The Bosque Needs Our Help: Restoration Legislation & Projects
Efforts to conserve and restore the Rio Grande bosque began in earnest in the early 1990s, when Senator Pete Domenici appointed nine citizens to the Rio Grande Bosque Conservation Committee with the task of examining the problems facing the bosque and making recommendations for its long-term protection. After nearly two years and with considerable public input, the Committee provided a series of recommendations addressing such issues as the institutional structure for management of the Middle Rio Grande, fire prevention and public education. One recommendation was to develop a biological management plan for the Middle Rio Grande. From this direction, the Bosque Biological Management Plan was produced in 1993 by an interagency team of scientists (see Crawford et al. 1993). In addition to summarizing a vast amount of information including the physical setting, aquatic and terrestrial ecology, hydrology and human history of the Middle Rio Grande bosque, the Management Plan provided 21 specific recommendations for preserving and restoring the Rio Grande floodplain ecosystems.
Armed with information from research projects such as the experimental flooding study, and with specific goals from the Bosque Biological Management Plan recommendations, resource managers working along the Middle Rio Grande have begun making changes. Agencies whose previous management practices had contributed to problems faced by the Rio Grande and its bosque are beginning to implement the new management procedures. Numerous restoration projects have been started along the Middle Rio Grande by municipal, state and federal agencies, pueblos, educational institutions and private organizations to remove non-native vegetation, replace native vegetation, reduce accumulations of fuel in the forest, alter stream bed morphology (shape) and restore natural flooding. Three examples are briefly highlighted here.
The Pueblo of Santa Ana, located north of Bernalillo, is working towards removing nonnative vegetation from approximately 1,000 acres (400 ha) of the historic flood-plain of the Rio Grande and restoring aquatic habitat within the six-mile (9.6-km) reach that flows through the reservation. Revegetation efforts within the flood-plain focus on restoring a mosaic of habitat types, including cottonwood pole planting, riparian shrub swales, bankline stabilization with coyote willow and salt-tolerant grasses and shrubs in upland areas. The river restoration efforts concentrate on halting channel degradation and incision (downcutting) through construction of "gradient restoration facilities" (GRFs). The GRFs prevent continued channel bed erosion, slow the flow velocities and promote sediment deposition. In addition to building GRFs, the Pueblo is lowering approximately 200 acres (80 ha) of river bars to increase available habitat for the Rio Grande silvery minnow and to promote over-bank blooding and sustainable riparian vegetation recruitment.
The Albuquerque Overbank Project (AOP) is a collaborative effort with participants from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the University of New Mexico's Department of Biology, the City of Albuquerque Open Space Division, the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, the New Mexico Natural Heritage Program, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the State of New Mexico Environment Department and the US Army Corps of Engineers. Begun in 1998, the project involved clearing a dense, four acre (1.6-hectare) stand of non-native Russian olive from an attached sand bar (one joined to the bank of the river), and then lowering part of the cleared area by about two feet (0.6 m) to promote flooding by the river. Channels were constructed on the newly cleared area to enhance flooding and thereby promote cottonwood and willow establishment. Many parameters have been monitored at the site, including ground water levels, soil salinity, herbaceous and woody plant diversity and growth, and terrestrial arthropod, bird and beaver activity. In addition to testing methods for this type of restoration project, the AOP has provided a considerable amount of scientific information that will contribute to further such endeavors. Similar projects have already begun.
Follow this link for more information on Bulldozers in the Bosque.
Along with providing a well-known winter home for large flocks of geese, cranes and ducks, the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge has been protecting and actively restoring native riparian forests for many years. The Refuge has been a leader in testing methods of exotic vegetation removal, with large tracts of nonnative plants, especially saltcedar, cleared using various methods. Refuge personnel have also experimented with different revegetation techniques; large stands of native cottonwood forest now replace areas formerly overrun by saltcedar.
In addition to the many restoration projects now underway, scientific research continues to answer questions about the ecology of Rio Grande foodplain ecosystems, with a number of projects addressing a variety of topics. For example, the role of flooding is being studied further at a number of sites along the valley, as are rates of water use by native and nonnative vegetation and by flooded and non-flooded forests. Other researchers are investigating the effects on wildlife of removing much of the excess fuels from the forest and on the recovery of riparian vegetation after wildfires. One exciting project that involves school groups is the Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program (BEMP), which enables students to participate actively in scientific research. Funding for much of the research, restoration and education (including this Bosque Education Guide) taking place in the Middle Rio Grande Valley over the last decade has come from the "Bosque Initiative," a special congressional appropriation administered through the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
