Audubon New Mexico
Summer 2005
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
From the Director
What a
Wonderful Trip It’s Been
Managers Welcome Fire in the Valles Caldera National
Preserve
Seasons of Hope, Lifetimes of Action
and Change
History of the RDAC Volunteer
Program
A Man, a Boat, and a River
Master Plan Will Help Guide The Randell
Davey Center’s Future
Highlights of the April 2005 NM
Audubon Council Meeting - Legislative Round-up
New Mexico Names State Junior Duck
Stamp Competition Winner
Audubon Council Presents Aldo Leopold
Award to Jim Bailey
Recycling in New Mexico
Teaching Award Winner Promotes
Recycling
Grants Allow Schoolchildren To Get
Education On Birds
Learning Look - Alikes: A Swallow and
a Swift
Conservationists Reach Settlement
with City of Albuquerque
From the Director by David Henderson
This is a year of anniversaries. As you read, National Audubon turned 100
this year, and I am celebrating my 25th year in the employment of said
organization. I am also reveling in the fact that I have been blessed with the
opportunity to work for Audubon, all of you and on behalf of New Mexico’s
wildlife for 20 years now. I would hazard a guess that few people have the
opportunity to be employed to do work they may very well have done anyway.
I graduated from Humboldt State University in the redwoods of northern California in the mid 70s and, like many of my generation, set out in search of my dream. It started abruptly by teaching kindergarten for over two years in Oregon. Next, through some creative grant writing, I was hired as Assistant Manager at Audubon’s 4,000-acre Starr Ranch in southern California. There amongst the raptors and sage scrub I came to know that I wanted to spend my life in conservation.
I then headed to graduate school and on to another opportunity with Audubon at Richardson Bay Audubon Center in Mann County as an environmental education specialist. It was while working there that I heard of a job possibility in the wonderful and wild Southwest. Audubon had just acquired a jewel of a property in Santa Fe and they were looking for a director. Many of you have heard me say it before, but it is true: I still can think of few places I would rather be than in the Southwest, a vastly rich ecological region and a place where a conservationist and a conservation organization can make an enormous difference.
When I arrived, our chapters and Council were already hard at work defeating a dam project on the Gila River. Following their lead I decided that the state office could take on an issue or two, and that we did, naively. The first issues tackled were the reintroduction of the Mexican Wolf and the protection of old growth forests for Mexican Spotted Owls. Later on, we led the fight to enact a herpetological protection bill for New Mexico’s reptiles and amphibians. There is no question that we put Audubon on the map with all of these efforts, and in the end mostly succeeded.
Through the years Audubon has continued to champion good and noble causes ranging from the designation of the Rio Chama as a wild and scenic river, to the acquisition of the Valles Caldera National Preserve, to Lesser Prairie Chicken protection and now, maybe the grandest of all, a multistate, bi-country effort to protect and restore the greatest of all southwestern rivers, the Rio Grande.
What a long strange trip it’s been. I would not have changed any of it. Because we all worked together for the right cause, and because it was right and just, we mostly prevailed. New Mexico needs Audubon, and I still see tremendous things ahead for this wonderful and committed organization and its dedicated members.
What a Wonderful Trip It’s Been
One hundred years ago, the conservation
movement took flight.., and not a minute too soon. By 1900, Americans’ belief
that our continent’s wildlife was inexhaustible had led to serious consequences.
Bison no longer roamed the Great Plains, and Passenger Pigeons that had once
darkened the skies for miles as they passed overhead had been exterminated. Many
other species were on the brink. Overhunting and habitat destruction were key
factors. But in the case of birds something else was also at work. A new fashion
had swept the nation bird hats were the rage.
One day while walking in Manhattan, Frank Chapman, publisher of Bird Lore magazine, counted 542 people wearing hats adorned with either entire birds or their plumage, representing a total of 42 bird species. Egrets, in particular, were so highly prized that their leathers were worth twice their weight in gold. But through the bold efforts of some farsighted Americans, these magnificent creatures and many more were saved...just in time. It was these men and women who founded one of America’s Longest-lived and most successful conservation organizations - the National Audubon Society.
In the early years, bird protection came with a cost. Bird rookeries, especially in Florida, were being decimated by plume hunters. One of the first actions of this fledging Audubon Society was to hire wardens to protect these important bird nurseries. Three wardens were tragically killed in the line of duty. But Audubon pressed on.
Fortunately the country and wildlife had friends in high places. One of them was President Theodore Roosevelt, an ardent conservationist and ornithologist. Roosevelt understood that natural areas and wildlife were in serious danger unless protected. He created the nation’s first wildlife refuge — Florida’s Pelican Island — in 1903, followed by five of our National Parks, 51 Bird Preserves and 150 National Forests. Roosevelt became known fittingly as the ‘conservation President’.
Throughout the last century Audubon continued to grow in size and influence, always using science to direct our advocacy and education to inform the public and decision-makers. Education was important because the new environmental threats of the mid- century weren’t so easily seen, at least not at first. Birds like the Brown Pelican, Peregrine Falcon and even our national bird, the Bald Eagle, were decreasing in numbers. New chemicals like DDT and Malathion promised more effective control of pests but the cost became the thinning of the egg shells from birds higher up on the food chain. The publication of Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring in ‘962 sounded the alarm for an impending ecological collapse. Audubon led the charge for the banning of these harmful chemicals, and since that time we have witnessed the return of all three of these birds and many more to healthy populations.
National Audubon continued to spread its influence west into areas rich with public lands; areas where most of the pieces were still in place to be able to practice conservation on a landscape-wide scale. That is why in 1983 Audubon was thrilled by the prospect of being given a beautiful artist estate in Santa Fe where it could further the conservation legacy started by local Audubon chapters already established in the state. Our chapters had championed the defeat of two dam attempts on the Gila River, they had helped protect Peregrine Falcons, and had supported the efforts to establish a migrating flock of Whooping Cranes at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Having a permanent presence in the state, Audubon could do even more.
And we have. Over the last 20 plus years we have been a leader in protecting and restoring wild Mexican Gray Wolves back into their home in the Gila mountains; we have fought to protect the Mexican Spotted Owl from losing its old growth forest home; and we have been key in protecting rivers and forests and grasslands. We want New Mexico children and their children to see Southwest Willow Flycatchers and Lesser Prairie Chickens.
For the last 100 years Audubon has been there for the wildlife of the nation and we have been there for the wildlife of New Mexico and we will be here fighting the good fight for the next 100 years as well. Our wildlife heritage is too wonderful a gift to all the citizens of this great land to ignore or exploit. As has often been said, together we can and will make a difference in the 21st century. Thank you for doing your conservation work and for supporting our efforts.
Managers
Welcome Fire in the Valles Caldera National Preserve
As we go to press, Forest Service fire crews are scouting
for smoldering logs in the vicinity of the largest fire that has burned in the
Valles Caldera National Preserve since it was established in July 2000. The
Valle wildfire burned approximately io acres during the last week of May,
approximately seven miles west of Los Alamos and four miles north of Route 4.
The Preserve is renowned for its breathtaking grasslands, but it also harbors some 24,000 acres of virgin forests that are now considered to be unnaturally dense because fire has been suppressed for 150 years. Virgin timber on the east rim, together with the adjoining stands on the Santa Fe National Forest, comprise the largest remaining old growth stand in the Jemez Mountains, some of which burned in the Cerro Grande Fire of 2002. There are also 40,000 acres of second-growth stands 30-100 years old.
The Valle fire is believed to have been ignited by lightning sometime before May23 in a second-growth mixed conifer stand on Cerro del Medio, the eastern-most dome in the caldera. Preserve staff have long speculated about the possibility of using fire (wild or prescribed)to restore more open conditions on the forested domes that are virtually islands in the sea of grass. In late 2003, Preserve managers launched a process to prepare Preserve-wide plans for the use of both wildfire and prescribed fire. Because these plans are not yet complete, managers have had to default to National Forest protocols for lighting this wildfire.
In late 2004, Preserve managers proposed to conduct a prescribed fire this fall on 1,700 acres of grassland in the Valle Toledo, in the northeast portion of the caldera, to stimulate the vigor of bunchgrasses and to set back ponderosa encroachment into the grassland. They are now soliciting preliminary public input, and they anticipate having a 30-day comment period on alternatives later this summer.
For a copy of the Valle Toledo Burn proposal, contact the Valles Caldera trust in Los Alamos (661-3333, mrodriguez@vallescaldera.gov) or Valles Caldera Coalition in Santa Fe (983-4609 ext. 27; mpealea@vallescalderacoalition.org).
The Valles Caldera Coalition (40 organizations and individuals with expertise about natural resources, www.vallescalderacoalition.org) is a project of Audubon New Mexico.
Seasons of
Hope, Lifetimes of Action and Change by Ken Barragan, Education
Manager
The winter snows are melting, the rivers are flowing, and everywhere life
springs up, comes back, wakes up, and digs its way out. Throughout New Mexico
people make plans for their summer vacations, children put away their
sweatshirts and jackets - hats and mittens give way to shorts, t-shirts,
tanktops and lots of sunscreen.
Another season passes by for Audubon NM as well. Our educators have once more led the way in environmental education, exposing children to the outdoors and teaching them about the natural world around them. From the windy plains of Roswell to the life-rich bosque near las Cruces to the wildness of the Gila - north to the sun-bathed mountains of Santa Fe and the Espanola valley, thousands of children participated in our programs and discovered the rich diversity of plants, animals, habitats, and people coexisting around them every day. It was indeed a very successful year for our education department, and it would be tough to surpass such success and dedication by our educators and those involved in bringing our programs to children throughout our state.
Yet, more can be done. These are exciting times for the education department of Audubon NM. In these difficult times for our environment, I see optimism and hopefulness everywhere. Every challenge becomes an opportunity — a chance to influence children’s views and increase in them an admiration and respect for the plants, animals, water, air, and vistas of New Mexico. Environmental education in this state must instill in every child the power for action towards a better New Mexico.
The education department of Audubon NM will therefore be exploring new ways of improving what we do best. Already, plans are being discussed to raise the quality of our incredible programs, increase time spent outdoors by children and highlighting even more conservation issues in every program that we do. We are working harder towards empowering children to take action, because we believe that any conservation initiative today will not survive if people tomorrow are not critical stakeholders in such actions. As such, we want to leave every child with the knowledge and hopefulness that there is opportunity and action that can be taken to improve their surroundings. Our goal is to truly develop a generation of conservationists, who are empowered to take action and feel energized, optimistic and believe in positive results, compromise, and achieving their goals.
So, spring has come and will go as summer arrives; but, for us, a spring of optimism, hopefulness, and energy will remain and be shared with the future stewards of our rivers, lakes, deserts, mountains, and wildlife — our children. The fountain of hope and endless possibility that springs from every child will energize us, revitalize us, and give us the drive to do more for them, the land they will inherit, and their opportunities in the future.
History of
the RDAC Volunteer Program
The volunteer program at RDAC has evolved and changed quite a bit in the
last 20 years. The vitality of the programs comes from the passion of the
volunteers who at times may run the entire program. For instance, soon alter
Audubon acquired the property, Meriom and Howard Kastner basically took over the
historic Randall Davey house by conducting research, creating a docent manual
and training volunteers to lead tours of the home and studio. Their legacy lives
on, as house tours are still given every Monday.
Another example of the power of passionate volunteers was when a group of people
interested in botany formed a group and provided plant-specific guided walks of
the grounds and trails. Karen Copeland, one of the first educators at the
Center, was instrumental in the creation of the program, as was Mimi Hubby, who
can still be found working at the Center’s herbarium every Wednesday.
The Center was expanded in 2001 with new buildings specifically designed for education and a nature store/visitor center. Our education programs currently utilize the talents of 6 volunteers, and the nature store is almost entirely staffed by dedicated folks who greet visitors, answer questions, sell merchandise, and relieve staff from numerous detail-oriented chores.
One of the newest programs at RDAC is a collaboration with the Santa Fe Master Gardeners Association (SFMGA). Members of SFMGA designed and implemented and now maintain a native wildlife garden on the premises, and give tours of the garden on Mondays throughout the summer.
Being the Audubon Center, we can’t leave out our wonderful birding volunteers! These volunteers rotate turns conducting free guided birding walks every Saturday morning throughout the year. This is the program that has seen the most growth and as a result, one of the leaders has offered his skills and time to conduct private, one-on-one bird walks on the grounds.
The generosity and passion of our volunteers is seen in every program and service we offer at the Center. The RDAC staff and our visitors are indeed very fortunate.
For volunteer or program information, please contact Lisa at (505) 983-4609, or lboegl@audubon.org.
A Man, a Boat,
and a River - Audubon New Mexico Co-sponsors a Remarkable Journey
Audubon New Mexico recently signed on as a sponsor of Nat Stones pad- die
trip down the entire 1,885 mile length of the Rio Grande. Nat is no stranger to
adventure. He and a friend recently completed a walking trek of the Ho Chi Minh
Trail in Laos, Cambodia and Viet Nam. And three years ago he rowed a boat around
the “eastern island” of the U.S. resulting in the book On the Water; Discovering
America in a Rowboat.
Asked why he wants to complete this journey, Nat said, “The purpose of this trip is to describe the Rio Grande from the point of view of the river itself, and of those who live along it. I hope in a documentary film and book to show varied perspectives on river management as valuable lessons for the preservation of the Rio Grande ecosystem. I am hoping this project will be considered as an additional contribution to the enormous, continuing task of developing public support for the Rio Grande, likely the most culturally diverse river in North America.”
Nat began the trip in Spring 2004 near Creede, Colorado in his “Rio Grande pirogue” that he built by hand, but had to stop at San Juan Pueblo near Española in northern New Mexico when the river ran too low. He started again at San Juan on May 21st in the Rio raging from generous spring run-off. You can see more about this and other adventures at www.natstone.net.
Audubon New Mexico is sponsoring Nat’s river experience as part of our effort to bring public attention to the Rio Grande that will be needed to restore our legendary waterway.
Master Plan
Will Help Guide The Randell Davey Center’s Future
As part of Audubon New Mexico’s strategic plan, the board of
directors has commissioned a site master plan for the Randall Davey Audubon
Center in Santa Fe. The plan will give the staff, board, volunteers, members,
visitors and others
more complete understanding of the Center’s roles as nature sanctuary, education center and historic site. In the process, there are opportunities for those who care about the Center to do a bit of dreaming, “What if...?”
An ad hoc committee of the board received proposals for the master plan from seven firms and has narrowed the field to three. These companies have been invited to make presentations to the committee and one company will ultimately be chosen to conduct and produce the site plan. The process will include a thorough inventory of the current use of the property and the programs offered; an examination of opportunities that are not currently utilized; and recommendations for new ways to take advantage of the Center’s 135 acres and the surrounding area through activities, programs, interpretation and other means.
The master site plan comes at a significant point in Audubon New Mexico’s 22- year history. The organization successfully completed a $1.4 million capital campaign that added new facilities at the Center and increased the education staff. The education program continues to grow and to garner increased recognition around the state. The board is considering a major preservation effort for the historic Randall Davey home and studio and the feasibility of offering our education programs at potential new nature centers in the state. While a master site plan will prove to be a valuable tool for those who enjoy the Davey Center, the results will be far-reaching for Audubon in New Mexico.
We are grateful to the hardworking members of the site planning committee:
board members Nan Schwanfelder, Susan McGreevy and Janie Bingham; consultant Brian Drypolcher of the Trust for Public Land; staff members Ken Barragan and Kim Straus; and Brooke Langston of National Audubon’s Centers and Education division.
Highlights of the April 2005 NM Audubon Council Meeting - Legislative Round-up
Exec. Director Dave Henderson gave a round-up of the last two-month
session. To generalize from an environmental standpoint, it was a very good
session. A number of bad bills were killed and to Dave’s knowledge no bad bills
made it out of the session. A number of good bills did.
All of the bills NMDGF (Dept of Game U Fish) wanted to pass
did. There’s a fishing and hunting license fee increase to take effect in 2006.
It will support NMDGF regular operations. GAIN (gain access to nature) bill — is
the ist attempt of the NMDGF to offer opportunities to the non-consumptive
public. It allows the opening of State Wildlife lands to other than consumptive
users and allows them to charge a fee. It comes with a million dollars of
funding to help develop sites to encourage non- consumptive users. Finally NMDGF
is showing that they are aware of public interests other than that of the
hunting and fishing communities. Another bill was for the acquisition of lands
important for endangered species. Finally, we need to consider future issues for
the next legislative session and push for them in 2006. David is suggesting
changing the department’s name to include “Wildlife.”
In regard to the NMDGF report on alternative funding for non-game wildlife, no
legislation was introduced this year. Next year, the committee will go to the
legislature with a proposal, but decisions on how to go about getting that money
hasn’t been done yet.
Neither the bill to increase the amount of land that can be developed into
private game reserves nor that to have an open season on mountain lions passed;
victories over regressive legislation. The fact these bills came up in the
first place is worth worrying about.
New Mexico Names State Junior
Duck Stamp Competition Winner
A Gadsen High School student won the New Mexico Junior Duck Stamp
Competition’s best in show award for his entry ‘Duck Family.’
Oscar Urbina, a seventeen year old from Anthony, received the highest honor for his colored pencil rendition depicting a family of canvashack ducks. On March 25, Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge hosted the state-wide judging. The artwork will now be sent on the Washington D.C. to represent New Mexico in the National Junior Duck Stamp Competition.
The Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program is an integrated art and science curriculum developed to teach environmental science and habitat conservation. This pairing of subject areas allows students to learn about conserving habitat while they explore the aesthetic qualities of wildlife and nature.
Mr. Urbina’s artwork was chosen out of more than 530 creations that were submitted from students across the State, The difficult task of selecting the winning artwork was taken on by volunteer judges: James Wolfe, New Mexico Ducks Unlimited; Scott Brown, New Mexico Game and Fish; Jeff Hask ins, US Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Migratory Birds; Skeeter Leard, wildlife artist; and Pat Basham, wildlife artist.
As the best of show winner, Mr. Urbina will receive a $500 scholarship from the Friends of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. First place winners were also chosen in the K-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12th grades, each of which will receive a $100 savings bond from the Friends. The artwork will be displayed at a variety of locations around the State including state and county fairs in Albuquerque, Las Cruces, and Roswell. To arrange an exhibit in your area contact Guy Powers at 505-3825047.
Audubon
Council Presents Aldo Leopold Award to Jim Bailey
The New Mexico Audubon Council has honored James A. Bailey with the
Aldo Leopold Conservation award for a life-long dedication to our nation’s
wildlife and in particular for his dedication to the wildlife resources of the
state of New Mexico and his leadership in preserving those resources for the
future. Jim Bailey came to Santa Fe in 1994 to join the New Mexico Department of
Game and Fish after a career in academia with Colorado State University at Fort
Collins.
As the Assistant Chief of the Conservation Services Division of the Department, he immediately strove to establish science-based management of the state’s wildlife and to bring attention to the often neglected Wildlife Conservation Act (WCA), the state’s principal legislation for protection of non-game wildlife. In that position he constantly championed the protection of New Mexico’s wildlife heritage in general and endangered species in particular.
In 2003, when the Bureau of Land Management created a “Collaborative Working Group” to develop recommendations for the management of the Lesser Prairie-Chicken, Jim threw himself into the process, developing specific science-based recommendations for management in areas of differing Lesser Prairie-Chicken occupation and abundance. Throughout, he has led the conservation communitys response and has built credibility with other constituencies, particularly with the federal agencies.
Jim’s entire life has been dedicated to wildlife. His work over the last 10 years in New Mexico has been an inspiration to many others and productive for the cause of conservation. The Aldo Leopold Award is intended to recognize outstanding contributions to the mission of National Audubon Society in New Mexico by working with birds, wildlife and their habitats through research, advocacy or education. Nominations must document consistent conservation interest and work over an extended time. Both as a public servant and a private citizen, Jim’s work in New Mexico certainly demonstrates his long, consistent, and dedicated commitment to Audubon’s mission.
Recycling in
New Mexico by Jeff Steinborn
Recycling is a subject near and dear to many people, including, most
likely, many of you reading this article right now. Whereas recycling used to be
related to the environmental conservation movement, it has now truly become
mainstream with the proliferation of thousands of curbside recycling programs
around the country. People understand that it doesn’t make sense to simply throw
away everything into a landfill, and that we need to be sensitive to the
unbridled consumption of raw materials.
In spite of the general popularity of recycling, it has its challenges that limit both a community’s offerings of a comprehensive program, and a citizen’s interest in participating. The situation in New Mexico reflects these issues.
New Mexico
In our beautiful state, we recycle on average 10% of what we throw away.
This average can be misleading, however, due to the great disparity between
urban and rural recycling efforts, There are approximately 8-io communities that
offer curbside recycling, and several of the smaller ones are about to be
discontinued. Of the existing programs most are done in the largest communities
in our state, but not all of them. There are virtually no small New Mexico
communities who offer curbside programs at all. Clearly the communities that
offer these programs have much higher recycling rates (“diversion rate”) than
10% and areas that have none are recycling less than 5%, if their community or
county has any recycling at all.
Perhaps the most important element to a successful recycling program is convenience. History has proven that recycling must be as convenient as throwing trash away, or most people will not participate. The way a community accomplishes this is to offer recycling at the curb (at people’s homes), and to do so with the same frequency as a person’s trash gets picked up. It’s no mistake that the most common curbside recycling program in our state and country is a weekly pick-up program, that ideally picks up on the same day as a person’s trash is collected.
Las Cruces
In 2001, I decided to take on the challenge of “fixing” Las Cruces’ anemic
to non-existent recycling program. At the time, Las Cruces’ program had a
diversion rate of 2-3% not including what they collected in yard waste. Our
program essentially consisted of several drop-off Locations around town that
collected limited materials, and a recycling center located next to an
“olfactorally challenged” wastewater treatment facility. (That’ll keep them
coming back for more!). Needless to say, only the true believers participated.
Unfortunately, this is still the case today.
But, Las Cruces is on the move. After organizing a 14-member, broad-based coalition of organizations and homeowner associations, we convinced our city leaders to hire consultants to analyze the city’s recycling efforts, including its strengths and deficiencies. Two consultants later, Las Cruces is finally implementing new fees and new systems for our center, making our program more cost-effective. But accomplishing the big kahuna, curbside recycling (and with it, a higher diversion rate), was still elusive, until a year and half ago.
During city budget discussions and talk of a solid waste fee increase, we convinced our elected officials that it was finally time to enact a curbside recycling program. The city started a year-long pilot program, which recently came to a conclusion. After a brief flirtation with canceling this program, the community stepped up its pressure on our elected officials, and instead of canceling our curbside program, they have agreed to do a new pilot with a weekly pick-up and a sustained education campaign (2 crucial elements missing in the first pilot - against our best advice). Hopefully, Las Cruces has turned the corner for good, and can start to set a good example for other New Mexico communities interested in recycling.
Big Challenges
The biggest challenges facing recycling in New Mexico are:
• Expense — recycling traditionally does not pay for itself; it requires an
infrastructure cost to the community’s municipal budget for equipment, and
usually a monthly fee for users. Many city officials will say “why recycle when
we can bury it so cheap?
• Markets for the Material — Markets to sell glass, plastics, tin, and other
materials are highly unstable, and the prices for these commodities are highly
variable as well.
• Leadership and Experience — Perhaps the biggest challenge we faced in Las
Cruces, and certainly probably most communities where there is no recycling, is
the lack of leadership from elected officials, and lack of experienced staff to
run a diverse, efficient, and effective recycling program.
Resources
In New Mexico we are lucky to have the New Mexico Recycling Coalition, an
excellent statewide nonprofit organization that is heavily involved in providing
resources for communities and activists alike, as well as lobbying for
legislation at the state level to improve our state’s recycling efforts. I am
proud to have been a board member of this organization, and encourage any
interested citizen or community to call them, get involved, and become a member.
In the last several years, the New Mexico Recycling Coalition has successfully supported the creation of a new state tire recycling fund, and a large-scale effort with the New Mexico Department of Transportation, using recycled materials in road construction projects. They are the on the Internet at www.nmrecycle.org. To become a member of the New Mexico Recycling Coalition, contact English Bird at (505) 983-4470.
Jeff Steinborn is a former aide to US Senator Jeff Bingaman, and Congressman Bill Richardson. He currently serves as the Southern NM Director for the NM Wilderness Alliance.
Teaching Award
Winner Promotes Recycling By Donna Wood
The Mesilla Valley Audubon Society strongly believes that the best way to
preserve our earth and environment for future generations is to increase
awareness in our youth and to show them how they can make a difference. Ria De
Kruyf, our 9th Annual Lorraine Schulte Excellence in Teaching Award recipient,
has made a difference with her students. Ria teaches the following subjects at
Onate High School in Las Cruces, New Mexico: Inclusion Biology 9th-12th,
Resource Biology 9th-12th, and Environmental Science, 9th-12th.
As a teacher, Ria was concerned about the enormous waste of recyclable materials in the school environment. She applied for a National Science Foundation grant through the New Mexico State University Regional Alliance for Science, Engineering and Mathematics. With this grant she was able to educate her students on the importance of recycling. She and her students set up a campus-based recycling program. Currently students are assigned daily to recycle cardboard boxes, aluminum cans, plastic bottles, and at a lower pace, ink cartridges and batteries.
Her grant writing talents in 2002-2003 provided twelve new recycling bins, and in 2003-2004 the bins were increased to twenty. These efforts have proved to be very cost effective. Right now the city is servicing the school’s cardboard recycling bin twice per week. The recycling bin is 6 cubic yards and if this program were eliminated the school would have an additional 12 cubic yards of cardboard to dispose of in the garbage. This cost would amount to approximately $180.00 according to Bonnie Tafoya, the city’s Recycling Coordinator. Ria has contacted the superintendent of schools in Las Cruces to promote this program district-wide.
Ria’s teaching also extends into environmental issues relating to habitat loss and endangered species. She has facilitated field trips to the Bosque del Apache and El Paso Zoo tor students who have never had the opportunity to leave the city limits of Las Cruces. She has introduced hands-on application of environmental professions through her recycling program for students with disabilities. She has paired up students with more severely disabilities with a buddy.
Mesilla Valley Audubon Society is proud to have Ria De Kruyf as this year’s award winner.
Grants Allow
Schoolchildren To Get Education On Birds
Turn your backyard into a bird paradise? Check out this activity at
José Barrios Elementary School. Through efforts from Education Chair Tricia
Hurley, and her husband Mark Cantrell, José Barrios School received two grants
for habitat restoration. The project was awarded a PNM Classroom Innovation
Grant and a NM Game 6 Fish Share with Wildlife grant. The latter is in
partnership with Audubon New Mexico and includes their outreach program - Birds
for a Purpose. Randall Davey Audubon Center (Santa Fe) educator Ken Barragan,
provided a full day of natural history training using birds as the focus for a
classroom at José Barrios on the 29th of April. If you would like to help with
this project (or other educational projects underway with SWNM Audubon’s
Education committee) contact Tricia Hurley at tylanoi@earthlink.net or 538-4345.
Learning Look
- Alikes: A Swallow and a Swift by Art Arenholz
The next time you walk along a mountain trail near the edge of cliff, listen for
a sound like a .22- caliber bullet going past you. If you hear that sound, look
around quickly because a fast-flying swift flew by you, perhaps only a few feet
away at speeds near 60 miles per hour.
Violet-green Swallows and White-throated Swifts are aerial acrobats who catch all their insect food while flying very fist. These two look-alike birds are quite similar in appearance, size and behavior. They search for flying insects in a wide, sweeping flight, often turning hack for a repeat pass after finding a swarm of insects.
Both birds have long, pointed wings, and both usually fly in small groups, sometimes together, chattering constantly. Both are small, about the size of a large sparrow with long wings, and each sports a dark and light pattern. Both can be seen during summer in the Sandia and Manzano Mountains, often along cliff edges.
Well, if they are so similar, how can we ever tell them apart?
Fortunately, there are several differences in appearance and behavior that can help us identify these two species. Let’s start with appearance.
The violet and green color of the swallow is helpful only when the light is perfect. Most often the swallow is dark above and all white below with white flank patches that almost meet above the rump. Look for this last feature when the bird flies and turns back toward you and shows the white patches almost meeting above the base of the tail. On the other hand, the swift shows some dark and some light below, with black side patches disrupting the white underparts. The swift is dark above.
The wings of these two birds also look different. The wings of the swallow are wider, and the wrist (where the front of’ the wing bends) is nearer the middle of the wing, as it is in most birds. But the wings of the swift are thinner and the wrist is very close to the body, giving the rest of the wing a swept-back or bowed look. Also, the tail of the swift is longer than that of the swallow.
Now let’s consider some behavioral differences. First, swallows often perch together on wires or bare branches, where we can study them carefully. But swifts have very weak feet and thus cannot perch on a wire or a branch. Second, swallows flap more slowly and glide less and have their wings pulled back less. Swift, however, flap their wings so fast that their wings look like they beat alternately (they don’t, really) and they take long glides between spurts of rapid wing beats. Swift’s wings are longer, narrower and are held in a stiff, pulled-back arc while gliding.
To summarize, the swallow is all white below with white rump patches that almost meet above the rump. The wings of the swallow are wider and shorter than the swift and swallows flap slower and glide less than the swift. The swift’s under-parts are black and white and their wings are long, thin and stiffly bowed during their long glides. Swifts flap so rapidly that their wings appear to heat alternately.
If you spend some time along the cliff edges this summer, you can learn to tell Violet-green Swallows from White-throated Swifts. Some mornings, the swifts come within a few feet of the observation area at Sandia Crest, (at the top of the paved road), so you don’t even have to hike to see them.
Conservationists Reach Settlement with City of Albuquerque on Water for Rio
Grande Silvery Minnow
A coalition of conservation organizations reached an agreement with
the City of Albuquerque on February 23, 2005 that creates new mechanisms to
acquire, store, and release water to benefit the Rio Grande and all who depend
upon it. The City and conservation groups, including the New Mexico Audubon
Council, Defenders of Wildlife, National Audubon Society, Sierra Club, and
Forest Guardians initiated this settlement to take steps towards and to catalyze
others to take steps to ensure that the Rio Grande can be a living and
free-flowing river.
The historic settlement has three major components. First, the agreement commits $250,000 (from the City and plaintiffs) toward a pilot agricultural water-leasing program, which both parties hope to have matched by federal and state funds, Wasteful and inefficient agricultural water use continues to be a significant part of the Rio Grande’s problems, but agriculture can also be a large part of the solution. Second, the settlement also helps strengthen the connection of the City’s urban population to the river by requiring the City to modify its water billing system so that residents have the choice to add St per month to their bills toward purchase of environmental water for the Rio Grande. Third, once acquired environmental water will be stored in Abiquiu Reservoir. This action establishes Abiquiu as one of the only reservoirs in the West with a significant amount of space, 30,000 acres/feet, allocated for storage of water to be used exclusively for environmental purposes.
The agreement also ends litigation involving the federal San Juan/Chama Water Project, but it does not address ongoing legal challenges over the agricultural water in the Rio Grande, which constitutes the majority of water that is diverted and used. If the agreement catalyzes even more political and financial support of these new mechanisms, it could be a significant step in protecting and restoring the ecological integrity of this Great River that embodies the spirit of New Mexico and the Southwest.