USDA Wildlife Services asks Luna County to fund half of $46,900 cooperative predator‑damage program

USDA Wildlife Services asked the Luna County Commission on Thursday to commit $46,900 in FY26 cost‑share funding to maintain a local cooperative wildlife damage management program and a full‑time county position. John Grant, the agency's state director for New Mexico, said the cost would be roughly split 50/50 between federal appropriations and county funds and that local funding helps secure federal matching dollars.

The request came with a broad overview of Wildlife Services' activities: livestock‑protection work, disease surveillance (including rabies, plague, rabbit hemorrhagic disease and highly pathogenic avian influenza), Mexican wolf depredation reporting and collaring support, and an African swine fever specialist covering border counties. "We provide leadership and expertise to help resolve wildlife damage to agricultural property, structures and natural resources," Grant said. He emphasized the agency follows NEPA and coordinates section 7 consultations with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service when endangered species could be affected.

Why it matters

County funding is the local share that unlocks federal matching funds and sustains a resident specialist who responds to livestock depredation, public‑health surveillance and disease sampling near the border. Commissioners framed the request as a public‑safety and economic‑protection item for ranchers and small agricultural producers in Luna County.

What commissioners asked

Several commissioners pressed Wildlife Services about accountability and local responsiveness. They said they had not received the quarterly reports the county requested under its contract and said residents had difficulty reaching a local contact for urgent wildlife complaints. One commissioner suggested conditioning payment on receipt of timely reports. Grant said routine reports are emailed by a district supervisor (named in the meeting as Rudy Fajardo) and acknowledged some uncertainty about how emergency federal allocations — such as a $165 million package referenced for screwworm response — are distributed to local offices. "We haven't been involved in that yet; it's on our radar," he said, adding that Veterinary Services and PPQ lead screwworm work while Wildlife Services assists.

Agency claims and local context

Grant reported that Wildlife Services has worked in New Mexico since 1916 and maintains cooperative agreements with counties (records show a Luna County cooperative agreement dating at least to the late 1960s). He said the program helps document Mexican wolf depredations (Wildlife Services reports are used for compensation requests) and that early detection staffing — including an African swine fever specialist — is important because Luna County borders potential disease entry routes from Mexico.

Next steps

Commissioners asked staff to ensure quarterly reports are collected and that county contact information for local Wildlife Services personnel is published for the public. The request for $46,900 was presented during the meeting; commissioners discussed report delivery and local outreach but did not record a final appropriation vote in the transcript excerpted here.

A note on sources

Details above are drawn from John Grant's presentation and the following question‑and‑answer period with commissioners, during which county officials repeatedly emphasized the need for timely reports and local contact information.