Restoration
Limited resources. A light touch. A heavy impact.
Restoring degraded environments one shovel at a time
Rio Grande Return’s Restoration Program continues to blossom and gain a leading role in restoration efforts throughout New Mexico. Restoration Director, Reid Whittlesey, has over a decade of on-the-ground experience in restoration practices and techniques since he began working in the field of ecological restoration in 2009.
The Restoration Program is grounded in utilizing low-tech process-based methods for restoring degraded environments and is guided by a philosophy that a holistic and minimally invasive approach is the best way to restore our environment. Some of our most successful restoration projects utilize low-tech process-based tools such as beaver dam analogs (BDAs) and post-assisted log structures. As stewards of the land, by implementing such techniques and instilling our philosophy within the conservation community it is our hope that nature will be able to heal its rapidly deteriorating environments and flourish under its own capacity for self-renewal with the alleviation of degrading forces and minimal interventions of restoration.
Restoration Projects
Riverscape Restoration
We repair New Mexico’s riverscapes through holistic process-based methods. Our goal is to use a low-tech approach that is as minimally invasive as possible through techniques such as replanting of native riparian vegetation and installing low-tech tools like beaver dam analogues (BDAs) and post-assisted log structures (PALS).
Post-Fire Restoration
Urban Habitat Restoration
Support our restoration efforts
We all have a responsibility to repair what we’ve broken. Our restoration and conservation work is made possible through federal, state, and private funders like you.
Your donation will help us keep the lights on while supporting our field work.
Read About Our Other Projects
Candelaria Nature Preserve
Turning Historic Farmland into Habitat for the Future Rio Grande Return is working with Ciudad Soil & Water Conservation District and the City of...
Casa San Ysidro Heritage Field
The 2.38 acre Casa San Ysidro Heritage Field is dedicated to preserving agricultural heritage of the area and expanding educational programming and community involvement.
Wildland Seed Harvest
Access to locally-adapted, climate-ready seeds is very limited throughout New Mexico, so Rio Grande Return started a collaborative Wildland Seed Harvesting Program.