Rio Mora Conservation Science Center | at Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge

Time 2021-10-20 20:05:44

Web Name: Rio Mora Conservation Science Center | at Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge

WebSite: http://windriverranch.org

ID:208638

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Conservation,Science,Rio,Mora,Center,Wildlife,Refuge,at,

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Rio Mora Conservation Science Center at Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge

Introduction

Welcome to the Rio Mora Conservation Science Center at Rio Mora NWR

The Rio Mora Conservation Science Center at Rio Mora NWR is dedicated to preserving the Southwestern ecological heritage through restoration, research, and education.

In 2005, philanthropists Eugene and Clare Thaw decided that they wanted to see their 4,224 acre Wind River Ranch serve a societal benefit. To that end, they formed the Wind River Ranch Foundation. From the beginning, the dream has been to create a center for ecological restoration, research, education for youth, and a place where the great minds of the conservation world could come together and create solutions to counter degrading ecological systems.

Explicitly, our goals in northern New Mexico have been:

To provide a refugia for native species and natural systems on the ranch, and to restore health to those systems that have been damaged in the past. This refugia lies along the Central Flyway.To engage in scientific programs that make a meaningful contribution to the conservation of biodiversity, ecosystem function, ecological restoration, and landscape permeability in the southwestern U.S.To develop careers of young conservation biologists through undergraduate and graduate education,  particularly students from groups which are underrepresented in the fields of the Natural Sciences.To develop and enhance environmental science curricula by working with school children and teachers in northern New Mexico.To develop cooperation among landowners, agencies, NGOs, tribes, and local governments so that strategies  beneficial to conservation and management can be coordinated across a broader area.To provide artistic programs that incorporate nature into the educational experience.To hold think-tank sessions about key conservation issues.

In September of 2012, Eugene and Clare Thaw donated their ranch to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to become the Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge and be part of the larger Northern New Mexico National Wildlife Refuge System. At the time, the USFWS had insufficient funding to give Rio Mora NWR a budget, so the Thaws donated $1,715,000 to the Denver Zoological Foundation so that Denver Zoo could staff and manage the Refuge for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as manage and expand the conservation, research, and education programs that occur on the refuge. This was done in partnership with the Pueblo of Pojoaque tribe, who have grazed their bison on the land since 2010, and New Mexico Highlands University (a Hispanic serving institution), who have been active on the land with classes and research since 2007. The four-way partnership was successful (USFWS, Denver Zoo, Pueblo of Pojoaque tribe, and New Mexico Highlands University). Each of the four partners contributed $20,000 to $40,000 a year direct investment or in-kind labor, and that extended the Thaw donation until December of 2019. Four salaries and operating expenses came to $325,000 a year. In fall of 2019, USFWS placed two of their employees at Rio Mora and began paying operating expenses. This was thanks to Senator Tom Udall, and his position on the Senate Appropriations Committee. In January of 2020, the Denver Zoo decided to pull out of the partnership, but they paid the program director until August 2020. New Mexico Highlands University stepped forward to absorb the programs (and program manager) into their STEM efforts. The land and programs now have long-term security. The partners are now, USFWS, the Pueblo of Pojoaque tribe, and New Mexico Highlands University.

The education efforts with schoolchildren are an important part of our program. Damage to nature does not come about because we lack scientific expertise. It often occurs because ordinary people make poor choices in everyday life (or support corporate choices without questioning). The existing institutions that shape the world-view of people do so from an economic paradigm of constant growth (even though we live in a closed system), and that paradigm over-exploits nature and people. The minds of children are more open than those of adults, and changing values at such a large scale is a generational process. Since 2005, we have had over 6,000 student visits from 19 school districts, 11 Tribes, and 11 universities. Each visit came for an organized class on conservation and ecology. We have multi-year university-accredited programs running from several Colorado-based colleges/universities. Among our classes, 88% of the students have been “New Mexico True.” This is important to us and to the local community. New Mexico is 50th in preparing high school students for college and 49th in education.

Our efforts at ecological restoration have provided graduate projects and undergraduate internships (29 MS projects, 67 internshipsof which 60 went to minority students). We and our partners have reduced soil erosion and raised the water table in arroyos and canyons, protected seeps and springs in canyons that feed the river, induced meander for river restoration, created new wetlands and restored degraded ones, and reintroduced extirpated species. We have worked with tribes to restore the ecological role and the cultural role of bison. The opportunities to expand conservation research and ecological restoration on the ranch are extensive and growing. All research on the Refuge is directly applicable to conservation issues of preserving biodiversity and ecosystem function.

We thank the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pueblo of Pojoaque tribe, New Mexico Highlands University, Denver Zoo and all our other partners for their efforts to restore nature on the Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge, to execute conservation research, to do ecological restoration, to protect native species and ecosystem function, and to advance conservation education at all levels. We thank all of you for your interest in what we do at the Rio Mora Conservation Science Center at Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge.

NavigationIntroductionList of SpeciesThreats to NatureRestoration and ResearchPueblo of Pojoaque BisonArts and WritingMaps DirectionsRanch FacilitiesEmployees VolunteersEducationEducation OverviewExperiential LearningMiddle and High School ScienceElementary Field DaysPhoto GalleriesMammalsBirdsHerps InsectsPlantsLandscape

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