Here’s look at some local news:

Freeport McMoRan announced the recipients of the Community Investment Fund that include 12 local groups and totaling $450,000. The groups awarded are as follows: Big Brothers, Big Sisters; Cobre Consolidated Schools; The Community Partnership; The Grant County Stepping Up Program; The Foundry Maker Space in Silver City; New Mexico State University Grant County Extension Service; The New Mexico Lions Crane Reading Program; The Silver City MainStreet Plaza; Silver Consolidated Schools; the Village of Santa Clara; the Virus Theater; and Western New Mexico University for promoting family math night at schools.

The Grant County Cooperative Extension Service and College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences has announced the creation and availability of free podcasts that can be listened to on a computer or phone. The “Grant County Extension Connection” will feature episodes averaging 15 to 20 minutes in length and covering topics of interest from NMSU extension specialists, local and state youth, and local and state agricultural organizations. There are four episodes available now and can be found by visiting nmsugrantces .buzzsprout.com.

The Gila National Forest will soon officially release a draft revised land management plan and draft environmental impact statement for public comment. Due to a variety of considerations, the documents have been made available on the Gila National Forest’s plan revision web page at go.usa.gov\h88k, ahead of the official release. The official release will occur when the Environmental Protection Agency publishes a Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. It is anticipated that the Notice of Availability will be published in early January  which will start the formal 90-day comment period.