Here is a copy of Ron Loehman's conservation presentation from the Conclave: 2015ConclaveConservation ... Read More
February 12, 2015
From Land and Water Program Director, Mollie Walton, PhD January 2015 Newsletter The New Mexico Wetland Roundtables are part of a Wetlands Program Development Grant from EPA Region 6 to foster partnerships and collaboration for the restoration and protection of wetlands and riparian resources in New Mexico and are conducted on a semi-annual schedule. If you have not attended in the past, we would like you to see what the New Mexico Wetlands Roundtable is all about. The next meeting is March 26 (Thursday 9:00 am to 4:30 pm). This meeting will also be in celebration of Bill Zeeyk's 80th birthday. Presentations will ... Read More
January 26, 2015
by Ron Loehman, Conservation Chair From the January 2015 Newsletter Last month a small delegation from New Mexico Trout met with Erik Taylor, who assumed the District Ranger position last August for the Jemez District of the Santa Fe National Forest. Erik previously was the District Ranger for the Caddo-Lyndon B. Johnson National Grasslands in Texas, and before that he was with the Klamath National Forest in California. Erik began his job as District Ranger shortly after the New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse was listed as an endangered species. Much of the Jumping Mouse's identified habitat is in the Jemez District, ... Read More
January 26, 2015
From the December 2014 Newsletter New Mexico's Interstate Stream Commission voted to notify the U.S. Interior Department that it wants to take advantage of federal funding to build a diversion and storage system along the Gila River. The Commission also decided that some of the money should go toward municipal conservation efforts and other projects aimed at stretching the drought-stricken region's water supplies. State Engineer Scott Verhines, New Mexico's top water official and a member of the commission, said the point of regional water planning is to identify and implement strategies to balance supply and demand. He said the options ... Read More
December 14, 2014
by Jerry Burton, NMT President from the December 2014 Newsletter The Vivegash fire in 2000 burned approximately 38,000 acres in the headwaters of Cow Creek. While some of the headwaters tributaries were not devastated by the fire, it did wipe out most of Cow Creeks' trout population. After a few years the stream slowly was repopulated with Rio Grande cutthroats, cut-bows, rainbows, and brook trout that had managed to survive the fire in a few small headwater streams. None of these small headwater streams contained brown trout. I started to guide at the Cow Creek Ranch in April of 2004, ... Read More
December 14, 2014
by Jerry Burton, NMT President From the October/November 2014 Newsletter Ever wonder how trout in a small high elevation stream survive when in the winter temperatures are below zero for weeks at a time and three feet of snow cover the stream? Some don't. Those that do have found a deep spot where the ice cannot reach the bottom. Winter can be tough on trout in small high elevation streams. If the flow is not strong enough, the stream may freeze to the bottom and if the trout have not found a deep hole they die. While the water continues ... Read More
November 19, 2014
This wild rodent, favored for its fur and at one time reviled for its destructive habits in riparian areas, has received new respect from environmentalists. These creatures are being welcomed into the landscape as a defense against the withering effects of a warmer and drier climate. Recent studies have shown that beaver dams have beneficial effects by raising the water table alongside a stream, aiding the growth of trees and plants that stabilize the banks and prevent erosion. They improve fish and wildlife habitat and promote new, rich soil. And perhaps most important in the the arid Southwest, is that ... Read More
November 19, 2014