Tijeras Watershed Restoration

Tijeras Watershed Restoration

Bye-Bye Invasives, Hello Habitat! Rio Grande Return is helping to restore sections of Tijeras Creek and its floodplain. Over time, Tijeras Creek has become degraded and deeply incised, meaning its channel has eroded significantly below the surrounding landscape. This...
San Antonio Creek

San Antonio Creek

Wetlands are expanding year by year along San Antonio Creek after installation of beaver dam analogues. Welcoming Beavers Back to the Caldera A decade ago, San Antonio Creek resembled little more than a straightened irrigation ditch – narrow, incised,...
Rito Peñas Negras

Rito Peñas Negras

A mini-excavator is used to auger holes as we plant thousands of willow poles. Mature willows and exclosure fencing in the background date from 2012. Beavers Wanted: Habitat Available Rito Peñas Negras is a channelized stream, with reaches that are cut off from its...
Rio Cebolla Restoration

Rio Cebolla Restoration

Our crew building a beaver dam analogue with hand tools. Bringing Life Back to Rio Cebolla: A Stream Once Shaped by Beavers, Now on the Mend High in the Santa Fe National Forest, upstream from Seven Springs Hatchery, Rio Grande Return is leading another large-scale...
Hermit’s Peak – Calf Canyon Post-Fire

Hermit’s Peak – Calf Canyon Post-Fire

Crew members gather logs and build erosion control structures in the burn area. Capturing Sediment, Cultivating Stability The Hermit’s Peak – Calf Canyon Fire left a lasting mark on Mora County’s watersheds: scorching vegetation, hardening soils, and causing...
Rio Puerco

Rio Puerco

Early morning on Rio Puerco. Restoring Rio Puerco, Naturally Over the past 50 years, the Rio Puerco watershed has suffered severe degradation from accelerated erosion and massive sediment loads, making it the single largest source of suspended sediment flowing into...