Agriculture-related informational open house set for July 14 in Mora County
BUENA VISTA, N.M. – An informational open house for the agriculture community affected by the Hermits Peak and Calf Canyon wildfires will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday, July 14 at the Buena Vista Fire Department, County Road 12 in Buena Vista, New Mexico. Buena Vista is about 6 miles southeast of Mora. The directions to the fire department are as follows:
- Head north on State Highway 518 in Buena Vista.
- Turn right between mile marker 21 and mile marker 22 onto County Road 12, which is a dirt road.
- At the next stop sign (where the road comes to a “T”), turn left.
- Pass a yellow house and a church.
- Buena Vista Fire Department is at the next entrance on the left. It is a big metal building.
The goals of the open house are to:
- Promptly detect and identify threats to New Mexico agriculture and food systems.
- Identify and provide resources for agriculture and food protection.
- Assist in the recovery of impacted systems to mitigate economic impacts to communities.
Representatives will be available to answer questions and address concerns about agriculture and natural resources impacted by the fire, including:
- Agriculture disaster assistance programs
- Livestock and natural resource programs
- Soil health and watershed management
- Agriculture producer mental health needs
- Water quality/wells
- Reforestation
- Livestock inspections and movement
- Lost or estray livestock
- Livestock grazing alternatives
Representatives from the following entities will be in attendance:
- New Mexico Department of Agriculture
- New Mexico Environment Department
- New Mexico Livestock Board
- New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service
- United States Department of Agriculture – Farm Service Agency
- United States Department of Agriculture – Natural Resources Conservation Service
- United States Department of Agriculture – Rural Development
- Federal Emergency Management Agency
For more information, email pio@nmda.nmsu.edu.
Kristie Garcia, Director of Public Affairs, New Mexico Department of Agriculture krgarcia@nmda.nmsu.edu | 575-339-5011
FEMA Fact Sheet: July 8, 2022
DR-4652-NM FS 021
FEMA May Reimburse Emergency Lodging Expenses
New Mexico residents in Colfax, Lincoln, Mora, San Miguel and Valencia counties may be eligible for emergency lodging reimbursement from FEMA. However, you must apply for disaster assistance before FEMA can offer reimbursement.
Lodging Expense Reimbursement (LER)
FEMA’s Lodging Expense Reimbursement program may be able to provide lodging reimbursement to eligible residents for out-of-pocket expenses due to New Mexico’s ongoing wildfires. This is applicable as long as the emergency lodging is not covered by insurance benefits or was paid for by a non-profit or charitable organization.
Who is Eligible for LER?
Check your insurance policy to see if you have Additional Living Expenses (ALE) or Loss of Use coverage, which provides supplemental money to cover certain expenses when you are unable to live in your home due to a loss covered by insurance. By law, FEMA cannot duplicate insurance benefits or money received from non-profits or other charitable organizations that paid for your lodging, you may be considered eligible for LER:
§ If you had to seek emergency shelter because your home is unlivable due to damage caused by New Mexico’s ongoing wildfires.
§ Your property is not covered by insurance such as Additional Living Expense (ALE), Loss of Use (LOU) coverage or you have insufficient insurance coverage to meet your temporary loss needs.
§ If your property was inaccessible, meaning the residence cannot be entered due to access restrictions such as fallen trees or downed power lines or restriction placed by State, local or federal government officials.
§ If you had to seek emergency lodging after being ordered to leave your property in a mandatory evacuation due to the state’s ongoing wildfires, even if your house was not damaged.
o Assistance for residents who had lodging expenses due to a mandatory evacuation is limited to the confirmed time period of evacuations provided by the State of New Mexico to FEMA. If a resident has no home damage and requests LER due to utilities out or mandatory evacuation, they will not be required to submit proof of their utility outage or mandatory evacuation; and repairs to make a home livable will not be required.
§ These applicants will ONLY be eligible for the time period in which their county was under a mandatory evacuation or extended utility outage, as identified in the below table.
| County | Date |
| Colfax | April 23, 2022 – May 27, 2022 |
| Lincoln | April 13, 2022 – April 27, 2022 |
| Mora | April 19, 2022 – June 24, 2022 |
| San Miguel | April 12, 2022 – June 24, 2022 |
| Valencia | April 5, 2022 – April 13, 2022 |
§ LER is limited to reimbursement and is not provided in advance or in the form of direct payment to a hotel or motel.
§ The eligibility period for LER begins on April 5, 2022 and will end on the date the utility outage or mandatory evacuation ended, or 30 days from any initial Rental Assistance award certification date.
How Do I Get Reimbursed?
Submit a copy of verifiable lodging receipts with the following information:
§ The name of the applicant or co-applicant
§ Information for the lodging provider (name, address and phone number)
§ Dates of occupancy
§ The amount of expenses incurred
Residents can upload receipts online to their DisasterAssistance.gov account. Include the following information on all documents: Your name; last four digits of your social security number; your nine-digit FEMA application number; and FEMA’s disaster number for the New Mexico’s ongoing wildfires, which is DR-4652-NM.
Still Need to Apply for FEMA Assistance?
The quickest and easiest way to apply for FEMA assistance is to create an application and/or upload accompanying documents. Just go to disasterassistance.gov and click the appropriate icon to start your application or check your application status.
You can also visit any FEMA Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) for assistance submitting your FEMA application, upload documents or get answers to questions about federal disaster assistance. For a complete list of DRCs in New Mexico, visit the egateway.fema.gov/ESF6/DRCLocator. All centers are closed Sundays.
To address many of the common myths and rumors during the New Mexico wildfires, FEMA activated a rumor/myth webpage. You can access it online at fema.gov/nm-rumors.
For the latest information visit fema.gov/disaster/4652. Follow the FEMA Region 6 Twitter account at twitter.com/FEMARegion6 or on Facebook at facebook.com/FEMARegion6/.
Funded through donations from REALTORS® and REALTOR® organizations and administered by the New Mexico Association of REALTORS® and the REALTOR® Relief Foundation, the grant will provide eligible applicants up to $2,000 of assistance per household impacted by the recent fires. Funding is available on a first-come, first-served basis to qualified applicants, victims of the New Mexico wildfires who have been displaced from their primary residence, based upon certain qualifications. The funds must be used for one of the following:
- Monthly mortgage expense for the primary residence that was damaged by the wildfire disaster; or
- Rental cost due to displacement from the primary residence resulting from the wildfire disaster.
- Hotel reimbursements for displacement due to damages to primary residence
Click on the link for grant details and access to the Application. Application requests will be accepted until all funds have been distributed or until August 31st, 2022. A panel of local professionals will review and verify the applications and supporting documents with relief checks issued as quickly as possible.
FEMA assistance for NM Calf Fire
Mora Creative Council just received a check for $8,240 as a result of the T-shirt fundraiser designed by Mora community member, Trey Sprinkle. A portion of the funds will be sent to Ocate to help with the Cook’s Peak fire and the rest will help our Mora fire victims. We are grateful for the effort and will ensure the funds are used to help our community in the best way possible. Thank you to everyone who purchased shirts. Please wear them with Mora Pride!