural Water Enhancement Program

Conservation Innovation Grants

Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program

Grassland Reserve Program

Wetlands Reserve Program

Conservation Stewardship Program

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In the fall of 2008 the Corrales 

Farmland Preservation 

Committee succeeded in 

culminating work for the 

acquisition of a portion of the 

historic Gonzales family lands 

with the assistance of the Farm 

and Ranch Lands Protection 

Program. These lands had been 

part of the Town of Alameda 

Land Grant that dates back to 

1710 and is a portion of a larger 

tract of land that has remained 

in the Gonzales family for 

centuries - and continuously 

farmed since 1712. The Village 

of Corrales has a vision for their 

community that values mixed 

land uses and a willingness 

to act to ensure agriculture 

maintains a place in this mix. 

It is with partners 

like NRCS that the 

Village of Corrales 

is able to realize its 

vision and succeed 

in its locally-led 

conservation efforts.

1st Congressional District

Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWP)

NRCS administers the Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) 

Program,which responds to emergencies created by natural disasters. The 

EWP Program is a recovery effort aimed at relieving imminent hazards 

to life and property caused by floods, fires, windstorms, and other natural 

occurrences. Threats that the EWP Program addresses include, but are 

not limited to:

debris-clogged stream channels,

undermined and unstable streambanks,

jeopardized water control structures and public infrastructures, and

damaged sites stripped of protective vegetation by fire or drought.

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Major wildfires began in the 

Manzano Mountains April 15, 

2008 with the Trigo Fire that 

burned 21 square miles and 

59 homes, followed by the 

Big Springs Fire that was also 

devastating. These fires created 

imminent hazards to life and 

property.

The work of the NRCS EWP team 

began on April 23 and continued 

throughout the summer. Their 

work addressed aftermath threats 

by protecting homes, cabins, 

bridges, roads, acequia, and other 

features.

Fires and floods in the Sacramento 

Mountains also received major 

EWP work in 2008.

Randy Simmons, 

a Manzano camp 

manager, became a 

firm believer after 

rains following the 

Trigo Fire generated 

the largest creek 

flows adjacent to 

camp cabins he had 

seen there.

Trigo Fire - 2008

Big Springs Fire - 2008 

South Tularosa Fire - 2008

Ruidoso Flood - 2008

Total 2008 Technical Assistance

Obligated $512,419

Total 2008 Financial Assistance

Obligated $4,871,738

1st Congressional District

2nd Congressional District

Soil Survey

Soil surveys provide an orderly, on-the-ground, scientific inventory of 

soil resources that includes maps showing the locations and extent of 

soils, data about the physical and chemical properties of those soils, and 

information derived from that data about potentialities and problems 

of use on each kind of soil. This is done in sufficient detail to meet 

all reasonable needs for farmers, agricultural technicians, community 

planners, engineers, and scientists in planning for specific land areas. 

NRCS provides the soil surveys for the privately owned lands of the 

nation.

Albuquerque is built on certain 

areas that have collapsible 

soils. Collapsible soils are 

created when an alluvial fan is 

first deposited. The sand and 

clay particles may be loosely 

fused together, and when wet 

the bonding of the soil particles 

breaks down and the soils 

will collapse - creating visible 

fractures or depressions. The 

results of collapsible soils can be 

seen in sink holes in local streets 

and parking lots, and visible 

cracks in building foundations 

and walls of houses. The City of 

Albuquerque recently contacted 

the soil scientists of NRCS to 

do an onsite investigation of 

an area where there would be 

new hoursing development. 

Given the evidence identified, 

NRCS New Mexico was able 

to provide the City with sound 

information that the City’s 

planners could use in carrying 

out their responsibilities.

“One of the most 

powerful tools 

to deliver soils 

information to 

farmers, ranchers, 

conservationists, 

and homeowners is 

the Web Soil Survey 

which is on the 

Internet.” 

Ken Scheffe, NRCS state soil scientist

1st Congressional District

Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting

The Snow Survey Program provides winter snowpack and stream flow 

forecasts for water users in New Mexico including reservoir managers, 

irrigation groups, Tribes and Pueblos, and municipalities. The winter 

snowpack contributes 50 to 75 percent of the flow in our streams and 

rivers with melting snow. Snow surveyors from NRCS conduct monthly 

readings of snowpack depth and density at 45 locations throughout 

mountainous areas of the state from December through April. Included 

in these sites are 21 SNOTEL (snow telemetry) automated stations which 

report both climate and snowpack conditions to the NRCS National 

Water and Climate Center in Portland, Oregon using meteor burst radio 

transmission technology.

NRCS New Mexico has 

eight employees certified as 

snow surveyors to conduct 

field inventories; and two 

hydrologic technicians who 

coordinate activities, develop 

and publish monthly forecasts 

and news releases, and 

maintain the SNOTEL stations. 

They participate in drought 

forecasting and mitigation in 

cooperation with other state 

and federal agencies. Basin 

Outlook Reports are released 

by NRCS New Mexico early 

each month from January 

through May. The reports 

include data and forecasts on the 

snowpack, reservoir storage, and 

anticipated water supply (stream 

flows) based upon the depth, 

density, water content, and aerial 

extent of the winter snowpack.

The SNOTEL 

system can report 

numerous climate 

and snowpack 

conditions including 

precipitation, 

temperature, depth of 

snow, humidity, and 

wind speed.

Resource Conservation & Development

The NRCS Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) program 

is designed to foster the conservation, development, and utilization of 

natural resources. It supports improved economic activity, and seeks to 

enhance the environment and standard of living within its council areas. 

Current program objectives focus on improving quality of life through 

natural resources conservation and community development leading to 

sustainable communities, prudent development, and management and 

conservation of natural resources. RC&D areas are locally sponsored 

areas designated by the Secretary of Agriculture for RC&D technical and 

financial assistance program funds.

The HUB RC&D Council 

was approached by the Ojo 

Encino Ranchers Committee 

on the Navajo reservation 

about securing financial and 

technical assistance to improve 

solid waste management in 

Ojo Encino and possibly other 

surrounding communities 

such as Torreon, Counselor, 

and Pueblo Pintado. A project 

proposal was accepted by the 

HUB RC&D which then offered 

staff time and a small monetary 

donation to help plan and design 

a trash collection facility.

At present, there 

are no nearby trash 

disposal facilities 

for approximately 

2,000 Navajo tribal 

members living in 

several outlying 

communities. The 

HUB RC&D is 

helping to change 

that.

Congressional 

District

RC&D Funds Leveraged 

Funds

1 $ 35,340 $ 4,308

2 $ 471,200 $ 3,824,162

3 $ 437,864 $ 1,372,396

NM Total $942,400 $ 5,204,900

3rd Congressional District

Los Lunas Plant Materials Center

The purpose of the Plant Material Centers program is to provide native 

plants that can help solve natural resource problems. Beneficial uses 

for which plant material may be developed include biomass production, 

carbon sequestration, erosion reduction, riparian restoration, and other 

special conservation treatment needs. Scientists at the Los Lunas Plant 

Materials Center seek plants that show promise for meeting identified 

conservation needs and test their performance. After species are proven, 

they are released to the private sector for commercial production. 

The NRCS Los Lunas Plant 

Materials Center, ever in search 

of more riparian restoration 

choices, sought to propagate 

vine mesquite, a riparian grass 

that cattle and wildlife love to 

graze and which can be used to 

control erosion in waterways 

and small gullies. Using their 

broad knowledge about the 

production of native plants, 

the Los Lunas Plant Materials 

Center has been able to unlock 

the key to production of vine 

vesquite; and, in doing so, 

is bringing into the field of 

conservation another choice in 

riparian restoration and erosion 

control.

The potential for 

conservation uses 

of vine mesquite 

had not been 

realized in the past 

because the methods 

for production 

management were 

unknown.

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