Rangeland management of the 20th century was dominated by killing anything and everything that threatened livestock. Predators, and especially wolves, were characterized as both nuisance and threat to ranchers and hunters alike for most of the last century.
As the nature writer Aldo Leopold once wrote about the first quarter of the 20th century, “In those days we had never heard of passing up the chance to kill a wolf.”
That mindset, encapsulated by extermination campaigns waged by the U.S. government up until the 1960s, brought species like the Mexican gray wolf to the brink of extinction. Today, wolves, coyotes and other predators are still considered public enemy number one in many ranching communities. But a growing body of research indicates that killing predators doesn’t actually help prevent attacks, and may in fact lead to increased conflicts between humans and livestock.
“There’s this old saying, if you kill a coyote, two show up to its funeral,” said Michelle Lute, National Carnivore Conservation Manager at Project Coyote, adding that there is now an “increasing scientific understanding around why people say that.”
“We didn’t know that for a long time, because science only answers the questions that we ask of it,” Lute said.
On Monday, state health officials reported 106 new cases of COVID-19 and two additional deaths related to the disease. Bernalillo County, with 27, Doña Ana County, with 18, and Santa Fe County, with 15, were the only three counties with double-digit numbers of newly reported cases. The state Department of Health has now found 27,683 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 851 deaths related to the disease. The two deaths related to the disease were both women who had underlying conditions, though DOH, as usual, did not disclose which underlying condition because of privacy concerns. One woman was in her 70s from Bernalillo County, while the other was a woman in her 60s from Sandoval County who was hospitalized.
Election Day is a month and a half away and New Mexico’s Secretary of State Maggie Tolouse Oliver wants voters to know the state’s election process works and is safe and secure.
Over the past several weeks, there has been speculation from President Donald Trump and the Republican Party that voting by mail could result in widespread voter fraud. Questions about how secure mail in ballots are is nothing new. But amid the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a push by many to encourage voters to mail in their ballots instead of showing up in person to vote.
Toulouse Oliver told NM Political Report that she is confident in both her staff and the county clerks’ ability to accurately and efficiently process ballots on Election Day and even the days leading up to it.
National political rhetoric has also seemed to create confusion in New Mexico whether mailing in a ballot is safe. Trump has expressed his concern with mailing in ballots, yet he has voted by mail in Florida, where he is registered to vote. Further, the Republican Party of New Mexico has sent out at least one batch of mailers, encouraging voters to request an absentee ballot and vote in support of Trump.
On Sunday, state health officials announced two more deaths related to COVID-19 and 67 new cases of the disease. The total number of reported cases is 27,579 and there have been 849 deaths related to COVID-19 in total.
In Sunday’s announcement officials said there are currently 64 people hospitalized for the disease and 15,412 have been deemed recovered.
According to state health officials, this is the breakdown of the newly reported cases.
11 new cases in Bernalillo County14 new cases in Chaves County12 new cases in Doña Ana County8 new cases in Eddy County7 new cases in Lea County3 new cases in Lincoln County1 new case in McKinley County2 new cases in Quay County1 new case in Rio Arriba County1 new case in Roosevelt County2 new cases in Sandoval County1 new case in San Juan County1 new case in San Miguel County2 new cases in Santa Fe County1 new case in Socorro County
One of the latest deaths was in Bernalillo County and the other was from Chaves County. A male in his 60s from Bernalillo County was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.A male in his 60s from Chaves County was hospitalized and had underlying conditions. Bernalillo County continues to have the most total cases of COVID-19. Here is a breakdown by county of the total number of cases.
Access issues plaguing the state could be exacerbating women’s cancer screenings difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the American Cancer Society. Tim Tokarski, senior manager for development in New Mexico and El Paso for the American Cancer Society, told NM Political Report that the need to travel long distances to see a physician is an issue for people who need a breast cancer screening or other types of gynecological cancer screenings. “New Mexico has a tremendous amount of access issues,” Tokarski said. But, distance isn’t the only barrier to health care access, he said. “Geography and income and insurance and socioeconomic status” also pose barriers, he said.
New Mexico health officials announced 164 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, the third straight day with 150 or more newly reported cases. The state also reports six additional COVID-19 deaths. The new cases announced by the New Mexico Department of Health included 18 new cases among New Mexico Corrections Department inmates at the Lea County Correctional Facility, nearly doubling the total number of confirmed cases in the facility. COVID-19 has spread quickly in correctional facilities and prisons in New Mexico and in other states during the pandemic. Among counties, Bernalillo County and Doña Ana County each had 31 new reported cases, while Eddy County continued its growth in cases with 15, while Chaves County had 10 newly reported cases.
