Restoration Projects
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...
Restoration Projects
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...
Restoration Projects
The over 50 mile long boundary fenceline surrounding the Valles Caldera National Preserve had not been maintained since the early 2000s when it was still the Baca Ranch. We are working with the Forest Service on clearing deadfall, repairing and rebuilding the boundary...
Current Projects, Restoration Projects, Riverscape Restoration
“I don’t think we will need rubber boots, we can usually avoid stepping in the saturated areas at San Antonio Creek,” I told colleagues before heading out for a field visit with New Mexico Environment Department and Audubon Society representatives. Well, that’s not...Past Projects, Restoration Projects
Santa Fe County, NM and Socorro County, NM In Fall 2021, we conducted Year 2 monitoring on two State Land Office parcels as part of an effort to better understand the impacts of land management practices and treatments in piñon-juniper systems, and to inform land...
Past Projects, Restoration Projects, Urban Riparian Restoration
In spring 2022, we planted 28,000 willow stems and over 100 cottonwood poles along sculpted channels, following the removal of invasive species from the site, and resulting in the creation of about 10 acres of valuable wetland habitat adjacent to the Rio Grande.
Past Projects, Restoration Projects
Santa Fe County, NM This erosion control project is part of a larger restoration effort on private property in Santa Fe County. For this implementation, we worked closely alongside Jan-Willem Jansens of Ecotone, who designed the treatment (original design at...
Past Projects, Restoration Projects, Urban Riparian Restoration
December 2021 installation of a pond leveling device (also called a Beaver Deceiver) to lower the water level above a beaver dam along the Santa Fe River at Calle Debra and Paseo Real, just west of the Santa Fe Airport.
Past Projects, Restoration Projects
Galisteo Basin Preserve, NM Regrading slopes to capture high flows within rock run downs. This project in the Galisteo Basin Preserve follows the razing of an old homestead and aims to remediate the site’s ecological function and facilitate recreational access...Beaver Dam Analogs, Past Projects, Restoration Projects
Chama, NM In November 2021, we built 8 postless BDAs as a demonstration project at Rancho Del Oso Pardo, a private ranch near Chama, NM. Structures were built using small diameter trees felled from nearby, overstocked slopes as well as rocks and sediments from...Past Projects, Restoration Projects
Valles Caldera National Preserve, NM Rebuilding the boundary fence on the north side of the Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP) has been a multi-year effort. In 2021, we completely rebuilt about 1.25 miles of fenceline and cleared and repaired an additional 3...Past Projects, Restoration Projects
Valles Caldera National Preserve, NM Rebuilding the boundary fence on the north side of the Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP) has been a multi-year effort. In 2021, we completely rebuilt about 1.25 miles of fenceline and cleared and repaired an additional 3...Past Projects, Restoration Projects
July 2021 The RGR YCC crew has been hard a work on a fencing removal project in the Valles Caldera National Preserve. The goal of this project is to remove roughly 30 miles of legacy cattle fence and support the re-wilding of a large section of the San Antonio Creek...Past Projects, Restoration Projects
July 2021 The RGR YCC crew has been hard a work on a fencing removal project in the Valles Caldera National Preserve. The goal of this project is to remove roughly 30 miles of legacy cattle fence and support the re-wilding of a large section of the San Antonio Creek...Beaver Dam Analogs, Past Projects, Restoration Projects, Riverscape Restoration
June 2021 The 2021 YCC crew’s season kicked off to a great start with Beaver Dam Analog (BDA) repair on San Antonio Creek in the Jemez Mountains. BDAs replicate the natural functions of beaver dams by raising the water table, slowing erosion, storing water, and...Past Projects, Restoration Projects, Riverscape Restoration
Santa Fe, NM Our 2021 and 2022 willow and cottonwood plantings along the Santa Fe River continue the work of a previous replanting effort in 2019 within this same reach, following the destruction of riparian plantings in the 100-year flood of 2018. These planting...Past Projects, Restoration Projects, Riverscape Restoration
Canadian River Canyon, NM, 2021 This planting of willow, cottonwood and Gooddings willow within the Canadian River Canyon follows years of previous restoration efforts along the river. Rio Grande Return has been involved in restoration along the Canadian River...Past Projects, Restoration Projects, Riverscape Restoration
Canadian River Canyon, NM, 2021 This planting of willow, cottonwood and Gooddings willow within the Canadian River Canyon follows years of previous restoration efforts along the river. Rio Grande Return has been involved in restoration along the Canadian River...Past Projects, Restoration Projects
Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, NM, 2020 – 2021 This 2020 – 2021 project encompasses the removal of non-native vegetation and revegetation with native cottonwood and willows surrounding Coyote Springs and along the adjacent Arroyo del Coyote. Work...Past Projects, Restoration Projects
Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, San Antonio, NM, 2021 2021 removal of salt cedar and Russian olive from 362 acres of palustrine emergent wetland, floodplain forest, and floodplain savannah, including screwbean mesquite wet meadow. Restoring this... 