The New Mexico senator said wildlife refuges in South Texas should be part of the detection infrastructure for New World screwworm.

Damien Willis, Organ Mountain News

WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich pressed Interior Department nominees this week on New World screwworm monitoring, National Park Service staffing and other public lands issues during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing.

Heinrich, D-N.M., asked Kevin Lilly, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks, what resources the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has to monitor for New World screwworm cases.

“We now have 12 reported New World screwworm infestations in the continental United States,” Heinrich said. “I frankly worry that there could be many more infestations in the wildlife populations as opposed to livestock that have not been detected.”

Lilly said New World screwworm is primarily a U.S. Department of Agriculture issue, but said Fish and Wildlife can work with USDA to identify vulnerable species and hot spots using technology such as drones and algorithms.

Heinrich said national wildlife refuges in South Texas should be part of the detection infrastructure for New World screwworm.

“There are a number of national wildlife refuges in South Texas, and I understand it’s important that we make sure that we’re using those lands to be part of the detection infrastructure,” Heinrich said.

Heinrich also questioned Lilly about international conservation funding and National Park Service staffing. Lilly told Heinrich the department was “moving in a positive direction” on international conservation accounts and said he hoped to have a solution by the end of the week or the end of next week.

On park staffing, Heinrich questioned how proposed reductions align with support for the National Park Service. Lilly pointed to local hiring authority and expanded seasonal hiring, saying the department had increased seasonal hiring from 5,000 to 6,000 positions and extended some seasonal employment from six months to nine months.

Heinrich also questioned William Hague, Trump’s nominee to be assistant secretary of the Interior for insular and international affairs, about international conservation programs, deep-sea mining and administrative expenses.

Heinrich told Hague local support is critical before deep-sea mining moves forward.

“We had a hearing last week where we heard from a number of territories that (there) is serious concern about this,” Heinrich said. “I would just caution that local support is critical if you’re going to actually be successful.”

Hague also told Heinrich he could not immediately provide an accounting of how $1.6 million in additional Office of Insular Affairs funding had been spent, including how much went toward personnel, grants, travel and other administrative expenses.

Damien Willis is founder and editor of Organ Mountain News. If you have a personal story to share or a lead we should follow up on, reach out at OrganMountainNews@gmail.com or connect with him on X at @damienwillis.