Conservation
Ron Loehman, Conservation Chair From March 2014 newsletter Each season New Mexico Trout members volunteer for work on conservation projects in support of the US Forest Service and other state and federal resource management agencies. Many of the projects are on streams in the Jemez Mountains and most are on weekends. The projects currently scheduled are listed below. More will be added as the different agencies firm up their plans for the 2014 season. April 12, Cleanup of the Rio Guadalupe corridor May 31, Cattle fencing and riparian restoration on the middle Rio Cebolla July 12, Riparian restoration on the middle Rio ... Read More
March 10, 2014
Bryan Bird, Wild Places Program Director, WildEarth Guardians Photos by Andrew Nguyen From March 2014 newsletter Our climate hero, the American beaver, will be getting its own management plan in New Mexico after the state senate passed a memorial recognizing the busy rodent's value to water supplies and ecosystems-especially in times of drought. The beaver memorial acknowledges that the dams, ponds and associated wetlands created by beaver are known to increase groundwater percolation, which raises local groundwater tables and increases water storage. The memorial also recognizes the critical role that ecosystem restoration could play in protecting and recovering many imperiled species. WildEarth ... Read More
March 10, 2014
New Mexico Trout joined with several other conservation organizations as a signatory to a letter to Gov Susana Martinez asking her to oppose the controversial Gila River diversion project in favor of long-term solutions that protect rivers. The Interstate Stream Commission is studying engineering, cost and environmental impact of 16 alternative projects to balance protection of fish and wildlife habitat while complying with the Arizona Water Settlements Act (AWSA). These studies are intended to inform the state's 2014 decision on whether or not to use Gila River water under the AWSA. The AWSA is a congressionally approved bill intended to ... Read More
December 8, 2013
The New Mexico Supreme Court has rejected an attempt by the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association to reverse historic water quality protections put in place by the state Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC) in December of 2010. The ruling puts to rest an extended legal battle over the WQCC's decision to designate rivers and streams located in Wilderness Areas as Outstanding National Resource Waters (ONRWs). In their unanimous decision the court "quashed" the Cattle Growers last ditch legal maneuver to reverse the protections. The Court found that the cattle growers did not demonstrate "adverse harm" by the protections and thus ... Read More
October 20, 2013
The draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Landscape Restoration and Stewardship Plan (Stewardship Plan) is available for public review and comment! This 10-year plan is being created for the restoration and management of the forest, grassland, shrubland, and riparian ecosystems on the preserve. Proposed activities include, forest thinning, wildland fire management, road closure, decommissioning, maintenance and repair; riparian restoration, erosion control, and noxious weed eradication and control.
- Move the structure, composition, and function of the preserve's natural systems towards the reference condition.
- Reduce the potential for wildland fire to burn with uncharacteristic severity or extent.
- Reintroduce wild land ... Read More
September 30, 2013
In a collaboration between the Department of Game and Fish, Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife, Vermejo Park Ranch and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Rio Grande cutthroat trout will have protected habitat long into the future. A Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) for Vermejo Park Ranch, recently approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will help conserve and restore the New Mexico State Fish and other native fish in the Costilla watershed. At Vermejo Park Ranch, non-native trout were removed and Rio Grande cutthroat were stocked. Non-native trout will continue to be removed from the ... Read More
September 30, 2013
Ron Loehman Conservation Chairman New Mexico Senators Udall and Heinrich and Representative Lujan have reintroduced legislation to add the Columbine-Hondo area in northern New Mexico to the Federal Wilderness system. The proposal will create a 45,000-acre wilderness adjacent to the present Wheeler Peak Wilderness in the Carson National Forest north Of Taos. You can access a map of the area here. The Columbine-Hondo was designated a Federal Wilderness Study Area in 1980. Conservationists, outdoor organizations, and many others have advocated for its transfer to the Federal Wilderness system since that time, but for one reason or another it never happened ... Read More
August 8, 2013
Ron Loehman The Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF) has rolled out a comprehensive Travel Management Plan that makes a lot of changes in the road and trail network in the forest. The process started in 2005 when the USFS adopted a rule that required each National Forest and Grassland in the US to identify and designate the roads, trails, and areas that would be open to motor vehicle use. Once implemented, all motor vehicle use off the designated system would be prohibited. That process is now complete for the SFNF following years of planning, environmental impact analyses, and input from ... Read More
June 21, 2013