Black River Watershed Destruction

 

These photos show what New Mexico meadow jumping mice habitat should look like.

On the other hand, the following photos — of New Mexico meadow jumping mice critical habitat in the Black River watershed, taken long after cattle were removed — show that grazing is still a very significant problem there. The only grazing animals left were feral horses and elk; there’s very little elk scat, while the meadows and streamside habitat are littered with horse feces. The Center is anti-extinction, not anti-horse — but the evidence shows we need to move quickly to prevent even more damage to habitat that’s vital to the survival of these mice (as well as another federally protected species, Apache trout).