Associated Press
Feb. 14, 2005 12:00 AM
SANTA FE - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
wants to reintroduce the northern aplomado falcon to southern New Mexico, but
environmentalists say the move plays into the hands of oil and gas
developers.
Beginning this summer, the agency and the Idaho-based
Peregrine Fund want to reintroduce up to 150 birds a year for the next
decade.
The Fish and Wildlife Service acknowledges that designating the
bird as a non-essential experimental population will change its status in New
Mexico from endangered to only threatened.
But the agency says
experience shows that's the fastest way to get the falcon back to New
Mexico.
The New Mexico Wildlife Federation and the Forest Guardians say
the move weakens legal protection for the falcon and its habitat, which
includes parts of Otero Mesa.
Protecting the aplomado falcon's habitat
on Otero Mesa has been a key argument used by groups opposed to oil and gas
development in the area.
"By not having to designate critical habitat
for the aplomado falcon, it gives them (oil and gas developers) the green light
to drill wherever they want to," said Oscar Simpson, president of the New
Mexico Wildlife Federation.