{"id":49383,"date":"2026-07-17T13:05:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T20:05:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/?p=49383"},"modified":"2026-07-17T13:05:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T20:05:58","slug":"with-fewer-wildlife-habitat-protections-logging-advocates-eye-new-mexico-forests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/with-fewer-wildlife-habitat-protections-logging-advocates-eye-new-mexico-forests\/","title":{"rendered":"With fewer wildlife habitat protections, logging advocates eye New Mexico forests"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">by Bryce Dix, KUNM News<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left has-background wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"background-color:#8080801f\"><em><strong>This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kunm.org\/local-news\/2026-07-15\/wildlife-habitat-protections-logging-forests\">story<\/a> was originally published at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kunm.org\/\">KUNM<\/a>, a NMPBS partner.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Owl.jpg\" alt=\"A brown and white owl is perched on a branch in a forest, surrounded by tree trunks and twigs with a blurred green background.\" class=\"wp-image-49387\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Owl.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Owl-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Owl-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Owl-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A threatened Mexican spotted owl captured in the Chiricahua Mountains, AZ.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For decades, one bird on the Endangered Species List has been blamed for single-handedly impeding logging and forest thinning operations across New Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But, that\u2019s expected to shift with a newly changed legal definition from the Trump Administration \u2013 and some Republicans are looking to capitalize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The bird at the center of it all? The Mexican spotted owl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These heavily camouflaged owls flecked with white and brown, dark chocolate plumage, banded tail, and deep, dark eyes have been listed as \u201cthreatened\u201d on the Endangered Species List since 1993.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Late last week, habitat protections afforded to threatened and endangered species by legal precedent were stripped away by the Trump Administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is possible because a new rule from the Interior Department <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecfr.gov\/current\/title-50\/chapter-I\/subchapter-B\/part-17\/subpart-A\/section-17.3\">altered the definition of \u201charm\u201d<\/a> in the Endangered Species Act to allow for logging, mining, and other activities where listed animals live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since the law was signed by President Richard Nixon in 1973, the federal government has long interpreted \u201charm\u201d as acts that kill or injure wildlife, in addition to habitat degradation and modification that could stop an animal from breeding, feeding, or sheltering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the 1990s, private landowners challenged the definition, arguing that \u201charm\u201d can only be directly physical \u2013 like killing, injuring, trapping, and torturing wildlife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They lost in a precedent-setting <a href=\"https:\/\/tile.loc.gov\/storage-services\/service\/ll\/usrep\/usrep515\/usrep515687\/usrep515687.pdf\">6-3 Supreme Court decision<\/a>, with justices upholding that it is reasonable to interpret that \u201charm\u201d also includes the degradation of habitat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, under the newly revised definition of \u201charm,\u201d the Trump administration will turn this long-held legal understanding on its head to only mean direct, physical damage to an animal itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis has been an industry&#8217;s dream for decades, and it kneecaps the Endangered Species Act,\u201d said Defenders of Wildlife conservationist Bryan Bird in reaction to the news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bird has worked in the Southwest since 1996, and said, even back then, the Mexican spotted owl was in the midst of a hotly contested debate between industry and environmentalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s been a lightning rod and a symbol of how we manage our federal public forests in New Mexico,\u201d Bird said. \u201cBut, I would argue that it is blown way out of proportion, and it&#8217;s been used sort of as a rhetorical tool for different sides to make their case.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Back in 2019, in response to a lawsuit filed by Wildlife Guardians, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kunm.org\/local-news\/2019-09-24\/judge-feds-failed-to-monitor-mexican-spotted-owl\">a judge issued a broad order<\/a> that stopped all prescribed burning and thinning projects in New Mexico\u2019s National Forests to prevent the owl\u2019s habitat destruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That order was then narrowed to allow certain thinning operations at the request of National Forest Service officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Mexican spotted owl has significant populations widely scattered across New Mexico \u2013 but particularly in the Lincoln National Forest nestled in the Sacramento Mountains, where Republican State Rep. Harlan Vincent\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/realfileee3072ab0d43456cb15a51f7d82c77a2.s3.amazonaws.com\/b6c77fb4-84a4-4fd0-84d4-580b6fb2ca1d?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJBKPT2UF7EZ6B7YA&amp;Expires=1784041592&amp;Signature=CvOkZ9YC1HXViVbfcJHiyKRjc8M%3D&amp;response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3D%22NM_State_Representative_District_56_Map-RS.pdf%22&amp;response-content-type=application%2Fpdf\">district lies<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf we go into a thinning area and there&#8217;s a spotted owl in there, then we immediately have to vacate the premises, and you know millions of acres went untreated,\u201d Vincent told KUNM. \u201cThen the logging industry couldn&#8217;t stay viable and here we are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Ruidoso area has been the epicenter of large wildfires and subsequent flash flooding over the past decade, including the 2022 McBride and 2024 South Fork and Salt fires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Vegetation-Treatments-in-Lincoln-National-Forest-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Map showing brown-shaded vegetation treatment areas in Lincoln National Forest, New Mexico, from 1981 to 2026, with major towns and roads labeled.\" class=\"wp-image-49386\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Vegetation-Treatments-in-Lincoln-National-Forest-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Vegetation-Treatments-in-Lincoln-National-Forest-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Vegetation-Treatments-in-Lincoln-National-Forest-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Vegetation-Treatments-in-Lincoln-National-Forest.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Map: Bryce Dix\/KUNM. Source: New Mexico Forest and Watershed Restoration Institute. Created with Datawrapper.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vincent has been consistently critical of the owl, saying that it has been \u201cweaponized\u201d by environmentalists to stop logging and thinning projects in his district, creating the perfect conditions for wildfires to spark in Lincoln County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, Vincent is excited for a future with less habitat protections, saying that it could spur major logging in National Forests reminiscent of the <a href=\"https:\/\/npshistory.com\/publications\/usfs\/fs-650\/sec6.htm\">post-World War II housing boom<\/a> and curb fire risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWell, my grand plan is to open a sawmill, THE sawmill in Mescalero,\u201d Vincent said. \u201cMy plan is to have a robust logging system going, not only in the Lincoln [National Forest], but in the Sacramento Mountains.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defenders of Wildlife conservationist Bryan Bird is skeptical of Vincent\u2019s claims and said there is plenty of thinning and burning happening across national forests in New Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat is just a red herring that&#8217;s being thrown around by industry and those that are doing the bidding of the logging industry,\u201d Bird added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Vincent, for his part, told KUNM he won\u2019t \u201ctolerate\u201d any protests by conservation groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI don&#8217;t believe they know what they&#8217;re doing,\u201d Vincent said. \u201cWe have to thin our forest for it to be healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Several environmental organizations \u2013 including Defenders of Wildlife \u2013 have sworn to fight the Trump administration\u2019s definition change, and have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kunm.org\/npr-news\/2026-07-14\/environmental-groups-sue-government-to-stop-a-big-change-to-the-endangered-species-act\">already filed legal challenges<\/a> in court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/articles\/mexican-spotted-owl.htm\">According to the National Park Service<\/a>, the Mexican spotted owl\u2019s population is predicted to decline anywhere from 25\u201350% in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Specifically, in New Mexico, the population had already declined 9% throughout the 1990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This story was originally published at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kunm.org\/\">KUNM<\/a>, a NMPBS partner.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Bryce Dix, KUNM News This story was originally published at KUNM, a NMPBS partner. For decades, one bird on the Endangered Species List has been blamed for single-handedly impeding logging and forest thinning operations across New Mexico. But, that\u2019s expected to shift with a newly changed legal definition from the Trump Administration \u2013 and&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":49387,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10906],"tags":[10907],"class_list":["post-49383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-partner-stories","tag-partner-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>With fewer wildlife habitat protections, logging advocates eye New Mexico forests - New Mexico In Focus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/with-fewer-wildlife-habitat-protections-logging-advocates-eye-new-mexico-forests\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"With fewer wildlife habitat protections, logging advocates eye New Mexico forests - New Mexico In Focus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Bryce Dix, KUNM News This story was originally published at KUNM, a NMPBS partner. For decades, one bird on the Endangered Species List has been blamed for single-handedly impeding logging and forest thinning operations across New Mexico. 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