Here’s a look at today’s headlines:
Reserve Ranger District fire management personnel are preparing to conduct the 2,500-acre Sheep Basin prescribed fire, approximately ten miles southeast of Reserve, NM off Forest Road 141. Ignitions may occur when conditions are favorable anytime from mid-Oct. into Nov. 2015. This broadcast burn (activity where fire is applied generally to most or all of an area within well-defined boundaries) will complete the 6,500-acre Sheep Basin project. Support for this ongoing wildlife habitat improvement project is provided by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. With the onset of winter, district personnel are also planning to burn slash piles at various locations. These areas will be signed and posted for public awareness. Pile burning will be ongoing throughout the winter as conditions allow. Objectives of these burns include removing hazardous fuels and reducing the threat of severe wildfires.
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Young Entrepreneur Foundation announced today that its scholarship application for the 2016 NFIB Young Entrepreneur Awards is now available. High school seniors who run their own business and plan to attend a two- or four-year university, college, or vocational institute during the fall of 2016 are eligible to apply. The NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation offers scholarships that recognize high school seniors who have demonstrated entrepreneurial spirit and initiative through having established and run their own businesses. The scholarship program’s goal is to raise awareness among the nation’s youth of the critical role that private enterprise and entrepreneurship play in the American economy.
With the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) set to expire at midnight, U.S. Senator Tom Udall called on Congress to immediately pass a 60-day extension and continue working to permanently authorize and fully fund the nation’s premier conservation program. Udall’s father, former Interior Secretary Stewart Udall, helped secure passage of the LWCF in 1965 and the program has since helped boost the economy in local communities and supported outdoor recreation throughout the nation.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today awarded nearly $20 million through 385 grants to help support the start-up or expansion of rural small businesses. “These grants will strengthen the economic fabric of our rural small towns and communities by providing capital to small and emerging businesses,” Vilsack said today during a visit to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) released the following statement today after voting to pass a continuing resolution that would keep the government funded through December 11, 2015: “It’s my hope that this marks the end of governing by manufactured crises and a return to focusing on growing the economy and making sure all Americans get a fair shake at getting ahead.”
