Rebecca Hauschild
For the Artesia Daily Press

Artesia city officials voiced support for Xcel Energy as the utility provider sought an exemption from a state law aimed at reducing carbon emissions from energy production.

Hayley Klein, city administrator, said at the City Council’s Tuesday, Jan. 13, meeting that Xcel was planning to apply for the exemption through the Public Regulation Commission, the state agency that oversees utilities throughout the state.

City councilors took no official action on the matter at their recent meeting, but could vote at a future meeting to send a letter of support for Xcel to the state of New Mexico.

At issue is the Energy Transition Act, a signature piece of legislation pushed by New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and signed into law in 2019. The bill called for New Mexico energy production to be 100% “carbon-free” by 2045.

The bill also called on the state’s administration, namely the New Mexico Environment Department and Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, to pursue projects such as renewable energy intended to reduce air pollution in the state.

Xcel sought to be exempted from such requirements as the company seeks to increase natural gas production in the Permian Basin region, both in New Mexico and Texas.

The company planned to build a transmission line this year from its power plant in Gaines County, Texas, across the state line into New Mexico, and requested an exemption from the state to allow for associated emissions.

Mayor Jon Henry and city officials said the booming southeast New Mexico oilfields were in need of more power as fossil fuel production, and that a lack of electricity could lead to wells being shut in.

“Right now, a lot of the power in the oilfield is coming from diesel generators,” Klein said.

Election day in March

March 3 will be election day in Artesia. The deadline for candidates to file was Tuesday, Jan. 13.

Early voting will take place Feb. 3-28 at the City Clerk’s Office, 511 W. Texas Ave. Absentee ballots can be requested from the clerk’s office until Feb. 24.

Election day polling places will be the City Clerk’s Office; the Artesia Senior Center at 202 W. Chisum Ave.; and Faith Baptist Church at 401 S. 20th St.

Other business

The council agreed to spend $40,000 to finish the mural on Eagle Draw and to add $500,000 to a housing incentive program that provides up to $10,000 per rooftop to developers.

Another $4 million was budgeted for overall city infrastructure construction, including road repairs, sewer lines and other city services.

Councilors also approved $580,309 in start-up costs for the Artesia Recreation Center.

Infrastructure Director Byron Landfair reported there are 196 days remaining on the 26th Street project. City staff was completing curb and gutter work, he said, with paving expected in mid-February.

Artesia Police Chief Kirk Roberts reported a 20% reduction in violent crime such as robbery, murder, robbery, rape, sexual assaults, child abuse and domestic battery in the last five years. The Artesia Police Department answered 24,376 calls for service in 2025, which is an average of 2,026 calls per month or 67 calls per day, Roberts said.

Also in 2025, Roberts said, the department received 959 requests for records and hired 12 officers from a pool of 108 applicants.

Fire Chief Kevin Hope reported the department experienced a 5.5% increase in total call volume in 2025, compared with the year before.

Staff report

Officials with Ski Apache have confirmed the death of a child involving a ski lift at Ski Apache which occurred Jan. 6.

According to a release from the resort, Ski Apache Ski Patrol responded to provide emergency medical care, but passed away due to the injuries. No other information was given by the release while the incident remains under review.

“Our hearts are with the child’s family during this incredibly difficult time,” said Ski Apache General Manager Ken Marlat in the release. “We extend our deepest condolences and ask that their privacy be respected.”

The release went on to say that Ski Apache is fully cooperating with appropriate authorities, and protocols are being reviewed. No other information was available.

Adrian Hedden
Artesia Daily Press
ahedden@elritomedia.com

A struggling turtle native to the waters of New Mexico, including the Pecos River, is at the center of a federal lawsuit.

The Rio Grande cooter was denied federal protections under the Endangered Species Act in 2022 after a petition by the Center for Biological Diversity called for it to be added to the federal list of “endangered” species.

Endangered status means the federal government, namely the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, believes a species’ extinction is imminent.

Such a listing means the agency must devise a recovery plan, require stricter analysis before development can occur near or in habitat, and potentially set aside lands for the species’ recovery.

The lesser “threatened” status indicates the service believes an endangered listing may soon be warranted and results in similar requirements to prevent extinction.

In response to the service denying the cooter endangered status about three years ago, the Center for Biological Diversity sued the Fish and Wildlife Service Jan. 8 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to reverse the agency’s 2022 decision and calling for a judge to set a hearing on the matter.

The complaint cited data and research the national environmental nonprofit argued was proof that protections were needed.

The cooter dwells in a “fragmented range” across the Pecos, Rio Grande and Rio Bravo rivers in New Mexico, West Texas and northeast Mexico, read the suit, and its survival is threatened by worsening drought in the riparian areas where it dwells.

“Rio Grande cooters are threatened by climate change, unsustainable water usage and the oil industry’s influence, but we can save them with Endangered Species Act protections,” said Camila Cossío, an attorney at the Center.

The turtle is also impacted by the trade industry, read the suit, when the turtles and other “exotic” species are collected and exported as pets out of their natural habitats.

Seven of the top 10 pet exports from the U.S. are turtle species, read a 2025 study published by the Center for Biological Diversity. About 8.7 million reptiles were exported from the U.S. since 2017, most of them directly from the wild, the study read.

“The pet trade contributes to the growing global extinction crisis,” read the study. “Wildlife exploitation, including taking animals out of the wild to become pets, is the leading driver of marine species loss and the secondary driver of terrestrial species loss.”

The Center originally filed a petition to list the cooter in 2012, and the Fish and Wildlife Service in 2015 issued a 90-day finding that a listing would be warranted. That triggered a 12-month analysis, which led to the 2022 denial to grant the species protected status.

In denying the listing, the Fish and Wildlife Service explained that despite stressors on its habitat, the species had several “resilient” populations throughout its range in Texas and New Mexico.

Cooter populations were found in all five of its native river basins: the Pecos River in New Mexico, the Devils River and Rio Grande in Texas, and two others in Mexico, read the service’s 2022 announcement denying the listing.

As a result, the announcement read, the species maintained “genetic diversity,” meaning cooters can reproduce in different areas and problematic traits such as diseases can be bred out of the population.

“Because Rio Grande cooter has maintained multiple resilient population analysis units across a diversity of habitat types and within all five river basins in which it historically occurred, the species has retained redundancy and representation at the species level,” read the announcement.

“Based on these conditions, the current risk of extinction for the Rio Grande cooter is low.”

Opponents of the listing argued a listing would unduly impede development in the oilfields and ranchlands of West Texas and southeast New Mexico, where the Permian Basin – the United States’ busiest oil and gas field – is located.

Robert Hatter, landman at the Texas General Land Office, argued western portions of the 13 million acres of state-owned land where oil and gas is produced could be adversely affected by listing the cooter.

“The (General Land Office) believes this substantial acreage would be adversely and unnecessarily impacted by a listing, due to the associated restrictions that a listing would impose on economic development of the property,” read comments signed by Hatter and submitted in 2015 when the listing was proposed.

Managing Editor Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.

Todd Fuqua
El Rito Media
tfuqua@elritomedia.com

Officials with the Ruidoso Downs Race Track announced today that the entire 2026 race meet will be held at the Downs of Albuquerque this year, citing concerns continue over the track’s security and damage from previous catastrophic flooding.

According to a press release from the track, the decision was not made based on findings in a report by J.E. Fuller Hydrology and Geomorphology in Flagstaff, Ariz. The entire J.E. Fuller report, made to the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and dated Aug. 5, 2025, can be found here.

“It is, without question, the most challenging and emotional choice we have ever made as an organization,” the press release states. “We will continue to communicate openly as we assess our next steps.”

This summer will mark the first summer in more than 80 years that there has not been organized horse racing at Ruidoso Downs. Initially known as Hollywood Park, the track first hosted paramutuel racing in 1947. It has hosted the All American Futurity – the world’s richest quarter horse race – since 1959.

The release states the 2026 NM Bred Sale and Super Select sale will still be held at the Ruidoso Downs Sales pavilion in their normal time frames.

“This news is heartbreaking for our entire community. Ruidoso Downs Race Track is far more than a venue; it is woven into the very fabric of our region’s identity and economy,” said Ruidoso mayor Lynn Crawford in a statement released Monday. “For generations, the thundering hooves of champion quarter horses have drawn visitors from across the nation to our mountain community. The track generates vital revenue for local businesses, provides hundreds of jobs, and brings the world’s finest horsemen and women to our doorstep each summer.”

Full text of the Ruidoso Downs press release regarding the track’s closing:

“We have been diligently working with local, state, and federal agencies to evaluate ongoing flooding risks at Ruidoso Downs Racetrack and determine whether flood mitigation measures could be implemented to prevent a repeat of the significant flooding that occurred in July 2024 and July 2025. Both these flooding events were catastrophic for the customers, patrons, employees, horsemen, and horses at Ruidoso Downs Racetrack. Our goal has been to return the Ruidoso Downs Racetrack facilities and operations—if that could be done — with flood mitigation steps needed both on-site and off property upstream of the Racetrack to avoid a future flooding event. For the past several months, we have begged for solutions to no avail.

Thursday, January 15, 2026, Ruidoso Downs Racetrack owner Johnny Trotter, General Manager Rick Baugh, and Village of Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford traveled to the State Capitol in Santa Fe, NM, to meet with numerous state officials to discuss additional flood mitigation efforts, only to find out that the racetrack is not sustainable now or for many years to come.  It has now become clear that, even with proposed flood mitigation work done on-site and off-site upstream, Ruidoso Downs Racetrack cannot be adequately protected from future flooding.

We are sharing the findings of engineering firm JE Fuller, which was retained by and working for the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security, regarding future flood risks at Ruidoso Downs Racetrack. August 5, 2025, JE Fuller analysis shows that the Racetrack faces serious and ongoing flooding risks that cannot be adequately addressed with the mitigation measures proposed.

According to the JE Fuller Report, even moderate rainfall events—around two inches or more per hour—can overwhelm existing and planned drainage improvements intended to mitigate flooding risks at Ruidoso Downs Racetrack. A rainfall event of two inches per hour over the fire-scarred areas creates a high risk of dangerous flooding at Ruidoso Downs Racetrack that could be life threatening.

Based on the JE Fuller findings, and our follow-up discussions with governmental agencies, the engineers specializing in hydrology and flooding concluded that the Racetrack is not sustainable as a public venue. We are deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of everyone who attends Ruidoso Downs Racetrack, and our equine athletes. Continuing operations at the current site of Ruidoso Downs Racetrack is not feasible.

This decision is not taken lightly. It is, without question, the most challenging and emotional choice we have ever made as an organization. The racing schedule will be run at the Downs at Albuquerque and the 2026 NM Bred Sale, and the Super Select sale will be held at the Ruidoso Downs Sales pavilion in their normal time frames. We will continue to communicate openly as we assess our next steps.”

Full text of the Ruidoso Mayor Lynn Crawford’s statement regarding the track’s closing:

“It is with deep disappointment that I must announce that Ruidoso Downs Race Track will not be able to host the 2026 racing season. The devastating flood events of 2025 caused significant damage to critical track infrastructure, and despite the tireless efforts of repair crews and stakeholders. The 2026 meet will be run at the Downs at Albuquerque and the 2026 New Mexico Bred Sale and the 2026 Super Select Sale will still be held at the Ruidoso Downs Sales Pavilion. The Billy the Kid Casino will also be operational during this time.

This news is heartbreaking for our entire community. Ruidoso Downs Race Track is far more than a venue; it is woven into the very fabric of our region’s identity and economy. For generations, the thundering hooves of champion quarter horses have drawn visitors from across the nation to our mountain community. The track generates vital revenue for local businesses, provides hundreds of jobs, and brings the world’s finest horsemen and women to our doorstep each summer.

The Village of Ruidoso, Ruidoso Downs Race Track management, Lincoln County, state officials, and community stakeholders are unified in our commitment to bringing championship quarter horse racing back to Ruidoso for the 2027 season. We are already coordinating recovery efforts, identifying funding sources, and developing an aggressive timeline to ensure that every necessary repair is completed well ahead of Memorial Day 2027.

I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Johnny and Jana Trotter and Rick Baugh for their tireless efforts over the past two years to keep the track operational. Their dedication, commitment, and passion for preserving this vital part of our community have been nothing short of extraordinary.

Our community has faced unprecedented challenges over the past year, yet time and again we have demonstrated our resilience. We rose from the ashes of the South Fork and Salt Fires, and we are rebuilding after devastating floods. We will all continue recovery efforts, and we will persevere.

To our racing families, horsemen, visitors, and fans: we miss you already, and we are working every single day to welcome you back in 2027. Ruidoso remains open, our community remains strong, and our commitment to the sport of quarter horse racing remains unwavering.”

Todd Fuqua is Editor for the Ruidoso News and can be reached at 575-937-0344.