Lincoln County New Mexico emergency services director honored

Joe Kenmore, Lincoln County New Mexico emergency services director, recently received the first-ever Agriculture and Food Emergency Management Appreciation Award. New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte presented the award to Kenmore during the 2018 New Mexico Homeland Security and Emergency Management Conference in Albuquerque.

“Joe is truly dedicated to agriculture and food emergency preparedness in Lincoln County, and it’s an absolute pleasure to work with him,” Witte said. “We seldom hear when Joe needs help; we hear when Joe and others have already solved the issue at the local level.”

Kenmore, who has been with Lincoln County for 10 years, said he was very surprised to learn he received the award, and he emphasized the importance of preparedness.

“I have worked with the New Mexico Livestock Board and the New Mexico Department of Agriculture almost the entire time I’ve been an emergency manager,” Kenmore said. “Food security and what we eat are very important to me, as well as to the county, state and all entities involved with preparedness.”

Kelly Hamilton, the NMDA biosecurity director, said the award will be presented to an emergency manager at the annual conference each year.

“We have outstanding emergency managers in New Mexico, and we want to continue to recognize them for including agriculture and food emergency preparedness at the local level in a whole community approach,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton is also the coordinator of Emergency Support Function #11, which is the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s support function related to agriculture and natural resources.

For more information about NMDA, visit www.nmda.nmsu.edu.