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Committee says it will “get to the bottom” of NM election audit
The US House Committee on Oversight and Reform said yesterday the contractor hired by Otero County to audit its 2020 election has denied involvement, despite evidence to the contrary. The committee’s investigation began earlier this month in response to reports of voter intimidation during door-to-door canvassing. As part of the investigation, the committee’s chairs sent a letter to V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai, CEO of EchoMail Inc., requesting information about its participation in the audit. Ayyadurai responded March 18 denying any involvement with door-to-door canvassing in Otero County and, in fact, denies being contracted to conduct an audit by the Otero County Commission. Rather, Ayyadurai says, the commission “retained EchoMail to establish a data warehouse solution.” Ayyadurai also denies hiring New Mexico Audit Force—as has been reported—a group the committee and others have described as a conspiracy organization accused of voter intimidation. In response to Ayyadurai’s denial of involvement with NMAF and the Otero County “audit,” Committee Chairs and US Reps. Carolyn B. Maloney and Jamie Raskin, Democrats respectively from New York and Maryland, responded yesterday that the committee has “evidence contradicting your denial, and we are deeply concerned that your company’s actions in Otero County, and those of your associates, may lead to voter intimidation.” The letter goes on to say: “The committee intends to get to the bottom of this so-called audit and canvass and the threats they pose to free and fair elections.” The letter reiterates a request for documentation requested in its March 16 letter be produced by today.
Mexican gray wolf population growth slows
While the the wild population of Mexican wolves in the US continued to grow in 2021, the growth was slower than it has been. According to the 2021 annual count, the US population of Mexican wolves increased by 5% from the previous year—the sixth consecutive year of growth. But the population saw 14% growth in 2020 and 24% growth in 2019, according to data provided to SFR by a US Fish and Wildlife Service spokesperson. Officials say they attribute the slower growth last year to low pup recruitment in the wild population. “While we hope for a higher growth rate, the 5% growth observed, when looking at the totality of the program, still indicates a recovering population,” Jim deVos, Arizona Game and Fish Department Mexican wolf coordinator, said in a statement, adding that in general, “wildlife populations had a hard year with low precipitation and little winter snowpack last year,” but that he was “encouraged by the increase in breeding pairs and the number of packs present.” Environmental group WildEarth Guardians, however, released a statement yesterday characterizing the report of modest population gains as “dampened by revelations of high mortality (including illegal killing), low pup survival, and a deepening genetic crisis that continue to threaten the wild population.” According to the FWS, last year’s pups— of which there were a minimum of 144—had a 38% survival rate; the average survival of Mexican wolf pups in their first year is around 50%. “The disappointing lack of significant growth is a sign that this recovery paradigm is not working,” Chris Smith, Southwest wildlife advocate for WildEarth Guardians, said in a statement. “Lobos need better protection and more room to roam and re-establish themselves. US Fish and Wildlife continues to flout the science and bow to political pressure.”
DOH, CDC sign off on second boosters
The New Mexico health department yesterday issued a statement recommending second Pfizer or Moderna booster shots for people over the age of 50 who received an initial booster dose at least four months ago. DOH also recommended people 12 and older with certain immune deficiencies to receive a second booster dose if they are at least four months after their first booster dose. In addition, and in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines released this week, DOH recommends a second booster dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine for adults who received a primary vaccine and booster dose of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 vaccine at least four months ago. “Vaccines and boosters are both safe and free,” Acting Health Secretary Dr. David Scrase said in a statement. “The data clearly demonstrates that COVID-19 vaccine and booster doses protect individuals from both infection and severe outcomes. Anyone eligible should seriously consider getting an additional mRNA booster to further increase their protection. This is especially important for those 65 and older and those 50 and older with underlying medical conditions that increase their risk for severe disease from COVID-19 as they are the most likely to benefit from receiving an additional booster dose at this time.” SFR has pending questions with DOH regarding the number of eligible New Mexicans for second shots, among other topics. According to the CDC, during the Omicron surge, people who were boosted were 21-times less likely to die from COVID-19 compared to those who were unvaccinated, and seven-times less likely to be hospitalized.” According to DOH, both unvaccinated people who have had COVID-19 and vaccinated people with breakthrough cases are eligible for vaccine after their isolation period of 10 days is over and their symptoms have resolved. Boosters can be scheduled online at www.vaccineNM.org.
COVID-19 by the numbers
New cases: 143; 517,742 total cases
Deaths: 21; Santa Fe County has had 262 deaths thus far; there have been 7,255 total fatalities statewide. Hospitalizations: 84; Patients on ventilators: 10
Breakthrough cases: According to the weekly vaccination report released, over the four week period of Feb. 28-March 28, 40.1% of COVID-19 cases in New Mexico were among people who had not completed a primary vaccination series; 24.8% were among those who had completed the series but had not received a booster; and 35.1% were among those who were fully vaccinated and boosted. For hospitalizations, those figures change to 65.1%, 16.7% and 18.2%. The percentages shift to 57.7%, 21.1% and 21.1% for fatalities.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “community levels” tracking system—which uses case rates along with two hospital metrics in combination to determine the state of the virus on a county level—all 33 New Mexico’s counties currently have “green”—aka low—levels. The CDC updates its map every Thursday.
Vaccinations: 91% percent of adults 18 years and older have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 77.6% have completed their primary series; 45.5% of adults 18 years and older have had a booster shot; 12-17-year-old age group: 71.2% of people have had at least one dose and 61.6% have completed their primary series; Children ages 5-11: 39.3% have had at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine and 31% have completed their primary; Santa Fe County: 99% of people 18 and older have had at least one dose and 87.2% have completed their primary series.
Resources: Vaccine registration; Booster registration Free at-home rapid antigen tests; Self-report a positive COVID-19 test result to the health department; COVID-19 treatment info: oral treatments Paxlovid (age 12+) and Molnupiravir (age 18+); and monoclonal antibody treatments. Toolkit for immunocompromised individuals. People seeking treatment who do not have a medical provider can call NMDOH’s COVID-19 hotline at 1-855-600-3453.
You can read all of SFR’s COVID-19 coverage here.
Listen up
National forests have provided comfort and escape for many throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, but increased use has also created additional challenges for forest managers. In a free online talk from 7 to 8 pm this evening, the Pajarito Environmental Education Center will host Jennifer Sublett, zone recreation manager for the Española and Coyote Ranger Districts of the Santa Fe National Forest, who will discuss how the pandemic has changed recreation spaces, stewardship practices in the SFNF and some ways communities can help. Register in advance for a Zoom link.
Red or green...maple syrup?
Axios ponders the possibilities of New Mexico’s nascent forays into maple syrup production. Climate change, the story notes, has stifled the maple syrup industry in New England, with other parts of the country, including the Southwest, looking to “pick up the slack.” In the case of New Mexico, Rolston St. Hilaire, a New Mexico State University regents professor and head of the Plant and Environmental Sciences and Extension Plant Sciences departments, is part of a research collaborative with counterparts in Utah and Montana who are using a $500,000 US Department of Agriculture Acer grant to explore maple syrup’s prospects here. According to an NMSU news release, St. Hilaire says the project’s team will work to determine the potential for tapping maples in the Intermountain West region for syrup production, using traditional bucket collection and gravity tubing systems. St. Hilaire tells Axios the group has already contacted local landowners with maples on their properties to see if they’d like to try tapping them, and “the response has been overwhelming,” including a man from Taos who reached out with samples he had already made from his backyard box elder maple. “He told me that people thought he was sort of this—I don’t want to say crazy guy—that everyone told him he could not produce maple syrup in New Mexico,” St. Hilaire says.
Hot air
New Mexico’s placement on a top 10 list for best hot air balloon festivals seems like a bit of a gimme, but given how often the state has ended up at the bottom of lists, we will take our props where we can get ‘em. Time Out awards Albuquerque’s International Balloon Fiesta the number one spot on its roundup and, as it happens, tickets go on sale tomorrow for the Oct. 1-9 festival, which will be the 50th anniversary. And speaking of hot air balloon rides, Travel & Leisure magazine has yet more love for Taos and highlights hot air balloon rides there as a way to take advantage of the sunshine and environs. For more grounded outdoor activity, the story recommends skiing (Taos Ski Valley closes April 10, by the way); whitewater rafting; and mountain biking. And once you’ve worked up an appetite, the story endorses chowing down on Oaxacan-style red mole at The Love Apple or noshing on a plate of blue-corn chile rellenos and a glass of horchata at El Conejo Cocina.
Easy breezy
Today looks a little drier, according to the National Weather Service, with mostly sunny skies, a high temperature near 56 degrees and north wind 5 to 15 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. We could see some isolated showers tonight.
Thanks for reading! The Word guesses many folks might enjoy this New York Times guide to hot springs in the US (yes, New Mexico receives a perfunctory mention).
