Counties In New Mexico Research Articles

First Report of Potato mop top virus Causing Potato Tuber Necrosis in Colorado and New Mexico.

Potato mop top virus (PMTV) is considered the type member of the genus Pomovirus. PMTV is an important pathogen of potato vectored by the plasmodiophorid Spongospora subterranea f. sp. subterranea (Sss), which causes powdery scab of potato (1). Sss and PMTV are usually associated with cool and humid environments. PMTV-infected potato tubers generally exhibit internal hollow necrotic spots or concentric rings, and the virus is known to cause significant economic losses in Northern Europe, North and South America, and Asia (4). PMTV in the United States was first reported in Maine (2). Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) tubers cv. FL2048 and cv. Atlantic were sent to our laboratory from fields in Saguache County in Colorado and in San Juan County in New Mexico, respectively, during the spring of 2013. The tubers from both locations had multiple, internal, concentric, necrotic arcs and circles. Internal tissue with necrotic lesion from six symptomatic tubers from each location were crushed in liquid nitrogen followed by ribonucleic acid extraction using a Total RNA Isolation kit (Promega Corp., Madison, WI). These extracts were tested by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR using three different sets of previously published primers for molecular detection of PMTV. The primer set H360/C819 targeting the coat protein (CP) on RNA 3 of PMTV yielded an amplicon (H360-CO and H360-NM) of 460 bp (4). The second set of primers, pmtF4/pmtR4 (5), amplified a 417-bp product (PMTF-CO and PMTF-NM) in RNA 2, and the third set, PMTV-P9/PMTV-M9 (3), designed to amplify the region encoding an 8-KD cysteine-rich protein in RNA 3 of PMTV, yielded a 507-bp amplicon (PMTV9-CO and PMTV9-NM). The amplicons generated from RT-PCR using all three sets were cloned (PGEMT-easy) and sequenced. Since the sequences from symptomatic tuber extracts from each location were identical to their respective primer sets, a consensus sequence from each primer set was submitted to National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) GenBank. Sequences obtained from the H360/C819 primer set (GenBank Accession Nos. KM207013 and KM207014 for H360-CO and H360-NM, respectively) were 100% identical to the corresponding CP regions of PMTV isolates from North Dakota (HM776172). Sequences from the pmtF4/pmtR4 primer set (KM207015 and KM207016 for PMTF-CO and PMTF-NM, respectively) were 100% identical to the corresponding protein in RNA2 of PMTV isolates from North Dakota (GenBank HM776171), and sequences from the PMTV-P9/PMTV-M9 primer set (KM207017 and KM207018 for PMTV9-CO and PMTV9-NM respectively) were 99% identical to the corresponding protein in RNA3 of PMTV isolates (AY187010). The 100-99% homology of the sequences from this study to the corresponding PMTV sequences published in NCBI confirmed the occurrence of symptoms in the tubers from both Colorado and New Mexico due to PMTV. None of the symptomatic tubers tested positive for Tobacco rattle virus, Tomato spotted wilt virus, Alfalfa mosaic virus, Potato leafroll virus, or the necrotic strains of Potato virus Y by RT-PCR. To our knowledge, this is the first report of PMTV in potato in states of Colorado and New Mexico.

The role of community health centers in assessing the social determinants of health for planning and policy: the example of frontier New Mexico.

This article examines the experience of a frontier-based community health center when it utilized the Tool for Health and Resilience in Vulnerable Environments (THRIVE) for assessing social determinants of health with a local health consortium. Community members (N = 357) rated safety, jobs, housing, and education among the top health issues. Community leaders integrated these health priorities in a countywide strategic planning process. This example of a frontier county in New Mexico demonstrates the critical role that community health centers play when engaging with local residents to assess community health needs for strategic planning and policy development.

Air pollution and hospital emergency room and admissions for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in Doña Ana County, New Mexico

IntroductionDoña Ana County in New Mexico regularly experiences severe air pollution episodes associated with windblown dust and fires. Residents of Hispanic/Latino origin constitute the largest population group in the region. We investigated the associations of ambient particulate matter and ozone with hospital emergency room and admissions for respiratory and cardiovascular visits in adults. MethodsWe used trajectories regression analysis to determine the local and regional components of particle mass and ozone. We applied Poisson generalized models to analyze hospital emergency room visits and admissions adjusted for pollutant levels, humidity, temperature and temporal and seasonal effects. ResultsWe found that the sources within 500km of the study area accounted for most of particle mass and ozone concentrations. Sources in Southeast Texas, Baja California and Southwest US were the most important regional contributors. Increases of cardiovascular emergency room visits were estimated for PM10 (3.1% (95% CI: −0.5 to 6.8)) and PM10−2.5 (2.8% (95% CI: −0.2 to 5.9)) for all adults during the warm period (April–September). When high PM10 (>150μg/m3) mass concentrations were excluded, strong effects for respiratory emergency room visits for both PM10 (3.2% (95% CI: 0.5–6.0)) and PM2.5 (5.2% (95% CI: −0.5 to 11.3)) were computed. ConclusionsOur analysis indicated effects of PM10, PM2.5 and O3 on emergency room visits during the April–September period in a region impacted by windblown dust and wildfires.

Helminth Parasites from the Kit Fox,Vulpes macrotis(Carnivora: Canidae), from New Mexico

Fifty-three kit foxes (Vulpes macrotis) were collected from 9 counties in New Mexico from 1996 to 1998 and examined for helminth parasites. Forty-seven (88.7%) were infected. The cestodes found included Dipylidium caninum in 15 (28.3%), Mesocestoides variabilis in 29 (54.7%), and Taenia multiceps in 1 (1.9%). The nematodes include Ancylostoma caninum in 2 (3.8%), Toxocara canis in 2 (3.8%), Toxocara cati in 1 (1.9%), Toxascaris leonina in 32 (60.4%), and Physaloptera rara in 31 (58.5%) foxes. This is the first report of these parasites in kit foxes from New Mexico. Taenia multiceps, Ancylostoma caninum, Toxocara canis, Toxocara cati, and P. rara are recorded for the first time in kit foxes.

Land of Disenchantment: Latina/o Identities and Transformations in Northern New Mexico (review)

Reviewed by: Land of Disenchantment: Latina/o Identities and Transformations in Northern New Mexico Silvia Spitta Keywords Michael L. Trujillo, Silvia Spitta, Land of Disenchantment, New York socialites, foreign artists, intellectuals, Española, drugs, tricultural harmony, folk life, Marco Cholo, poverty, violence, drug abuse, migration, genizaro, trickster, jokes Trujillo, Michael L. Land of Disenchantment: Latina/o Identities and Transformations in Northern New Mexico. Albuquerque: U of New Mexico P, 2009. 265 pp. Michael L. Trujillo's engaging study Land of Disenchantment is an extended meditation on and important debunking of the notion of New Mexico as an enchanted space. The view of an exotic New Mexico was created in large measure by New York socialites and foreign artists and intellectuals who settled there from the 1920s on. This migration would only increase exponentially between the world wars. The artworks this group produced, the important collections of Hispanic and pueblo Indian folk arts they amassed, and the museums they founded, all led to the establishment of New Mexico as a magical place. This idea, underpinned by visions of tricultural harmony, has spread to the entire US, and New Mexico is now seen (and increasingly marketed) as a place that does not correspond to the space and time of the greater US. The result is that New Mexico's exoticism is so often confused with Mexico's alleged exoticism that the state's license plate has to clarify: "New Mexico, USA: Land of Enchantment." Trujillo grapples with an ethnographic tradition that—inadvertently, perhaps—reproduces the idea of New Mexico as an enchanted space when it focuses on village and folk life. This privileging of the idyllic, magical aspects of the state stands in stark contrast to the dearth of anthropological studies of Española and other poorer cities in the Greater Española Valley. It is reflected in the marketing of Taos and Santa Fe as tourist destinations while poor areas are marginalized from this circuit, thereby reinforcing cycles of poverty. Trujillo's focus on Española and his alternative ethnography is informed not only by the stories he grew up hearing at home in centralWashington state of what life had been like in New Mexico for his parents and parts of his extended family, but also by several years spent in New Mexico working variously as a reporter for the newspaper The Rio Grande Sun; a detox attendant and facilitator of drug rehabilitation groups in Española; and at the University of New Mexico in a drug treatment study. These experiences with what largely constitutes the negative, disenchanted [End Page 162] underside of New Mexico overlooked by promoters of its enchantment inform the main chapters in the book, making it very readable (and fun to read). Indeed, this ethnography's focus on what Trujillo theorizes as the "negative" is perhaps best embodied by jokes told in the area that go like this: "Who discovered Española?" And people reply, "Marco Cholo." But the negative is also most visible in the shocking statistics that show Rio Arriba County, which is the focus of his study, to be one of the "poorest counties in New Mexico," and what is perhaps even more troubling, that the entire state of New Mexico "maintains some of the worst poverty rates in the United States" (11). As Trujillo explains, jokes bracket his ethnography, introducing and ending it, because jokes ensue precisely in those spaces where, as Mary Douglas pointed out, deep disparities rub up against one another. Indeed, the poverty and crime rates of the state serve as a form of disenchantment of the enchanted. Trujillos's Española, therefore, "is a place where discourses of tradition and the most painful aspects of modernity seem to intermingle, boil, and saturate the landscape" (3). The chapters that conform this image of a disenchanted New Mexico focus on the terrible poverty, violence, and drug abuse that permeate the area. The first chapter traces the history that would lead to the dismemberment of the foot of a prominent statue to Oñate (conqueror of New Mexico in the 16th century). The second is on the celebration of Holy Friday in Chimayó when a terrible murder that shakes the region is...

Factors That Influence Successful Start-Up of Home Visiting Sites: Lessons Learned from Replicating the First Born® Program

Growth in federal, state and private funding is fueling the initiation of home visiting programs around the country. As communities expand home visiting programs, they need information about how they can successfully start up new sites. This paper proposes measures of successful home visiting program implementation and identifies factors that promote successful implementation or serve as barriers to program initiation. It focuses on lessons learned from the replication of the First Born® Program in six counties in New Mexico. Specifically, it examines how well sites met staffing, family referral and enrollment, program fidelity, and financing goals in the first year of providing services. Data come from semi-structured interviews with senior program staff and program documentation. The findings are likely to be valuable to a wide spectrum of communities starting or expanding home visiting services, as well as to public and private funders of programs.

A note on the effectiveness of the house-arrest alternative for motivating DWI offenders to install ignition interlocks

Introduction The effectiveness of ignition interlocks at reducing drunk driving has been limited by the ability of driving-while-intoxicated (DWI) offenders to avoid court orders to install the devices. Methods In a pilot program in New Mexico, four Santa Fe County judges imposed home confinement (via electronic monitoring bracelets) on offenders who claimed to have no car or no intention to drive. Interlock installation rates for Santa Fe County were compared with all other counties in New Mexico over a 2-year program and 2-year post-program period. Results During the two program years, 70% of the drivers convicted of DWI in Santa Fe County installed interlocks, compared to only 17% in the other counties, but when the program was terminated, the Santa Fe installation rate fell by 18.8 percentage points. Summary Mandating the alternative sanction of house arrest led to the highest reported interlock installation rate for DWI offenders. Impact on Industry Impaired driving is a substantial expense to employers, particularly when it bars driving that interferes with employment. Interlocks provide a method of protecting the public while permitting the offender to drive sober. This study was directed at increasing interlock use by DWI offenders.

First Report of Brown Root Rot of Alfalfa Caused by Phoma sclerotioides in Colorado and New Mexico.

Brown root rot (BRR), caused by the fungal pathogen Phoma sclerotioides G. Preuss ex Sacc. (synonym Plenodomus meliloti Dearn. & G.B. Sanford), is associated with winterkill, slow emergence from winter dormancy, and yield loss of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) (1,2). BRR is a problem in regions with severe winters and is common in Alaska and Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada. It was first observed in the continental United States in Wyoming during 1996 (2) and has subsequently been found in Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, and Wisconsin. In the intermountain valleys of northern New Mexico and western Colorado, winters can be severe; alfalfa winterkill events occur periodically, but it is unknown if BRR is present. In May 2006, alfalfa plants were collected from production fields in Huerfano, Otero, and Rio Grande counties in Colorado and Rio Arriba and Taos counties in New Mexico and assessed for BRR. Two to three fields were sampled per county and 20 or 40 plants were collected per field. All fields existed for at least two winters. Fields sampled in Rio Grande County exhibited severe winterkill, with most plants completely girdled by crown lesions. Plants from other fields exhibited a range of root and crown rots. Isolation of P. sclerotioides was attempted from all plants with a previously described protocol (4). The pathogen was isolated from crown lesions of one alfalfa plant each from Rio Grande and Taos counties. Both lesions extended into the cortex. On potato dextrose agar and water agar with barley (4), single-conidium cultures of each isolate produced large pycnidia (0.35 to 0.80 mm in diameter) with multiple beaks, white cirri darkening to yellow with age, and unicellular, hyaline, ovoid conidia 5 to 7 μm long by 2 μm wide. Diagnostic PCR of the cultures using P. sclerotioides-specific primers (3) resulted in a single amplicon of expected size (500 bp). The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) 1, 5.8S, and ITS2 of the rDNA were amplified and sequenced using primers ITS1 and ITS4. The ITS sequences (GenBank Accession Nos. EU265669 and EU265670) were >98% identical to P. sclerotioides ATCC isolate 56515 over 503 bp of aligned sequence. Potted 'Vernal' alfalfa was inoculated 4 months after seeding, kept at 4°C for 5.5 weeks, 0 to -2°C for 12 weeks, and 4°C for 3 weeks. Of the 14 plants inoculated with the Colorado isolate, 11 developed cortical lesions and 8 winterkilled. Of the 23 plants inoculated with the New Mexico isolate, 22 developed cortical lesions and 16 winterkilled. Lesions were light to very dark brown, sometimes with a darker border and often containing abundant pycnidia. Winterkill was associated with lesions girdling the crown. P. sclerotioides was isolated from the lesions. To our knowledge, this is the southernmost report of BRR in North America and the first report of BRR in New Mexico and Colorado. The incidence and severity of BRR in the region surveyed appear to be considerably lower than in the more northern regions.

America's Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage. By Daniel R. Pinello. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Pp. xiii+213. $55.00 cloth; $19.99 paper.

America's Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage. By Daniel R. Pinello. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Pp. xiii+213. $55.00 cloth; $19.99 paper. Reviewed by Kathleen E. Hull, University of Minnesota The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's ruling in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health in November 2003, finding right to marriage for same-sex couples, triggered chain of highly visible and dramatic developments in marriage law and politics. In early 2004, after hearing President George W. Bush vow to protect the sanctity of marriage in his State of the Union address, newly elected San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom took the bold step of having his city hall issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Local authorities in several jurisdictions around the country-including Sandoval County in New Mexico, Multnomah County in Oregon, and tiny New Paltz, New York-quickly followed suit. These marriages were eventually voided by courts, but they further dramatized the rights claims of same-sex couples. In May 2004, Massachusetts began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples residing in the state, and it remains the only state with legal samesex marriage. In reaction, 13 states passed constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage in late 2004, and some political analysts concluded that these amendments helped galvanize social conservative voters and secure President Bush's re-election. Since the 2004 elections, three more state supreme courts have ruled on same-sex marriage rights, with two rejecting such claims (New York and Washington) and one finding right to the legal equivalent of marriage (New Jersey). With court cases and amendment battles pending in several other states, the end of the story of legal same-sex marriage in the United States remains unwritten. Daniel Pinello's book America's Struggle for Same-Sex Marriage provides carefully researched and clearly written account of the legal and political events catalyzed by the Goodridge ruling. Using information from 85 in-depth interviews with activists, government officials, and ordinary same-sex couples, Pinello paints detailed portraits of how the marriage battles unfolded in various locales. The book begins with the somewhat quirky case of Sandoval County, New Mexico, where renegade Republican county clerk issued 64 marriage licenses in one day, and later chapters document more extensively the conflicts in Massachusetts, California, Oregon, and New York. Pinello asserts that his case studies represent a microcosm of the American legal and political universe (p. 30), raising broader questions about the role and impact of courts in democratic society, the influence of interest groups, and the interplay of policy initiative and political process. Pinello argues that Goodridge and the ensuing events will prove highly significant in historical terms, and he expresses confidence (as same-sex marriage supporter) that the long-term progress set in motion by Goodridge will ultimately outweigh the short-term backlash it so obviously provoked. This book has considerable strengths, including access to key players in same-sex marriage contests at the local and national levels, writing style that is relatively free of social science jargon, and willingness to let informants speak for themselves at some length, which sometimes produces fascinating nuggets of information and insight. Some of the more striking observations come from people involved in the month-long Winter of Love in February-March 2004, when San Francisco City Hall issued marriage licenses to more than 4,000 same-sex couples. …

The Health Commons and Care of New Mexico's Uninsured

A seamless system of social, behavioral, and medical services for the uninsured was created to address the social determinants of disease, reduce health disparities, and foster local economic development in 2 inner-city neighborhoods and 2 rural counties in New Mexico. Our family medicine department helped urban and rural communities that had large uninsured, minority populations create Health Commons models. These models of care are characterized by health planning shared by community stakeholders; 1-stop shopping for medical, behavioral, and social services; employment of community health workers bridging the clinic and the community; and job creation. Outcomes of the Health Commons included creation of a Web-based assignment of uninsured emergency department patients to primary care homes, reducing return visits by 31%; creation of a Web-based interface allowing partner organizations with incompatible information systems to share medical information; and creation of a statewide telephone Health Advice Line offering rural and urban uninsured individuals access to health and social service information and referrals 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Health Commons created jobs and has been sustained by attracting local investment and external public and private funding for its products. Our department's role in developing the Health Commons helped the academic health center (AHC) form mutually beneficial community partnerships with surrounding and distant urban and rural communities. Broad stakeholder participation built trust and investment in the Health Commons, expanding services for the uninsured. This participation also fostered marketable innovations applicable to all Health Commons' sites. Family medicine can promote the Health Commons as a venue for linking complementary strengths of the AHC and the community, while addressing the unique needs of each. Overall, our experience suggests that family medicine can play a leadership role in building collaborative approaches to seemingly intractable health problems among the uninsured, benefiting not only the community, but also the AHC.

Variations in Jail Sentences and the Probability of Re-Arrest for Driving While Intoxicated

Objective. The probability of re-arrest for driving while intoxicated (DWI) is compared for four different groups of individuals classified by whether the individual was convicted and, if so, the type of sentence received. Method. Subsequent re-arrests for DWI were examined for all individuals whose index arrest for DWI had occurred between 1994 and 2001 in a county in New Mexico. The groups included (1) those convicted as a result of the index arrest and sentenced to a 28-day jail/treatment program (N (#)=(#) 2,703); (2) all those not convicted as a result of the index arrest (N = 709); (3) those who were convicted but not sentenced to jail (N = 1,047); and (4) those convicted and sentenced to jail (N = 1,290). Results. Adjusting for covariates of BAC, number of prior arrests, ethnicity, age, and sex, the probability of not being re-arrested was greatest among those sentenced to the jail/treatment program (Group 1), next highest in the two groups convicted but not sentenced to jail/treatment (Groups 3 and 4), and lowest in the group that was not convicted (Group 2). Length of jail sentence among people convicted but not sentenced to the jail/treatment program was unrelated to the probability of re-arrest. Conclusion. Conviction for DWI, regardless of the sentence, appears to reduce the probability of re-arrest, and being sentenced to a multi-modal treatment/incarceration program further reduces the probability of re-arrest. However, the other types of sentences do not appear to differ in their impact on probability of re-arrest.

Keys to the puzzle: recognizing strengths in a rural community.

The elderly population in rural communities is growing. Rural populations generally experience excessive deficiencies in health care access, social services, and other goods and services needed for healthy living. An ethnographic study of multicultural elderly participants from a rural county in New Mexico was completed to explore the participants' definitions of health, health care perceptions, and health care needs. Several key issues regarding health care were identified, including the escalating cost of prescriptions, limited access to primary health care and specialty care, and social isolation and loneliness. However, despite these limitations, existing strengths and assets were also identified: elders' knowledge about sustaining health in austere conditions and caring for the sick using simple measures; an existing group of dedicated professional nurses applying their own and others' knowledge to the challenge of health care; and a preexisting community-based action group working to decrease fragmentation of services, streamline delivery of services, and work with legislators on funding priorities. Building on these strengths can provide the keys to the puzzle of transforming the current health care environment and improving inadequate health care for these elderly rural community members.

Juvenile justice decision making in a rural hispanic community

The processing of juveniles through the juvenile justice system of a jurisdiction encompassing two rural counties in New Mexico where the numerical majority of the population is Hispanic/Mexican American was examined. The official records of 591 juveniles referred to the Juvenile Probation and Parole Office were analyzed and interviews with all Juvenile Probation and Parole Officers (JPPOs) assigned to this jurisdiction were conducted. The results suggest that (1) juveniles are subject to considerable police surveillance; (2) this rural community relies extensively on formal social control; and (3) the diversity, rather than homogeneity, of this rural community affects the decision making of its juvenile justice professionals.

Iron-57 Mössbauer spectroscopy studies of meteorites recovered from Roosevelt County, USA

Some H5 ordinary chondrite meteorites recovered from the desert region of Roosevelt County in New Mexico, USA and14C dated to determine the terrestrial age have been examined by57Fe Mossbauer spectroscopy. The preliminary results suggest the increasing oxidation of Fe0 in the iron-nickel alloy phase and of Fe2+ in the iron-sulphide and -silicate phases as a result of terrestrial weathering over ca. 38 000 years and which induces the formation of macroscopic iron oxide/oxyhydroxide phases.

Iron-57 Mössbauer spectroscopic studies of the weathering of L-chondrite meteorites

Some L-chondrite meteorites found in the arid desert region of Roosevelt County in New Mexico, USA, and14C dated to determine the terrestrial age have been examined by57Fe Mossbauer spectroscopy. The preliminary results reported here suggest that the initial weathering processes involve oxidation of iron in the iron-nickel alloy. After prolonged exposure to terrestrial weathering for approximately 36 000 years, the iron(II)-sulphide and -silicate phases are also oxidised. The corrosion products are complex and include paramagnetic Fe3+ species and macroscopic iron(III) oxide and/or oxyhydroxide phases. A meteorite which fell approximately 16 500 years ago at the end of the last glaciation showed extensive corrosion despite its relatively short terrestrial age. The result is associated with climatic changes which occurred at that time.

Determinants of cancer therapy in elderly patients.

Older patients with cancer are less likely to receive definitive therapy, but the reasons for this are unclear. All people aged 65 years or older living in six counties in New Mexico and diagnosed with breast, prostate, or colorectal cancer between May 15, 1984 and May 15, 1986 (N = 669) were interviewed to obtain information on demographics, socioeconomic status, functional status, social support, other medical conditions, and cognitive status. Cancer treatment information was obtained from the New Mexico Tumor Registry. In univariate analyses, the following variables were associated significantly with nonreceipt of definitive therapy for cancer: advanced age, impairment in activities of daily living, low physical activity, decreased mental status, impaired access to transportation, and poor social support. In a multivariate analysis with the above variables along with measures of comorbidity, only advanced age and decreased mental status remained significant predictors of nonreceipt of definitive surgery, whereas the effects of impaired access to transportation and low physical activity remained relatively large but no longer were statistically significant. When receipt of surgery and receipt of radiation therapy were considered separately, older age, limited access to transportation, impaired functional status, and impaired mental status all significantly predicted nonreceipt of radiation therapy, but not surgery. There is a decline with age in the percentage of adults with cancer who received definitive therapy independent of other potentially explanatory factors such as comorbidity. In addition, decisions about radiation may be influenced by nonmedical, potentially correctable factors such as impaired access to transportation.

Eimerians in harvest mice, Reithrodontomys spp., from Mexico, California and New Mexico, and phenotypic plasticity in oocysts of Eimeria arizonensis.

Between May 1979 and August 1991, 48.7% (57/117) of the harvest mice (Reithrodontomys spp.) examined from 10 localities in Mexico, California and New Mexico had coccidian oocysts in their feces. A total of 46.7% (49/105) of the Reithrodontomys megalotis examined were positive for coccidian oocysts; this included samples from five states in Mexico (47.1%, 8/17), three counties in California (66.7%, 4/6) and two counties in New Mexico (45.1%, 37/82); 66.7% (8/12) of the Reithrodontomys montanus from one county in New Mexico also were infected. Only two coccidian species, Eimeria arizonensis and Eimeria langebarteli, were found in these hosts. Oocysts of E. langebarteli were found only in R. megalotis: in all three infected mice from Madera County, California, in the only mouse from San Bernardino County, California, and in 63% (5/8) of the infected mice from four states in Mexico. Oocysts of E. arizonensis were found in R. megalotis in Mexico, California, and New Mexico and in R. montanus from New Mexico. Sporulated oocysts of E. langebarteli differed slightly from those in previously published reports by having wider oocysts and larger sporocysts. Sporulated oocysts of E. arizonensis were variable in size, with those recovered from R. montanus significantly larger in length and width and sporocyst width than those from R. megalotis. The structure of the oocyst residuum was polymorphic, both within and between host species, and within the same mouse; it could appear as one large globule, two globules, several to many smaller globules, or as a compact mass of many small granules. Oocysts with a variable residuum were larger than those with one globule in all oocyst/sporocyst dimensions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Agriculture, Urban Development, and the Public Domain in the Rocky Mountain West

Recent statistics indicate that the Rocky Mountain region (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming) is experiencing the most rapid population growth of any region in the country, with seven of the nine fastest growing states (Lundahl 1978, pp. 3-5). Most of the growth is in population centers with regionally significant, intensive agricultural economies, such as Maricopa (Phoenix) and Pima (Tucson) counties in Arizona, and Dona Ana (Las Cruces) County in New Mexico. If not checked or redirected, in time, urban growth in such areas can be expected to completely eliminate the agricultural economy. In numerous prominent Rocky Mountain locations, opportunities for urban expansion outside the irrigated areas are somewhat restricted. The federal government owns and manages 48.6% of the region's land area. Additionally, with percentages varying by state, substantial acreages are owned and managed by the respective states or by American Indian tribes. For example, in Arizona only 15.6% of the state is privately owned; in Nevada 12.4%; and in New Mexico 45.5% (Federation of Rocky Mountain States 1976, p. 2). Interests concerned with the preservation of agricultural lands have advanced numerous proposals, including indirect methods such as, (a) differential assessment programs (in various forms), and (b) capital gains tax penalties, as well as direct methods such as, (a) development rights purchase programs, (b) development rights transfer programs, (c) agricultural or exclusive farm-use zoning, and, (d) controlled extension of utilities to selected areas.

Amphibians and Reptiles of the Jornada Experimental Range, New Mexico

THIS report with respect to 27 species of amphibians and reptiles on the Jornada Experimental Range and 7 additional species in Mesilla Valley, Dona Ana County, N. Mex., is based on collections and notes made by the authors as a spare-time project during 1934 and 1935. Individuals of several species were studied by the junior author from 1931 to 1933 also. Fourteen of these species have not been reported previously from this county. Thus the Dona Ana County list is increased to 9 species of amphibians and 34 of reptiles, more than are known in any other county in New Mexico. The authors' collections of specimens of Amyda emoryi and Rana tarahumarae in Mesilla Valley, a part of Rio Grande Valley, probably are the first and second records, respectively, of these two species in this state. The Jornada Experimental Range, where nearly all the authors' collections were made, has its headquarters 23 miles north of Las Cruces. It is an area of 302 square miles at the southern end of Jornada del Muerto, a plain which extends northward for more than 100 miles. Most of the Jornada range is a plain in the Lower Sonoran life zone, varying in elevation from 4,000 to 4,600 feet and without permanent water, except wells and artificial tanks. San Andres Mountains and foothills along the eastern boundary rise in the Upper Sonoran life zone to 8,000 feet, and have a few permanent springs, of which Ropes Spring is best known. The average annual rainfall is only 8.97 inches and the average annual temperature, 58.3?F., at the range headquarters. Winter nights are cold enough to cause hibernation, or inactivity, of cold-blooded vertebrates for a few months. In 1934, lizards and snakes were observed from March to November, but were most numerous during the summer. However, lizards of one common species (Uta stansburiana stejnegeri) were seen on warm days throughout the winter of 1934-35. The vegetation of the Jornada Experimental Range has been discussed fully by R. S. Campbell (1929, 1931) and others. Both semidesert-shrub and grassland types of the Lower Sonoran zone occur on the plain. Shrub vegetation and small woodland areas of pifions and junipers occur in the foothills and mountains of the Upper Sonoran zone. Early scattered collections and published records of the amphibians and reptiles of New Mexico were compiled by Van Denburgh (1924), and need not be cited here. He listed 14 species of amphibians and 74 species and subspecies of reptiles. The largest local list, one by Cockerell (1896), is of 27 species from Las Cruces and vicinity in Mesilla Valley of Rio Grande, Dona Ana County, in which county the Jornada range is also located. Eight