Saturday, January 21, 2006

Turning donated land into nature area

Argen Duncan El Defensor Chieftain Reporter

The Socorro Soil and Water Conservation District is working to turn a piece of land unsuitable for agriculture or housing into a nature area and education center.

In 2004, Bravo Farm owners Rose and John Utton, of Santa Fe, and Leif Youngberg, who lives out of state, donated 178 acres stretching from the middle of the Rio Grande into the lower San Juan drain. District employee Nyleen Troxel Stowe said about 124 acres are usable and district employees are just starting to turn the land into the Socorro Soil and Water Conservation District Educational Center.

"Our goal is to have it as a natural area, but have somewhere students can go to learn about natural resources and riparian area," she said.

John Utton said the land was ideal for bosque restoration work and the district approached the owners because it was a good location.

"And we were happy to cooperate," he said.

Stowe said the planned facility's offerings will somewhat resemble the Socorro Nature Center's, but will include a formal educational program. Educators will repeat key components of the curriculum every year, focusing on one or more grade levels, Stowe said.

"Probably the curriculum that we come up with will have a base plan involving natural resources and conservation, and we'll just tweak it to current events," she said.

Subjects would include water, agriculture, area ecosystems and wildlife, she said.

Stowe said the district would develop the educational program after getting facilities and access.

The center has no set opening date, but those who are interested can call the conservation district office at (505) 835-1710, ext. 108.

Stowe spoke of recruiting students from Belen schools because the site gives them a location closer than the Socorro Nature Center.

The district has a $30,000 grant from the Soil and Water Conservation Commission, funded by the state legislature, to use this spring to install trails and a group shelter on the north end. Stowe said the shelter will include picnic tables and probably a grill or two because of the distance visitors will have to come.

"It's going to be an all-day event for the students," she said.

The shelter will provide a place for students to work and eat lunch, Stowe said. Planned trails would lead vehicles to the area and people to the shelter and to vegetation and wildlife sites. The area already has a place for buses and railroad ties to prevent erosion on trails going to the river.

Also, Stowe said, if the district receives a recently applied-for Fish and Wildlife Service grant, it will hire contractors to mechanically remove salt cedar and replant native vegetation from 10 acres around the planned shelter.

"So basically, it's just a starting point," she said, adding the district will work outward from there.

Because of money limitations, she said, they can't restore the area all at once.

Stowe said the district might need to replace a horse bridge on the property as well.

Planners are also considering installing north and south entrance gates to allow some access but encourage users who want to have tours or parties arrange to get a key.

"I mean, we want people to use it, but we want to do a scheduling thing, primarily," Stowe said, adding that district employees want to avoid litter and vandalism.

She said they would try to recruit volunteers, especially to help with education and plant restoration work.

Employees are already working with the Belen division office of the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District. They have also been using the conservancy easement to access the site from U.S. 60, but need to ensure owners of the land that the road crosses will allow that, Stowe said.

She said conservation district employees have been working on access and some restoration, monitoring and surveying for access and vegetative cover. It has a plant mixture of "just about everything" except certain noxious weeds, she said

Also, part of the land falls in a buffer zone surrounding habitat of the endangered bird Southwestern willow flycatcher. People must avoid those areas, she said.

aduncan@dchieftain.com

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