March 2020 Mescalero Apache Tribe Volume V.20, Issue 03 Apache Scout U.S. Forest Service Youth Intern, Caleb Chee, reporting on his last days at Mescalero Fish Hatchery Upon my return taking eDNA samples and then wait for working with the you have to be very your result to see Smokey Bear Ranger careful, it’s im- which animals are District, we had tak- portant not to con- within the river. The Inside this issue: en several eDNA taminate the spot next project I did samples from nu- you are working in. with the Forest Ser- Tribal Ordinance merous streams The steps to actually vice was a resurvey 4 19-03 around the Lincoln get eDNA is to first of a couple of trick find a stream, then tanks that we had Office of the Presi- National Forest. The 10 dent purpose of taking you get a little cup previously built dur- that has a filter ing the summer Lawmakers 12 within it, then hook time. We also Surface Water De- it up to a pump that checked on a few 18 partment sucks the water up fences that we had into a bucket, after built in the summer Success letter 24 letting the pump do as well. We look for its job for about 5 any signs of damage, Youth Development 25 minutes you take if there were any Boys & Girls Club 26 the cup off the damage, we would pump and grab a repair the fence. Af- Religion 32 eDNA, (which means pair of tweezers and terwards we Environmental DNA) carefully peel the Heading picture: Club mem- is to analyze and see white filter off of bers from the Mescalero Boys what kind of wild the cup, then insert and Girls Club on the Senate the filter into a bag Floor at the New Mexico life is around that State Capital in Santa Fe. specific area. Work- filled with tiny silica ing with eDNA sam- beads that collects ples is a different all the moisture out experience for me, I of the filter, when- APR. DEADLINE: learned a lot within ever you’re done 03/13/20 the time I spent you’ll send the filter BY NOON with the USFS. When to a lab to be tested Page 2 Apache Scout Volume V.20, Issue 03 checked on the trick er even been to be- then you’ll be ready tanks to see if it was fore these Tribes to go. Another thing I still functional and were Sadia Pueblo did while here at the to see if any wildlife and Nambe Pueblo, hatchery was moving had been using these are just a couple of fish from one tank to water resources. places to name that another tank or to an After completing a we had delivered to. outside raceway. To few weeks with the Helping out and go- do that we had to USFS, I started work ing on fish deliveries get a total weight of with the Fish Hatch- was great experience all the fish in that ery. I did a variety of for me because it one tank, then place jobs there. I came gave me knowledge all the fish in a trail- back around the best of how our deliveries er tank filled with time of the year, work, knowledge of water and oxygen, which is help han- other Tribes and we then get ready to dling Trout fish eggs. their Tribal lakes. dump them into the I liked the process, When we did deliver- raceways where they being able to help ies to those places, can grow to be a big- prep for the fish eggs we had to prepare ger size fish. Overall, is an experience that our big fish truck for I had a fun time with I will never forget. the drive which the USFS and the During that time of means we disinfect Fish Hatchery, I prepping for the fish the truck, fill all the learned a lot within eggs it was a very tanks with water, the time I had spent lengthy process and then the next day we there. I am grateful required at least four go to a selected for the opportunity of our staff mem- raceway that con- they gave me to ex- bers. There were tains a number of pand my knowledge several deliveries I fish we are trans- of working with the helped out with in porting, we then get USFS and the Fish the month that I was the number of Hatchery. with the Fish Hatch- pounds and then Thank You, Caleb ery. I went to a few place the fish in Chee Tribes that I’ve nev- tanks. After all that Volume V.20, Issue 03 Apache Scout Page 3 Mescalero Fish Hatchery Southwest Tribal Fisheries Commission, Winter Newsletter The above news was included in the Winter Newsletter for Southwest Tribal Fisheries Commission. Provided by Chief Conservation Officer, Tyner Cervantes Page 4 Apache Scout Volume V.20, Issue 03 Tribal Ordinance 19-03 Courtesy Mescalero Conservation Law Enforcement Volume V.20, Issue 03 Apache Scout Page 5 Page 6 Apache Scout Volume V.20, Issue 03 Volume V.20, Issue 03 Apache Scout Page 7 Page 8 Apache Scout Volume V.20, Issue 03 Volume V.20, Issue 03 Apache Scout Page 9 Page 10 Apache Scout Volume V.20, Issue 03 February 18, 2020 Dear Tribal Members, Greetings! I would like to take this time to write about the importance of the 2020 Census. Every 10 years, the United States counts everyone living in the nation on April 1st, which is approaching fast. Having our tribal members respond to the 2020 Census helps our Tribe re- ceive federal funding in the future. Funding for programs and grants are allocated based on Census data. For example, infrastructure like roads, housing, and hospitals are federally funded and the Census data helps distribute funding. With an accurate count of Mescalero Apaches living on and off the reservation, we can increase funding. We cannot afford an undercount. Children from the age of 0-5 years are the most under- counted. And even worse, Native Americans in the state of New Mexico are the most diffi- cult to count. The solution? Fill out the 2020 Census questionnaire! The month of March is when information about the Census will be in your mailbox or front door. I challenge you to not throw away anything related to the Census; instead, read the material. If you don’t quite understand the importance of the Census and how it can help the Tribe, please call the Tribal Offices. I hear we have some goodies if you visit Administration and talk about the Census. In closing, we will host community events for the coming weeks in hopes our tribal members know the significance of the Census and how to fill out the questionnaire. Be on the lookout! “I’m Mescalero Apache and I count.” Sincerely, Gabe Aguilar President Volume V.20, Issue 03 Apache Scout Page 11 Speak your language Courtesy June Shaw Page 12 Apache Scout Volume V.20, Issue 03 Lawmakers: Budget excludes rural, tribal voices in education by Trip Jennings, New Mexico In Depth, New Mexico In Depth the for not doing right by spending most of its public plan is school students, con- respond- verging with an influx ing to the of cash from the oil court or- and gas sector into der that state coffers and a demands new Democratic gov- New Mex- ernor calling for an ico edu- education cate its “moonshot.” Sudden- at-risk ly the moment for Bernalyn Via of the Mescalero students change looked immi- Apache tribe visited the Roundhouse on Fb. 10 to lobby lawmakers. Photo better. nent. credit / Trip Jennings Many ad- But as the 2020 ses- vocates sion winds down, As the annual legisla- for those students some wonder where tive session races to had viewed 2019 and the transformational an end Thursday, 2020 as an opportuni- change is even as the think of the New Mex- ty to re-envision the state pumps hundreds ico Legislature as an state’s public educa- of millions into edu- industrial-strength tion system after a cation. And they’re strainer. Only a por- decade of stagna- pointing fingers at tion of bills will pass tion. The Great Re- the status quo in the through. cession in 2008 hob- Legislature. But some lawmakers bled the state’s abil- “If we are still on this are saying too many ity to transform pub- moonshot, the moon- bills being filtered lic schools. On its shot has missed the out come from com- heels were eight Martinez kids and the munities that are years of Republican Yazzie kids,” Rep. home to students Gov. Susana Mar- Derrick Lente, a Dem- identified in the land- tinez’s emphasis on ocrat from Sandia mark Yazzie Martinez high-stakes testing Pueblo, said in his education lawsuit as and a one-size-fits-all legislative office. mentality that shortchanged in the Other lawmakers state’s public schools. clashed with educa- tors and the state’s echo Lente’s com- The House of Repre- ments. sentatives and Senate ethnically and eco- “Tell me if I’m wast- may be wrangling nomically diverse communities. ing my time,” a frus- over last-minute trated Rep. Tomas changes to the state Then came Judge Sa- rah Sigleton’s historic Salazar, Democrat of Rep. Derrick Lente budget, but raging ruling in 2018 that Las Vegas, asked dur- of Sandia Pueblo behind the scenes is a ing a recent legisla- debate over whether castigated the state Volume V.20, Issue 03 Apache Scout Page 13 tive committee hear- is not a lot of commu- ber of the House Edu- ing about bills he’s nication.