NEW MEXICO

US outlines effects of withdrawing land from oil drilling

ALBUQUERQUE – The U.S. Interior Department’s plan to withdraw hundreds of square miles in New Mexico from oil and gas production for the next 20 years is expected to result in only a few dozen wells not being drilled on federal land surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park, according to an environmental assessment made public on Nov. 10.

The withdrawal plan was first outlined by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in 2021 in response to the concerns of Native American tribes in New Mexico and Arizona that development was going unchecked across a wide swath of northwestern New Mexico and that tribal officials did not have a seat at the table.

In addition to the proposed withdrawal, Haaland – who is from Laguna Pueblo and is the first Native American to lead a Cabinet agency – also committed to taking a broader look at how federal land across the region can be better managed while taking into account environmental effects and cultural preservation.

Indigenous leaders and environmental groups reiterated that the broader look would be a more meaningful step toward permanent protections for cultural resources in the San Juan Basin.

The Bureau of Land Management has estimated, based on 2018 data, that not quite 100 new oil and gas wells likely would be drilled over the next 20 years within the withdrawal area. It’s estimated that less than half of those likely would not be drilled if the withdrawal were approved.

With only a few dozen wells expected in the area, natural gas production for the area would decrease by half of 1% and oil production could see a 2.5% reduction.

A World Heritage site, Chaco Culture National Historical Park is thought to be the center of what was once a hub of Indigenous civilization with many tribes from the Southwest tracing their roots to the high desert outpost.

Judge’s ruling puts restrictions on state’s Civil Guard

ALBUQUERQUE – The New Mexico Civil Guard has been barred from publicly acting as a military unit without authorization or assuming the role of law enforcement by using organized force at public protests or gathering.

The Albuquerque Journal reported on Oct. 18 that District Court Judge Elaine Lujan also has banned such activity by the group’s directors, officers, agents, employees, members and any of their successor organizations and members.

Lujan granting a motion by Bernalillo County District Attorney Raúl Torrez, who told the Journal that the decision, “fundamentally represents a victory for the rule of law….We’re trying to prevent violent extremism.”

A lawsuit alleged members of the New Mexico Civil Guard violated state law by exercising or attempting to exercise the functions of a peace officer without authority and have organized and operated as a military unit without having been called to military service by the governor, according to the Journal.

The governor has exclusive authority under the state constitution to call on the militia to keep the public peace, the newspaper reported.

ARIZONA

Voters OK in-state college tuition for non-citizens

PHOENIX – Arizona voters have approved an initiative to extend cheaper in-state college tuition to some non-citizen students, cheering supporters who hope the measure’s passage Nov. 14 will help spark momentum for wider immigration reform in Congress.

The Associated Press called the race for Proposition 308 after the latest round of vote releases gave it a big enough lead that the AP determined it could not lose. Arizona joins at least 18 other states, including California and Virginia, that offer in-state tuition to all students who otherwise qualify regardless of immigration status.

The measure was referred to the ballot by Arizona’s legislature and repeals some parts of an earlier initiative that banned in-state tuition for non-citizens. It will allow all students regardless of immigration status to pay in-state college rates as long as they attended Arizona high schools for two years and graduated.

Advocates say tens of thousands of future non-citizen students who have been in Arizona for years could potentially benefit from the proposition in a state where an estimated 275,000 migrants are living without authorization.

The measure will allow qualifying non-citizen students to pay the current in-state undergraduate tuition of $10,978 per academic year at Arizona’s state universities. Those universities do not have a specific rate for non-citizens brought to the U.S. as children, but officials say more than 300 students are currently paying a non-resident rate for Arizona high school graduates that is 150% of in-state costs.

Community college students will also benefit.

The vote is a turnaround from 2006, when Arizona voters rode a widespread wave of anti-immigrant sentiment to bar students who entered the U.S. without authorization from getting in-state tuition and other financial benefits, even if they lived here most of their lives.

MONTANA

Judge orders arrest of neo-Nazi website founder

MISSOULA – A federal judge on Nov. 9 ordered the arrest of a neo-Nazi website publisher accused of ignoring a $14 million judgment against him for orchestrating an anti-Semitic harassment campaign against a Montana woman’s family.

U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Andrew Anglin, founder and operator of The Daily Stormer website.

Attorneys for Montana real estate agent Tanya Gersh have said Anglin did not pay any portion of the August 2019 judgment and has ignored their requests for information about his whereabouts, his operation of the website and other assets.

Gersh says anonymous internet trolls bombarded her family with hateful and threatening messages after Anglin published their personal information, including a photo of her young son. In a string of posts, Anglin accused Gersh and other Jewish residents of Whitefish, Montana, of engaging in an “extortion racket” against the mother of white nationalist Richard Spencer.

Gersh’s April 2017 lawsuit accused Anglin of invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress and violation of the Montana Anti-Intimidation Act. An attorney for Gersh did not immediately respond to a telephone message seeking comment Wednesday.

Judge Christensen ordered Anglin to pay over $4 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages to Gersh.

WYOMING

National beard contest winner wants to start local club

A Casper resident took home first place in a national beard and mustache competition on Nov. 12 – and had so much fun that he wants to start a local beard club.

The National Beard and Moustache Championships took place at the Ford Wyoming Center with about 50 different competitive events.

Cory “Grizz” Stovall entered the 6-to-12 inch full beard natural category. As its name implies, the aim of that category is for each contestant to show off their beard as-is, without any styling aids, like gel or mousse.

Stovall showed up Saturday show-ready, with a brushed and oiled his beard, clad in a blue button-down, waistcoat, cowboy hat and tag that identified him as contestant No. 24.

Even though the Ford Wyoming Center was also hosting Casper’s annual Booze & Bacon festival that day, Stovall had to keep his beard tidy. He didn’t eat and stuck to just drinking water.

He’d never competed in a facial hair competition before, and was shocked to discover “how just family-like this group of people is,” he said.

Now that Stovall’s brought home a win for Casper, he wants to start local a beard club.

The goal is to send a group of people to represent the city at the next championships, he said – and to embrace other area facial hair enthusiasts to the way the national community embraced him.